Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Troy by Stephen Fry

23 reviews

lucyatoz's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Troy: Our Greatest Story Retold by Stephen Fry is the 3rd in his series of Great Mythology and I appreciated this storytelling just as much as I did in his previous two. 

Just as the title says it tells the story of Troy, the great mythology story of Helen, wife of Agamemmnon, the King of Mycenae, being kidnapped by Paris the Trojan, Prince of Troy, which results in a 10 year war, with the involvement of thousands of men and mortals and causes much entertainment for the Gods as they interfere, sometimes subtlety yet sometimes with cracks of thunder and bursts of lightening. 

I listened to this as an audiobook which was read by the author. I love Stephen Fry's distinctive voice and his genuine insight and passion for the subject matter that really brought Troy to life for me. 

I own a copy of this book and listened to it on BorrowBox. I read this for the 52 Book Club Summer Reading Challenge 2024, for prompt 16, Road Cycling, a time period with modern transportation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Child death, Murder, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Another great installment in the epic mythology and history of Ancient Greece. I find it ever fascinating how much can be interpreted as fact and how much can be legend. The blend of it all and how closely interwined the people of the time lived with their gods is so interesting.

The story of Peleus and Thetis' wedding was perfectly accompanied by The Day I Fell into A Fairytale, which was reimaging Briar Rose/Sleeping beauty's story and I couldn't help but notice the themes of a women scorned from not being invited to a celebration.

This was such a great account of the rise and fall of Troy. There's was so much I hadn't ever gotten to the point of understanding before, by Fry takes us through all the players and events of this dramatic period of time.

I read this and listened, simultaneously and adored that combination.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Infertility, Torture, Cannibalism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, War, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Gore, Death of parent, Incest, Murder, Pedophilia, Child death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Vomit

cobracommandeer's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

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

2.5

Worst of the series unfortunately. All it adds to a base understanding of Troy is a deep dislike of almost every character. For me Troy has only taken away from the history, while Mythos and Heroes added to and informed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Murder, and Misogyny

professoremdash's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

5.0

Fantastic retelling and amazing delivery by Stephen Fry in the audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and War

Moderate: Rape

megb64's review against another edition

challenging informative fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, and Kidnapping

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

4.0

“We achieve immortality not through ambrosia and ichor but through history and reputation. Through statues and epic song.” 

➽ Troy is a retelling of the history of the Trojan War! Once again Stephen Fry blends what facts we have about the time period with legends and other sources. As always, I enjoy listening to him narrating the audiobook, as he makes the stories sound so engaging! I didn't know too much about the Trojan War, as it's not a subject that I'm specifically interested in, but it was nice to learn a bit more about it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Sexism, Murder, and Death

danimacuk's review against another edition

adventurous informative slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Minor: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Abandonment, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Slavery, Blood, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, and Violence

ktryan's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Body horror, Rape, Slavery, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Grief, Trafficking, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

hannah_grace's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Suicide, Slavery, and Murder

javafenn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective 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

4.0

Stephan Fry is brilliant and his story telling makes my heart so happy. As someone who views all religion as a sort of mythos and knowing Fry is a self described atheist as well, I read and listen to these stories for their window in time and purely for their stories! Fry is one of my favorite story tellers at this point and I will read anything he writes. I only give this one 4 stars simply because it really is so graphic and the death of children is just hard to read/listen to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Abandonment, Death, Confinement, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Self harm, Violence, Death of parent, War, Grief, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Excrement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Slavery, Confinement, and Pregnancy