Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

22 reviews

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

Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, and Homophobia

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Domestic abuse, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Death, Death of parent, Classism, Mental illness, Bullying, Outing, Physical abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Gore, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, and Child death

dragonbornsandwaffles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

If you're like me and haven't read the Iliad before reading this, be prepared for a lot of heartbreak with this book. Had heard great things but no one warned me in advance and it was really, really hard to get through. Beautifully written, but painful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Self harm, Gaslighting, War, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Transphobia

tdap1899's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

While reading I felt like I was on a rollercoaster, there were very sweet and heart lifting moments but then there were very awful and heartbreaking moments since it is based on Greek mythos I had an idea of what was going to happen which led to me being very tense and stressed throughout the read.
Would I keep? Yes.
With some brief reflection, I did really enjoy the book and it is spectacularly written with strong characters and very hard hitting twists and turns. That being said I have a kind of love hate relationship with the book as the relationships depicted in it aren't the healthiest but I also think that's what adds to such strong characters and make you feel so invested into the story. It very unapologetically stuck closely to the general cadence and themes of Greek mythos and the time period it is set in which I respect even if it made me uncomfortable at times. I don't think that makes it any less of a good book, I just think it needs approached cautiously as it can be very emotionally taxing.
I would rec to someone who is first off in a good enough place mentally to take on the emotional endeavor this book is, know you're limits and know when to take a pause. Rec to people who like greek mythology and various retellings of it like lore olympus. A book I found myself thinking of a lot when it came to this book was Romeo and Juliet it reminded me a lot of it throughout the whole book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, War, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Homophobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Slavery, Grief, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Animal death

fanboyriot's review against another edition

sad 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? Yes

1.0

Finally finished reading this after having it on my physical TBR for at least five years.  

The hype of this was high.  Seeing great reviews and positive comments about how amazing the writing was and how sad but good it was.

I’m not gonna lie I only bought it because it was queer and it had Greek mythology in it.  I thought despite the angst and it being a historical fiction that I’d like it.  

The short review is that I did not like it.  I wanted to DNF it so many times but thought maybe I just wasn’t giving it a chance.

I don’t know if it was because of the slower paced chapters or because it was a historical fiction but this book was so boring.  I could not wait to be done with it.

There were so many moments that it was cringey or just uncomfortable to read.  All the spicy moments were awful to get through.  And  while I understand it was back when people were a lot younger when they were married off or forced to have children but it was just so uncomfortable to read lines like: “Her body, he said, was soft and small as a child’s.” (Chapter 13, page 147)… why is that necessary??  How did that make it into the final edits?? 

I will say the positive about this was that through everything Achilles and Patroclus had a healthy, honest, and trusting relationship for the most part.  

And while the ending was sad it wasn’t as bad as I expected.  I think that what Thetis ended up doing in the end helped with that.  It was the sweetest thing she had done in that whole book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Death, Violence, War, Blood, Murder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicide, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Gore, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Slavery, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Ableism, Vomit, Child death, and Trafficking

tatti's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Genocide, Rape, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Trafficking, War, Blood, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

olliee's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Animal death, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, and War

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Blood, Classism, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Slavery

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Self harm, Vomit, Alcohol, Colonisation, Cursing, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

dniespal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Increadible tale of two lovers whose fate is already sealed. Madeline Miller was able to writte a breathtaking story which will make you not want to put the book down even if you are already well versed in the myth of Achilles and Patroclus. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, Slavery, Gore, Animal death, Classism, Death, Murder, Rape, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Child abuse, Medical content, Rape, and Kidnapping

Minor: Bullying, Excrement, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Alcohol, and Cannibalism

roosveld's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Murder, War, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, Slavery, and Trafficking