Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett

8 reviews

sramac's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Infertility, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, War, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

sirius_feanor's review

2.75

It was rather a captivating story. But the amount of rape and misogyny in it was almost off putting. I understand it was for "historical accuracy" or whatever, but still yikes. 

The sex scenes are one of the worst I've ever read! And most of them are told from a female point of view. They are so obviously written by a male it's just ridiculous. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Slavery, Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Torture, Chronic illness, and Grief

vibrantautumn's review

emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I enjoyed the other books in this series, and this book was no exception, and no different. At all. The characters and plot were the same as in previous books. Nevertheless, I was hooked halfway through. I had hoped that this book wouldn’t feature women being raped, but of course that was there just like everything else.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Slavery, Confinement, Sexual violence, Child death, Violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Infidelity, Grief, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, War, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

morgiah's review against another edition

adventurous informative relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

i feel very conflicted about this book.

it only took me about a fifth of the way in to realize follett was a gross perv who needs to take classes on how to write women and queer people. his writing was insensitive, vulgar, and uncomfortable. many passages made me cringe, especially the bit in the middle where ragna basically described an oedipus complex between gytha and wilwulf, and recalled the same behavior in her mother and brother and assumed it was normal. freudian bullshit was certainly not needed at all.

having a woman forced to marry her rapist was also unnecessary. there were many other plot points and conflict that could have been included in place of this. 

nevertheless, i did find myself enjoying everything else surrounding the story. it was well written for the most part, and excluding any talks of appearances or sex, ragna was a riveting character with good amounts of development. i fell in love with her just as quickly as edgar. 

the time period this is set in is rare for historical fiction, which also inclined me to let myself enjoy it despite my criticisms. i haven’t decided whether or not i’ll continue to read the pillars of eternity, aka whether or not i’ll be able to put up with more unnecessary descriptions of a woman’s breasts at random intervals. we’ll see. i think this book is worth reading if you also enjoy this historical time period and are able to separate parts of a book you criticize with parts of a book you enjoy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Murder, and Misogyny

Minor: Death of parent

carolined's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

If you've ever read any Ken Follett you know how it goes, the heroes are well meaning, ambitious and hopelessly naive; the villains are ruthless and cunning and unbeatable until the very end. The author does a lot of research and makes sure the reader knows it, I enjoyed the details of everyday life much more than the plot. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Suicide

Minor: Alcoholism

crystalmethany's review

emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Infidelity, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Trafficking, Rape, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Pedophilia

Minor: Infertility and Grief

more_books_than_days's review

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

There are several graphic depictions of women in this story as victims of extreme violence and sexual assault. By the end of the book I was emotionally exhausted by the toll of this constant oppression and powerlessness, which was developed into the fabric of the story from the very beginning. 

With a cast of characters who fell into predictable tropes, either good or evil with little in between, the plot also felt predictable, and very slow moving. I ended up skipping paragraphs and skim reading many pages rather than battling through sections of prose that did little to advance the story. This was a disappointment,
 because I very much enjoyed the Pillars of The Earth trilogy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Death, Gore, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexism, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Excrement, and Kidnapping

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Infidelity

jolovestoread's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this volume and it was quick to get through for a big this size. I had a much more emotional connection with this one than the previous, but didn't love it as much as the 2nd. Still an intelligent book. I feel as the romance wasn't as central to the plot, this influenced by less attachment, but I still really enjoyed the read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, and Chronic illness