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emilyandthewhippet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Confinement, Gore, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Deportation, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Misogyny, Blood, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Cannibalism
strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
It is very sexual and has so much rape in it. I realize that’s because it is a retelling of the Trojan War, but I did not like this. It is cruel.
However, the writing, while not my cup of tea, is quite good.
Graphic: Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Genocide, Alcohol, Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Self harm, Infidelity, Gore, Child death, Slavery, Suicide, and War
theloveofwordss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Slavery, Infidelity, Death, Child death, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Rape, War, Kidnapping, and Grief
lindseyhall44's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Trafficking, and War
Moderate: Infidelity
vmatias26's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Blood, Body horror, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and War
Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Torture
ananko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, War, and Vomit
Moderate: Infidelity, Torture, and Suicide
syllareads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Because, make no mistake, this was his story - his anger, his grief, his story. I was angry, I was grieving, but somehow, that didn't matter. Here I was, again, waiting for Achilles to decide when it was time for bed, still trapped, still stuck inside his story, and yet with no real part to play in it"
The Silence of the girls is another retelling of the Iliad - or, well, rather the Battle of Troy and most specifically, its most well-known fighter, Achilles. The book lends itself to comparisons with Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller so I will get those right out of the way and say: these two books work rather well as companion books of the same story but from different perspectives - if you, by any chance haven't yet read both of them, I'd suggest starting with this one first, though, partly because Miller's prose is unrivaled in its tender bruising whereas Pat Barker did not snare me with her words but rather the story itself.
Told mostly from Briseis' perspectives, this Greek war camp is entirely different than the one Patroclus offers us in SoA. Gritty, dark, full of dangers for herself and the other women, she's thrust into camp after seeing her own brothers slaughtered before her eyes, where Achilles takes her as his war prize. Briseis endures, like all the other women as well, their grief silent and forgotten as they become mere things, slaves to the men who killed their family. This is not her story - as she herself says. This is merely her being unable to separate herself from her captors, the way all women's stories went during that time. This is a woman's life, tongue, and thoughts being used to portray the grand men of history - and portray them she does, her own disgust and hatred carefully hidden lest she die for it.
The only thing I did not like about this book as much was the prose; partly because comparisons with SoA did not do this book any favours and partly because Barker likes to insert slang words and idioms into the text that simply do not work in this context. This is also why I am deducing one star from its final rating - I can otherwise only highly recommend it but remind people to heed the content warnings: there are aplenty.
Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Grief, Death, Child death, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship