Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Two Towers

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The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

17 reviews

hjb_128's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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gvstyris's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I wonder if people will ever say, "Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring." And they'll say, "Yes, that's one of my favorite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn't he, Dad?" "Yes, m'boy, the most famousest of hobbits. And that's saying a lot.”

Definitely a tougher read than Fellowship, primarily because of long passages with little action. Tolkien’s nature descriptions remain beautiful, though, and I really enjoyed learning about Rohan. The last chapter in particular was such a highlight — I have a newfound appreciation for Sam from the novels.

Honestly, from a reader’s POV, I would argue that this volume in particular is hindered by its structure: Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli follow a relatively archetypical adventure arc in Towers, which is definitely more ‘engaging’ than Sam/Frodo’s emotional journey. The adaptation is pretty aware of this juxtaposition and wisely changed the sequencing.

Also, side note, but I was surprised to find this Treebeard much more endearing (and bearable 😭) than his film counterpart. Same goes for Pippin and Merry, Peter Jackson really did them dirty.

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i_write_on_occasion's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

The second half was better than the first half, however, that does not make up for the slow, mostly uneventuful pacing and the tedious amounts of exposition.

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bearystarry's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Frodo and Sam 💕💖💚💝 I would love for these types of relationships to make their way back into fiction please!! Adventure is nothing without your friends and companions.

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potatodel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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squinnittowinit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

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

2.5

Andy Serkis as the narrator makes this book bearable for me. Tolkien is the master of "tell, don't show". I love the story of Lord of the Rings so much, yet this book was a slog. I actually really enjoyed the first book in comparison because it felt like more happened in it. Or maybe the things that happened in the first book were just more interesting. If I didn't already know how this series ended, I would abandon it after reading The Two Towers. The filmmakers should be praised beyond measure for taking this book and turning it into such an interesting movie.

2.5 stars mostly because the writing is so unengaging. Plus, it's racist and sexist, as can be expected of its time. The rating would have been lower if not for Andy Serkis, he's that good of a narrator.

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itsreirei's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful tense slow-paced

4.0

Tolkien reeeeeally wants you to know where the characters are and what the surroundings look like....
The characters also be like "let me tell you my life story" whenever they interact with another living being...plus they must erupt in a song whenever possible! There's a verse in their pocketsses for every occasion, fear not!

One thing I certainly preferred in the book was Faramir: I liked him and his arc in the small amount of time we saw him in the movie but in the book...so much better. We don't really know if he's an ally, is he going to try to seize the ring and mess up the mission, what's he gonna do? Alas no, he's a proper gentlemen, I loved his demeanor, his actions, his take on the war, ahh! Also, in the movie they made it seem like they f*cked Smeagol up hence why he reverts back to Gollum but nah, Gollum was just a shithead all along, sry

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