Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes

17 reviews

franzi_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Suicide

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Gore, Death of parent, and Confinement

ozmarie's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Miscarriage, Child death, Death, Self harm, Sexual violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Pregnancy

ronjaorsomething's review against another edition

sad tense 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

4.0

So it is a good book. But if you know the story of Oedipus the foreshadowing is downright cruel, it made me want to scream. I really enjoyed Ismene's story and because I didn't really know much about the original stories there were definitely some plot twists that I didn't expect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide, and Death of parent

Moderate: Incest, Child death, Violence, and Miscarriage

nila's review against another edition

mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

I love what I've read of Natalie Haynes' work so far, and I feel this was like reading a great first draft. The first third of the book was really slow, and it wasn't until the connection between the two timelines became clear (which could just me not seeing the obvious) that I became more invested in the story. I felt there was no depth to the characters, and a lot of telling, not showing. I'm just disappointed because there is absolutely great potential to the book, especially considering Haynes' other work, but it just didn't live up to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Suicide, and Death of parent

Moderate: Murder and Child death

meg_elyse's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Self harm, Death, Grief, Incest, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Sexism

bookstorian's review against another edition

4.5

In my excitement to read 'Stone Blind' (Natalie Haynes' soon to be released book) I had forgotten that I had still not read 'The Children of Jocasta', I picked it up ready to step back into the world of Ancient Greece, what I didn't realise was that my visit would only last two days! For a historical fiction read - it was nothing short of engrossing. 

Told from the perspective of Jocasta and her daughter Ismene this work weaves together the well known story of Oedipus and the tragedy that befalls their family - death, death and more death. 

Plot: What I loved most about this story was how it shifted my understanding of the myth and what happened - it gave it colour and texture. It wasn't the predictable story that I expected and instead was told from the women who are the most silenced within the myth and invited me to consider other possibilities to the tragic events- ones that weren't reliant on the Chinese Whispers of an oracle. Even though the book was published in 2018, there were strong pandemic vibes - I love how works such as this remind us that plague and disease on a massive scale is not a new experience of humanity. 

Characters: Obviously I'm here for not one but TWO female protagonists. I think the real tragic hero for me wasn't Oedipus, it was actually Creon, usually painted as the villain, he was so different between the narration of Jocasta and Ismene given that he was ravaged by greed and grief later in life, poor fella. The gender bending of Teiresias as a female house keeper and the inclusion of Sophon (a tribute to Sophocles) was also a delight! 

Writing style: I furiously underlined many quotes throughout - I adore Haynes' writing. So much so I was even captivated by the author's notes at the end to the very last word (something I usually skim over). 

The ending: Different than I expected, I did question moments of it and I'm actually not sure what happened to Haemon.. I know what was meant to happen to him but not sure what became of him in this version of events... 

Needless to say I am SO EXCITED for the release of 'Stone Blind' and am eagerly awaiting to see what Haynes does with the myth of Medusa! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Death

introverted_reads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Death, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, Grief, Confinement, Blood, and Child death

akswhy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

Come for NH’s lady-led take on the Oedipus story, stay for her to “play fast and loose” (her words) with it in the absolute best way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Suicide, Slavery, Violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Death of parent, Child death, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Miscarriage, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape

toriliz's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

This book has earned a special spot on my shelf as one of my favorite books. It took a lot of emotional stamina for me to get through, between both Jocasta and Ismene’s awful situations, but it was worth it. I have always felt compassion towards Jocasta; she was a victim of the gods’ awful will. How would you handle finding out your second husband is actually your child, oh and you had kids together, oh and your city is cursed because of your actions? This just added a new layer of my sympathy towards her and toward Ismene, as well. I won’t reread this often but it has definitely earned a special spot on my shelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Pregnancy, Confinement, and Incest

Minor: Vomit and Sexual assault

loongbooy's review

emotional hopeful mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, and Suicide

Moderate: Slavery and Misogyny