Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

85 reviews

bythunder's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

tinyjude's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.5

A very emotional and poetic writing style that flows perfectly well with the three main protagonists. The story is filled by rage, grief and atrocities, but also ultimately, about love, honour, admiration and justice. A story in which the women's suffering and courage is highlighted instead of being diminished or hidden. They are complex women with different believes and desires, yet the author makes a fantastic job in their characterization, so you cant help but to understand and feel bad for them even if you disagree with their actions. Helen is both a complex and enigmatic character with agency in the eyes of these women, but reduced to a prize in the eyes of men. With such subtleties, the focus, which is put into the women related to Troy, the narrative vindicates these 'forgotten' characters and criticizes/attempts to create a feminist retelling that is both piercing and engaging.

Especially, what I have enjoyed the most is the portrayal of motherhood and mourning. The chapters that focused on Clytemnestra were by far my favourites. There is so many violence against women in this story (og and retellings) but the tenderness, the compassion she showed for other women's suffering through the novel made it such a compelling read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death, War, Gore, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, and Rape

ruby_mae_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Slavery, Murder, Misogyny, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, War, Child death, Sexual assault, Violence, and Blood

saskia_ej's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Grief, Rape, War, and Sexual assault

daryn's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, War, Infidelity, and Murder

simoneg's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

acasiamae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Murder, Gore, Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Slavery, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Child death, and Sexual violence

Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

mxbluet18's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

3.0

Trigger warnings for Elektra include: murder, child death, war, rape, sexual assault and slavery.
☆
☆
Elektra follows the stories of Clytemnestra, sister of Helen and wife of Agamemnon; Cassandra, Princess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it, and Elektra, the youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon.
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Greek mythology has always been interesting to me, and I enjoy reading retellings from different perspectives. The classic story that's well known of Cassandra and of Clytemnestra through her sister Helen. 
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The book was enjoyable, but I think I tried reading it at the wrong time, or I could t get into the story very well because I struggled to get through the whole thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Rape, Child death, Sexual assault, and Slavery

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Slavery, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, War, Abandonment, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, and Misogyny

Minor: Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Incest

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

i really enjoyed this. Clytemnestra's storyline and perspective was by far the best in my opinion. Elektra's storyline, while connecting the characters and giving us a new perspective, was a little lackluster at times. if not for that i would have enjoyed this even more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, War, Grief, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, and Violence