Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Ithaca by Claire North

19 reviews

bobthebard's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Misogyny

Minor: Slavery

concealed_journeys's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual violence

sirenricobooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Incest, Sexism, War, Bullying, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Racism, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, and Rape

ladynocturnal's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

A slow paced read focusing on undervalued women and the small actions they take to ensure a future for themselves. It's not easy to make a story like this interesting, but I loved the writing and character building. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Rape and Misogyny

andrealinia's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Violence

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The story of the women of Ithaca awaiting the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War, narrated by Hera.

This was the inaugural pick for my new book club Myth of the Month and it was fun way to kick off the year! I thought the narration was hilarious and really enjoyed Hera as a storyteller. That said, I found the plot a bit slow-moving, and felt like not very much happened…by the time things started to pick up towards the end, the book was over, and I felt like the entire story was more of a set-up for a sequel than a standalone novel.

Still, if you enjoy feminist mythology retellings, this one was beautifully written, and I would still recommend it overall, particularly if you like a more character-driven narrative!

CW: Murder/blood; death of parent; sexual violence; slavery

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Sexism, Misogyny, Violence, War, Death, Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Blood

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-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? Yes

3.25

Extremely well-written and thoughtful. It goes very much in-depth about the experience of being a woman, particularly what it would’ve been like during that time. It focuses a good deal on the quiet, subtle power women wield through deception, as well as the sheer audacity of men. I liked it more as it went on as I got used to the narration style (it is narrated by Hera in an omnipotent POV, which I’m not the biggest fan of, but grew to appreciate). I liked it, but I don’t think I’ll continue on with the series. The first part of the book I didn’t have a strong emotion reaction to anything other than annoyance at the men. However, I did get emotional at certain parts when Hera brings up her affection and love for “her queens”, as well as the despair that is to come both in their future as well as in their experience due to the ego of men. Overall, it was thoughtful and hit the points it wanted to address effectively, but as for it continuing as a series…I’m not fully on board.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Violence, and Blood

Minor: War and Slavery

sauvageloup's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

hard to rate this one since I read it rather piecemeal and I cant hold a coherent sense of it in my head

pros:
- the characters all have distinct personalities and dialogue, which is written well. Penelope is focused, hera is snippy, telemachus is foolish, etc. but they're all complex too. there were some nice additions to the canon, kenamon and teodora (or I didnt remember them anyway), and it was nice having some decent characters.
- there is dry humor, especially in here's perspective 
- I like the concept on focusing on outwardly quieter female power, and looking at hera and penelope, and the other women from a different angle than the mythology does.

cons:
- it did feel too slow a lot of the time, with a lot of meandering and introspection. 
- it was frustrating seeing telemachus ignore his mother repeatedly, and aspects of the myths play out, but that's not a book criticism, just that inevitable tragedy isnt rly my genre.

so overall, I appreciated the writing quality and definitely enjoyed meeting Claire North and hearing her discuss her work, but this wasnt quite my type of book, a bit too slow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Child death, Gore, War, and Misogyny

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

Minor: Xenophobia

simonlorden's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

4.0

I liked the story, but the amount of misogyny and all the rape descriptions got really exhausting by the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Misogyny, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and War

cathy_alice's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and War

Moderate: Slavery