Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

320 reviews

noosayag's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Well that was a distressing read…

This was a bleak retelling of the Trojan War narrative, from the POV of Briseis, once a princess, now a captured slave. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Rape, and Child death

rrio's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Slavery, Rape, and Murder

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

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

starlesssky72's review

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Pregnancy, War, and Violence

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

embreads98's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

I read this book directly on the heels of Song of Achilles, so I could not help but compare and contrast. While SoA reimagines the story of Patroclus and Achilles as a coming of age love story, steering mostly clear of the gore and horrors of war, Silence of the Girls spares no gruesome detail. Hearing the story from Briseis’ perspective forces the reader to consider the reality of those who are neither victors or losers in the clash of Trojans and Greeks, but merely collateral damage. Throughout the book, Briseis grapples with her powerlessness as a woman and a slave, and ultimately concludes that the story isn’t about her and that she will be remembered as a footnote in Achilles’ legend. I took a half point off of my rating because I felt like the story dragged a bit after Patroclus’ death, but otherwise I would highly recommend Silence of the Girls for anyone craving a different perspective on one of the most well-known stories of the western world. 

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Content Warnings

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

theothergrl's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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

This book does a wonderful job of showing us how patriarchy harms both women and men. It's a retelling of Achilles' story of the Battle of Troy from the perspective of his bed slave, Briseis. Their horrific and very sad relationship is explored earnestly. It's not a story about love, it's about two people pushed into bed and how they grieve immense loss not together but side-by-side. In different ways they are both denied the ability to process these emotions. They both grapple with their anger at the wasteful and pointless reasons for their loss. The loneliness and pain they both experience come from two hands of the same body, patriarchy. I think the way this is shown so paralleled throughout story, not in comparison to one another, is what makes this such brilliant feminist literature.

And, of course considering everything else, this book is a wonderful example of how we can tell stories with even the extremes of sexual violence, and tell them well without gratuitousness nor overly graphic. I did not once feel that there was no need for a particular sex/rape scene, when they were there, it added to the story. 

The 3 main characters in this book are loveable (and 2 very much despiseable) in a very complicated and heart wrenching way. But you'll definately enjoy spending time with them and hearing their story, I would 100% recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, War, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual violence, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Blood, Infidelity, and Rape

Minor: Infertility, Vomit, Child death, and Pregnancy