Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Shadow of Perseus by Claire Heywood

5 reviews

alanacterry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Alternative title: “Man Child Makes His Misery Everyone’s Problem”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Physical abuse and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, and Slavery

standardchaos's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed Heywood's take on the story of Perseus. I didn't mind that it didn't have any magic or god interference, I thought it was still plenty interesting. Perseus in this is an annoying little man child who never really grows up and I wanted to dnf so many times just because he was so unlikable!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Murder

pippling's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

I loved this retelling of the myth of Perseus told from the perspective of three women, his mother Danae, his wife Andromeda, and his victim, Medusa. This is a Greek myth brought to life by realism and without the intervention of gods or monsters. The story is medium-fast paced, and full of emotion and beautiful scene-setting. For a fairly short novel it’s full of heart, if often heartbreaking!

hannahyorkey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Murder

santinasimile's review against another edition

3.25

 I'm a sucker for mythology and was so excited to read this version of Perseus's story. While there were some intriguing parts, overall, the story fell flat. The story is told in chunks from the three women's perspective, but none of them felt fleshed out enough to maintain interest. As soon as I felt hooked with the characters or story, it would jump to the next and leave the threads hanging.
I love the concept of women taking back their stories, and there is only so much that can be done without going against the originals, but this just did not have the strength I expected. Perseus was a very annoying character, which may be on purpose, and Danae, Medusa, and Andromeda seemed muted by the end in a way that seemed more from the writing than the events in the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy