Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Daughters of Sparta by Claire Heywood

24 reviews

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

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

3.5

a greatly informative book with freshly interesting new perspectives. i really enjoyed reading about helen and klytemnestra, especially their childhoods, and the life at court for a woman and (house)wife as well.
still, i thought the characters were pretty... vanilla? like especially the men. you hear stories about the men's rage and bitterness, about the sexism and misogyny, but the men in this book were kind of ... alright i guess?
they were abusive sometimes and assholes of course, but when it came down to it, all they did was scream, mostly. and menelaos was like a puppy idk
i also thought the book was too slow and long in the wrong places. helen's and klytemnestra's childhoods were interesting, but you could keep it shorter. for the first half of the book not a lot really happened. i had wished for more infos and stories beyond the trojan war, explore the lives after, but it just cut off there, after the war had ended.

really addictive writing tho, would still definitely recommend. an informative, lyrical gem—with flaws:)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Misogyny, Slavery, Grief, Murder, War, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Rape

Minor: Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Sexual content

sidneygolbitz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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? N/A

3.75

This book was very fast paced, which I like, but I feel like the narrative could have really benefited from taking a breather in some spots. The ending was somewhat anti-climactic as well. There is a strong plot and characters, but this book doesn’t have much else going for it. Overall enjoyable though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Child death

Moderate: Miscarriage

grisgrisgris's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Pedophilia

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, and Cannibalism

chambersaurusrx's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, War, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Sexism

sadiesupercynski's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was heartbreaking for many reasons and in many ways. There were several dark and difficult themes explored, which is something I like in a book but may not be for everyone. 

Daughters of Sparta is a fascinating version of the magnificent Trojan war mythology, told from two new points of view: the women behind the scenes of the original telling, Klytemnestra and Helen. Through these points of view, you are given glimpses into the challenges, heartbreak, cruelty, loneliness, grief, strength, and regret these characters face due the suppression of women, the liberties of men, and the casualties of war. 

Rather than being characters or presence in this retelling, the gods and goddesses from the original telling are given a backseat as simple idols of a belief system, giving the story a more historical, realistic feel rather than a supernatural one. 

Be sure to check out the content warnings before diving in, as many heavy and triggering topics play a role in this story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, War, Violence, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, and Blood

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Miscarriage, Infertility, and Child death

therealslimkatie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Hard to get into but did pick up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

courtneykatzmeyer's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity and Miscarriage

salty1038's review against another edition

emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

Really loved this book as it blended Greek Myth and feminism, one of the few books ever to make me cry. Can really relate to the multi-dimensional characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Child death

Moderate: Misogyny and Rape

Minor: Miscarriage

alyssa_b_dub's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

catriona99674's review against another edition

informative sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I found this book overall to be disappointing. As a book about Helen and Kyltemnestra I was looking forward to a retelling of the myth of Troy from these women's perspectives. However from the beginning to the end of the book both women lacked agency in their own stories. I appreciate that the author was working within confines of the myth and that agency for Greek women in this period was limited but it was remarkable how little action either woman took and for vast amount of the book they were both just passively reacting to things going on around them without evening seeming to want to do anything. This made them feel like props rather than real people and almost entirely unempathetic because how can you empathise with people who don't even think about doing anything? 

Also the frequent time jumping meant that the book never dwelt on anything. Lots of terrible things happen in this book but the author never spends any time in the aftermath. So the thing happens and then we instantly skip forward years ahead so that our characters have already dealt with the immediate consequences of the event. This meant that nothing really landed like it was clearly supposed to and the author failed to evoke and real emotions or look at anything in any real depth. 

The author created some really interesting opportunities to explore different types of abuse and neglect but the constant skipping forward meant that we never spent enough time anywhere to fully feel the weight of these. 

The author also had a chronic case of tell don't show. There was very little dialogue in the book and most of the the word count was made up of the author telling us what Helen and Klytemnestra had discovered in their time jumps about the men around them. Rather than being allowed to come to conclusions ourselves about other characters the author told us exactly what we should think at all times but failed to demonstrate it through action or dialogue in most cases. 

The book was also strangely paced. There was never enough time in this book. The chapters were very short, time was constantly jumping forward and events would be discussed and them dropped. This meant that not only did we spend very little time exploring the events of the book and their consequences and aftermath we also spent very little time in the lives of these two women. Also they seemed to ever do was weave. 

I dont often say this but this book needed to be longer. It did not have the word count to tackle the lives of both these women and the consequence was that nothing was explored satisfactorily. Various plot points were also discarded half way through the book and the ending was unsatisfactory. 

Overall I was left unsure what exactly the theming of this book was supposed to be and what the story the author was trying to tell was exactly. 

Saying all that it was still mostly an easy read and I did finish it. I would be interested in seeing what this author does yet and I hope she will improve in her future writing projects. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and War

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Grief

Minor: Miscarriage