Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

641 reviews

sirenricobooks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Medical content, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

_al's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-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

4.0

I wanted to give this book 3.5/75 out of 5 but it was nice distraction from hard stuff and I very enjoyed the writing, so I'm boosting it up to 4. 

Writing was main thing of this book for me. Madeline Miller's prose is so captivating and smooth, I'm amazed each time I opened the book. But I wanted more from  Patroclus. Patroclus has such interesting stuff going on but just a bit more of..basically everything would be so good. 

I enjoyed Achilles and I enjoyed reading about him and his struggles between love, social expectations and desire for glory. I don't think it was handled perfectly from start to finish because there are moments that felt almost awkward but overall he was one of best parts of the book. 

But overall, I enjoyed it – i had fun, characters were interesting to follow, their relationship is beautiful and i felt for them and it resurrected my love for mythology and give me interest to ancient history. Maybe reread it when i need the distraction with feelings. And definitely will check out Circe in near future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

eib_21's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence, Violence, and War

vnfhcxksiw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cestnicka's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

This was a great book! I thought it was well written and captivating and a great retelling of homers Iliad in a way that is accessible to all readers! This is a debut novel from Madeline miller and it was obvious she had a background in Greek mythology and had put a lot of work into this book. 

This is the retelling of the story of Achilles, a great Greek warrior who is in love with the exiled prince Patroclus. It follows their journey from childhood friends to adulthood and the song of Achilles is a story of love, friendship, and heartbreak. 

I really enjoyed the focus on the two characters and appreciated that she didn't shy away from the homosexuality of Patroclus and Achilles. The characters were really well written and I felt so connected to them throughout the novel. 

I really enjoyed learning about Ancient Greece through this novel. It was very interesting to learn about some of the mythology. 

I did find at times with so many characters getting a bit lost, and that made the book feel a bit long and pulled me away from the story. Otherwise this was a great book and I enjoyed the read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War

Minor: Sexual violence

Lgbtqia

onmym_ark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Grief, and Gaslighting

_cararichardson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Such a beautiful read. Surprisingly, I didn’t like it quite as much as Circe, but only marginally so. I found that the plot slowed down a little in the middle, during the beginning of the Trojan war. Naturally, the romance between Achilles and Patroclus is just perfect, beautiful and heart wrenching.

I thought that the choice to continue Patroclus’ narration even after he was killed was GENIUS and led to great moments and a great ending

I really enjoyed the plot, writing (obvi) and the characters. The ending did make me teary eyed and is definitely a top tier ending for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, and Violence

angeldevoursliterature's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Cursing

lex17's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

courtofsmutandstuff's review against another edition

4.5

This was really poetic and beautiful, and while it has been well over a decade (probably 2) since I read the Illiad, I remembered enough to really love the foreshadowing ("What has Hector ever done to me?"). There was not as much romance as I anticipated based on people gushing about it (it's very subtle, and while it's not exactly closed door, it's pretty much literary fiction minimal reference open door), but the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus, while subtle at times, is still meaningful. I also ADORED how Miller describes Thetis, and everything about her (even though she is still very much Patroclus' antagonist). It's also always nice when a story shows just how idiotic Agamemnon is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence