Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Galatea by Madeline Miller

261 reviews

occasionalyarnie's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

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

2.0

While I usually enjoy Madeline Miller's work, this was just a miss for me. I think it boils down to two things: I don't really care for short stories and I'm unfamiliar with the myth this one is based on. Ultimately, the story was too short to flesh out the context of the story as intricately as I would have liked, which meant I wasn't really invested in the characters or what happened to them. It looks like this was written for an anthology, so the length makes sense; it would have been really interesting to see what she could have done with it with more page space (I think it would have worked much better as a novella).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Pregnancy and Abortion

Minor: Body shaming

While I wouldn't say any topics in the content warnings are extreme cases, it feels a bit dark because the story is so short. There are also several fade-to-black/off-page sexual references or encounters, and (to me) it was unclear whether these encounters were consensual; if you're sensitive to dub- or non-con, it might be best to avoid this one.

saracat's review against another edition

challenging sad 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? No

4.0

This was a very interesting short story. I liked how Miller puts us into the point of view of Galatea and we see how she has to figure out how to navigate in a world where she is treated as less then by different people for different slightly different reasons. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Rape, and Death

Minor: Body shaming and Abortion

reads2cope's review against another edition

5.0

A horror story. That is usually not my genre, but like Miller’s other work, this story completely gripped me. 
Though I know she wrote it before getting Long COVID, I couldn’t help but connect the rage and despair of Galatea begging the doctor to believe her with the millions having the same fight today. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Body horror, Medical content, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment

rebekah_leigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Sexual violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Medical content

Minor: Abortion

thenoboshow's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical content, Murder, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Misogyny, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Incest, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

el_wheel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This was beautifully written but also so short and sad and I wanted more, especially of the characters and the mother/daughter relationship 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide, and Murder

books_and_fairy_lights's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I quite liked it. Very different from The Song of Achilles but still quite good. This novella is a worthy successor of previous great feminist literature. You can definitely feel the influence of authors such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Angela Carter, or Katherine Mansfield. It is similarly heavy and mysterious (in a gothic kind of way) and has very similar themes though with a more modern twist were the woman actually takes her fate back into her own hands. It's an interesting exposition of how men attempt to control women's bodies and it's especially well done here as we only get Galatea's perspective - how she experiences that oppression, how smart and cunning she is, how she reaches freedom and takes revenge.

Would have loved to include this in some essay at uni, which makes me say it's well-written and interesting inany ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Abortion

Minor: Domestic abuse and Suicide

aeonvexed's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Domestic abuse

spkme_44292's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Author's note at the end provided important information about the source of the story and the meaning of it. Don't miss it!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Sexual violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Misogyny

jesblack's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

Things I liked: the formatting & flow of the story. The story. The exquisite word choice.
Things I didn’t like: worrying about pedophilia. The way the husband spoke. The way the hospital staff behaved.
Do I think all of the things I didn’t like actually were purposeful for the story? Yes. Do I respect the writer’s choice of writing it as she did even though it made me uncomfortable? Yes. But only 3 stars because I did not like the way the story made me feel while & after reading. I would not re-read but I would seek out other writing by this author as I think the writing was stylistically very smart and enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault