Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Two Towers

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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inirac's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

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

2.5

I remember being so invested when they were looking for the hobbits and then when Pippin and Merry were with the Ents because that was fun, but there was a battle and my mind could not focus on the audiobook, I had no idea what was going on from that point.

Besides, I don’t know how many times I fall sleep while listening to this especially the second we got back to Frodo and Sam, it was just so damn boring… it’s so slow and nothing was happening.

So, this is 2.5 ⭐ for me and I’m being generous.

Anyways, I really love the narration by Andy Serkis.

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bootsmom3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-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

5.0

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glorgona's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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