Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

68 reviews

crocoduck's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking

kam_be's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Trafficking, Medical content, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Rape, Murder, Death, Child death, Animal death, War, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Child abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

lana72905's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Kidnapping, Violence, Death, Blood, Genocide, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Rape, Trafficking, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Vomit

bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Even knowing the story of Patroclus and Achilles in broad strokes, i was gripped by the incredible storytelling. The role of legacy and memory in the story was done exceptionally well. the roots of the story shone in a retelling with modern sensibilities intertwined with in. This work is an incredible achievement in writing and adapting a story that for many exists only as a footnote in the large story of the trojan war. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Blood, Gore, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Slavery, Child death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

Minor: Abandonment, Rape, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

kadearang's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Trafficking and Homophobia

i_am_tilde's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Death, Sexual violence, Blood, Violence, Rape, and War

Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, Misogyny, Medical content, Trafficking, Torture, and Self harm

Minor: Animal death

froggybooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

i cried. i loved it. the only reason of the docked .25 is bc i preferred pat barker’s depiction of brieses 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Slavery, Blood, Rape, and War

Moderate: Self harm, Vomit, Trafficking, Medical content, and Sexual content

chetanaisreading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

i did not really cry and I was expecting that to happen, so that made the rating drop. Also, Achilles got really irritating later on. the writing is without a doubt 5/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Moderate: Trafficking

anime917's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Genocide, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, War, Slavery, and Trafficking

kt2e56's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Beautifully written. There is no doubt about Madeline Miller’s skills as a writer. I actually think from a technical standpoint, she’s one of the most gifted writers we currently have. She has just such a way with words and even as someone fairly well-versed in Greek mythology who knows how this all ends, I was hooked as if this was a cast of characters I’d never heard of before.

I read Circe first and I found it to be much, much more relatable due to my own personal history and experiences but this book was just as spectacular. I love that this was all told from the point of view of Patroclus. He’s compelling and it’s lovely to see his own story fleshed out. His love for Achilles is touching but I think Achilles eventually becomes so unlikeable that it’s hard to see what Patroclus still sees in him and why he still so readily would give up everything for him.

And Achilles himself is seen as complex here! Which is fine! Complex is good and I’m glad that he wasn’t always the attentive, loving, nurturing boy that Patroclus fell for and believed in. I think the story of Achilles here (and eventually Pyrrhus although he’s a much more extreme example) is a fascinating look at masculinity. Achilles is beautiful and sensitive and kind. He loves music and pretty things and nature. We see this throughout. But it isn’t until he starts demanding the treatment he believes he deserves and stamping out all that’s beautiful and tender about him that he could be seen as great and powerful by the world around him. He believes he’s entitled to greatness and he reaches a point where he really buys into his own hype and doesn’t care who he’s harmed as long as he gets what he believes he deserves as this pinnacle of masculinity, the best of the best. He can only become a hero by embracing cruelty and he’d rather be a hero and be remembered by everyone than remembered only by his love, Patroclus: the only person who ever really knew him at all.

I’ll be thinking about this book for awhile. It’s hard not to. It’s so rich and textured. I’m giving this a 4.5 instead a 5, only because I started to grow a bit numb from reading cruelty after cruelty and atrocity after atrocity but I can absolutely recognize that that has nothing to do with Miller’s skill as a writer, and has everything to do with my own personal preferences. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Sexual assault, Death, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Rape, Blood, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Outing, Animal death, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking