Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

246 reviews

ltsang08's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Murder, Slavery, Sexual violence, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, War, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Suicide, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Rape

chialozito's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Pregnancy, Murder, and Rape

Minor: Suicide

majoortizh's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

How I love Greek mythology retellings. I really enjoyed this book throughout every page. I just think at some point it lost sight of the girls at the camp to talk about Achilles and Patroclus. I love Achilles and Patroclus story, so I didn’t mind reading about it, but it unsettled me a little that Briseis became a secondary character on that part of the book, because this book was supposed to be about her. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery, Rape, War, Sexual content, Murder, Violence, and Death

jose_kg's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I don't think you can really say you enjoyed this book, it's such a graphic retelling and so sad it isn't really something to be enjoyed, more endured along side the characters. That is not to say I didn't think it was a good book, I thought the writing was raw and reflective, but also unflinching. I always enjoy Pat Barker's work, and it was refreshing to have such a critical retelling of this story. This book was an experience, one I'm glad I had but also glad it's over, similarly to Briseis. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death, and Sexual assault

helpelbowhittable's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.5

A retelling of the Trojan War told from the perspective of Briseis. Compared to a Song of Achilles, this one is more dark and sad, focusing on the suffering that the women have gone through through the eyes of a very cold and salty woman. Whilst dark, it wasn't disturbing so that's good. I still prefer the Song of Achilles since I find that the character development and overall reach of the story is more limited and repetitive but it's a good book regardless, especially if you are a feminist. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Violence, War, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Slavery, and Sexual violence

alice451's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Rape, War, Violence, Genocide, Sexual assault, Blood, Sexism, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, Animal death, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Suicide

emmmillly's review

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual violence, Rape, and Violence

civetta's review against another edition

challenging informative sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Slavery, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Cursing, Abortion, Grief, Miscarriage, and Pandemic/Epidemic

emmagossage's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, War, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Suicide

patsypoo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

What will they make of us, the people of those unimaginably distant times? One thing I do know: they won’t want the brutal reality of conquest and slavery. They won’t want to be told about the massacres of men and boys, the enslavement of women and girls. They won’t want to know we were living in a rape camp. No, they’ll go for something altogether softer. A love story, perhaps? I just hope they manage to work out who the lovers were.

Really enjoyed this one! I love The Song of Achilles and it's nice to see another angle of it through Briseis' eyes. It's a very tough one to get through at times unsurprisingly. It's a war story after all so all the content warnings!

On one hand, I wish there had been less of Achilles here and on the other hand I feel his perspective is also needed to round out this particular story.

One drawback for me was the dialogue. It's very laddish and modern Britain to my taste and although I got used to it, it is kind of jarring on occasion and it took me out of the story somewhat. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexism, Violence, War, Animal death, Sexual assault, Child death, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence