Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

540 reviews

_pauline's review against another edition

adventurous sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

first of all, this book is GORY af

If you like greek mythology & don’t mind the content warnings, this might be for you. (ignore my review then, though)

The combination of war & romance was weird - I don’t need to read about how beautiful someone looks while killing people; neither did I want to read about 13 year olds forced to have sex (if that’s needed to accurately describe what that time was like, it could’ve at least been less detailed); same with animal killings, though ig that too is unavoidable considering the context

I didn’t love the pacing, character development & all the talk about feet etc?? Achilles got progressively more unlikeable (this really is a story about his irrational, insufferable pride), and I cared a lot more about Briseis. She was so right when she said

'You care more for him in death than in life […] Kill me. It will not bring him back. He was worth ten of you. Ten! And you sent him to his death!' […] He fought to save you, and your darling reputation.
Because he could not bear to see you suffer! […] You have never deserved him. I do not know why he ever loved you. You care only for yourself! […] I hope that Hector kills you.'

The breath rasps in his throat. 'Do you think I do not hope the same?' he asks

The last 100 pages were kind of page-turning & heartbreaking though and it got better and better until the very last page. Can’t say I always enjoyed reading this, but I don’t think it’s a bad book.
It didn’t live up to the hype in my opinion BUT tbf I never cared - or knew much - about greek mythology, nor am I a big fan of war novels or romance, so I really am the worst possible person to review this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Vomit, Misogyny, Child abuse, Grief, Animal cruelty, War, Death, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexual content

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Adult/minor relationship

valerian_honeybee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Death, War, Blood, Homophobia, Grief, Sexism, Rape, Ableism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content

missmarycrawford's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Gore

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Child death

_meganrose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I knew what was going to happen and still bawled my eyes out multiple times. Madeline Miller’s portrayal of love and grief completely blew me away. This is a read that will sit with me for a very very long time. Epic and heartbreaking. The best novelistic adaptation of a classic tale that I have ever read. Wow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Homophobia

grace_cr1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Body horror, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, War, Animal death, and Sexual assault

rcroft's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Child death, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gore, and War

ivana's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual content

grilledsneeze's review against another edition

adventurous sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Violence

Moderate: Death, Self harm, and Gore

Minor: Slavery and Rape

jlohnes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual harassment

caitlinspeachyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I understand why there is such a hype around the genre of book but I struggled to connect with Achilles. Also the constant threat and statements of woman being SA’d really added to made the struggle to enjoy this. 

Loved seeing a LGBT+ story being so well regarded. Wish I liked it more! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexism, Animal death, Medical content, Gore, Child death, Blood, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic relationship