Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Penelopiad

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

77 reviews

sofipitch's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

I'd been looking forward to reading this book for so long I was disappointed by how short it was, I read it in a day, practically one sitting. I expected the epic that Song of Achilles or Helen of Troy had been and was let down. Especially considering how hard it was to actually get a copy of this book at a reasonable price. Otherwise I enjoyed it. I liked the choice to focus on the maids and their murder. I also like that the story doesn't stick only to one version of Penelope, the maids tell the story not of the faithful wife but of the cheating one. Which considering her cleverness and lying in the Odyssey would not be surprising. I think I might have enjoyed that character more. I also dislike the way Helen was portrayed, I think if you can see the feminist retelling that the maids were raped and used by the men it's easy to see how the same could be said of Helen.

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kirkspockreads's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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podanotherjessi's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

This book was very disappointing. I went in expecting this to be the femminst story of the maids, and instead I got slut-shaming and girl hate and perpetuation of misogyny. It would be easy to blame this on it being outdated, but I'm not sure that's even what's to blame. In any case, I think we can leave this in the past.

Characters: 4
Plot: 7
Setting: 6
General appeal: 5
Writing style: 8
Originality: 6
Ending: 4

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musewithxara's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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drp_moonlight's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad

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

4.0

The most important factor of this book is the style. It is written from the perspective of a Penelope already long dead. It does not shy away from stating that it is coming from a 21st century. Penelope's narrative is interspersed with the Maids' perspectives, giving the illusion of a classic play.

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ilikebooks_okay's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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looney_moons's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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