Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

55 reviews

beauvisseau's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

One word: breathtaking. This retelling of a story as old as time was done so well, you can almost taste the love that the author has for Greek and Trojan mythology. The writing style was impeccable, and I can clearly see all of the conscious choices that the author made regarding things like speaking style, active versus  passive speaking styles and the investment in certain themes. 

Although the main character, Briseis, does not have a highly developed character, I feel that it fits with her state of being. The grief of losing her loved ones but also one's self can turn you into a shell of memories and thoughts.
One point of criticism though, is that I would have liked to see more perspectives of different women there. It is a missed opportunity to switch between Briseis, Patroclus and Achilles, when two of those three narratives have already been explored for centuries but so many narratives are missing.

Amazing work of fiction that truly expands upon the existing narratives and opened my eyes to many new ideas about war, feminism, story-telling, slavery and power. Would recommend to anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, War, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Genocide, Gore, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Violence, Physical abuse, and Xenophobia

_tabby_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

I love retellings of famous stories when they're rewritten from the woman's point of view and Pat Barker did this incredibly well.
It made me hate Achilles even more than I thought possible but it wasn't her version of Achilles I hated- this book just made me realise how horrible of a man he really is despite the version of the myth being told. Eye opening moment.
Patroclus remains as sweet as ever but Barker doesn't let you forget that he was no exception to keeping a slave girl (she goes into detail about the other slave girls too which emphasises the title)
Briseis was possibly the best choice of female character for the lead of this book and her personality doesn't feel forced or made up- it feels natural to her character and like the personality and thoughts she was always meant to have (if Homer spoke about her more ofc) 
Loved this book and currently reading the sequel, "The Women of Troy".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and War

Moderate: Child death, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

bectothebooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Cursing, Gore, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Vomit

zoecjohnson's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Genocide, Sexual assault, War, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Grief, Domestic abuse, and Rape

julietejames's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Slavery, Rape, War, Violence, and Sexual violence

bibliobetty's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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? No

3.5

Grim, bleak, and unrelenting.

I appreciated the writing style and commentary and definitely found it worth the read but probably won't come back for another read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, War, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Gore

princess424's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I really liked the concept of this book. Giving the power back to the women of the Trojan War. This book was good. I kind of wish we had the pov of Helen but I absolutely love Briseis and her story was different because we usually get perspectives of the Greeks and how they fought the war and it’s a one sided war but this book gave the Trojans names and opinions and stories which was great

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, War, Child death, Death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Murder

ellida's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Child death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, War, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, Slavery, and Violence

nolwenn's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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

5.0

Une lecture géniale qui complete celle du chant d'Achille de Madeline Miller. Avoir le point de vue de Briséis est hyper intéressant!
Je recommande vraiment

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, War, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Violence

murano's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, Body horror, Murder, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and War

Minor: Vomit and Self harm