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preciouslittleingenue's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
To add more insult to injury on that front: I didn't write down any specifics, but there were deliberate references to Achilles and Patroclus's story as a romance, and perhaps even a "this is not a romance, it's a horror story" type line. I definitely got the vibe that this and other similar lines were meant to throw shade at The Song of Achilles (published 2012, while TSOTG is published 2018). It was truly almost like Barker read TSOA and had a direct, visceral reaction, which came out in the form of TSOTG. Except...she did the exact same thing that she seems to hold Miller in such contempt for. If Barker hated that Miller made the bloody, horrific, women-torture machine that was the Trojan war into a soft, tragic romance, and by doing so took away from the reality and the tragedy of the women's suffering...then why was Achilles a main character with point of view? Why was Briseis silenced by the author in her own story? Nearly every single detail of plot that Achilles POV provided could have been Briseis. It's incredibly frustrating. Every time it cut away to Achilles, I could not wait to hear more about the women. Especially since this was written after TSOA, there is ENOUGH about his relationship to Patroclus and his grief over losing him. I don't care in the context of a book called The Silence of THE GIRLS. THE GIRLS. If Barker wanted to share with everyone her headcanon that Achilles has mommy issues...put that in another book and don't make me read disturbing passages about it that are used to facilitate rape in a story that's meant to be ABOUT THE GIRLS AND WOMEN.
Don't get me wrong. If Barker had written this as direct shade to TSOA, made all those references about how it's wrong to categorize the Trojan War tales as anything but bloody, rape-filled horror, and kept it woman-centered, I would have nothing to say. I recognize that TSOA, for all its poignant beauty, is man-centered. But the hypocrisy of seemingly wanting to "do better" than that and then literally doing almost the exact same, while claiming you're not...idk man it's a little too much hypocrisy for me. Really really bothers me.
Anyway. Now that that's out of the way, I don't regret reading this. Despite Barker's large misstep, it does shed light on a lot of things we often try not to think about when we think about the Trojan war and war-glory stories in general. The first five or so chapters were really. Hard. To get through. I thought I would have to DNF it, truly. Especially because I was so brainwashed by the gorgeous and soft telling by Miller. But once I got over that and learned what to expect, I was glad I hadn't put it down. Not that it got less horrific. Not at all.
Below the spoiler tabs I have listed the quotes that I absolutely had to write down that just sat like a punch to the gut. The absolute senselessness of war. The complete and utter hubris and idiocy of men, every single one of them. The beautiful enduring power of women, even tortured and/or about to be murdered. The way men literally don't think women are people. Lines that I just otherwise found hauntingly beautiful and poignant.
All that said...if it weren't for the Achilles POV, this could be a solid 4/5 or 4.5/5. But given how uncomfortable it made me and how ineffective and hypocritical it was...the Achilles POV takes it down to a 3. Won't be rereading, won't be purchasing for my shelf. And I feel no need to read either of the two sequels. But I am glad I read it.
Graphic: Sexism, Gore, Sexual violence, War, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Misogyny
milliewhattt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, Child death, Misogyny, Rape, War, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Genocide, Suicide, Slavery, Murder, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Infidelity
amberrose27's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Death, Sexual assault, Violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, War, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Physical abuse and Slavery
friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, War, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Gore, Infertility, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, and Grief
annasbookreviews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Excrement, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War
sr_marshrat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Rape, Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Slavery, and War
Moderate: Animal death
prlprl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Slavery, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and War
Minor: Child death, Pregnancy, Suicide, Animal death, Incest, and Misogyny
melissafelicia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
I found it hard to relate to the main character. She seems to not care much about rape, even defending it. She also barely mourns her family, friends and neighbors. I could understand it if that were out of a sort of survival mode, but then we would at least have caught some glimpses of emotional distress?
Also for a book about Bryseis' perspective on the war, it still seems to be about the male fighters and kings most of the time instead of about the relationships between Bryseis and the other women, about her thoughts on the war, about her identity.
So even though it was an interesting perspective, I think it could have been more interesting and engaging.
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Grief, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, and War
chloj_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
!!spoilers ahead!!
- ‘his idea of female beauty was a woman so fat if you slapped her backside in the morning she'd still be jiggling when you got back home for dinner.’ damn me too
- ‘she could’ve been kind to me and she wasn’t; she could’ve helped me find my feet and she didn’t.’
- ‘when i got to the door i paused with my hand on the latch and looked back, but she’d already turned away’
- the main character’s relationship with femininity is so cleverly written- both her relationship with other women, and with her own femaleness
- ‘but the dying man, his face wiped clean of pain, cradled his spilling intestines as gently as a mother nurses her newborn child.’
- ‘“it’ll be alright,” i said, knowing it wouldn’t.’
- ‘he fucked as quickly as he killed, and for me it was the same thing. something in me died that night.’
- the emotions in this book are soooo beautiful done
- ‘the bed was cold.’ this one sentence is so incredibly powerful
- ‘no girl ever dressed more carefully for her wedding than achilles for the battlefield’
- ‘as long as i lived and remembered, [my brothers] weren’t really dead.’
- the relationship between briseis and iphis is SO special- it is born entirely from shared tragedy and the kindness only women can share with each other.
- that depiction of wasteland at the end of 46/start of 47 is SUCH a beautiful depiction of the waste of female beauty (both physical and mental) at the hands of men
- ‘the world began to close in around me, and i realised that the songs belonged to my brothers and not me’
- ‘i always remember that she wept for me when i couldn’t weep for myself’
- the list format of the people Achilles killed / how they died is SO good- it really displays how the repeated trauma and war has made tragedy something clinical.
- ‘before leaving, he always bent down and kissed him in the mouth, though the lips had darkened and begun to retract.’
- ‘Why him? Why not me? He asks the questions over and over, as if one day they might have a different answer, and the burden of guilt be lifted at last.’
- achilles grief is written so beautifully
- ‘and i do what countless women before me had been forced to. i spread my legs for the man who killed my husband and brothers.’
- ‘now my own story can begin’
Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Grief, Medical trauma, Blood, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Cursing, and Pedophilia
shadi_anna's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: War, Misogyny, Violence, Slavery, and Rape
Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Death, Body horror, and Grief