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stitchbooks22's review
- 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? Yes
2.0
However, can publishers and marketing teams stop pushing the term “feminist retelling” onto books that are so clearly NOT a feminist retelling? That is my biggest issue with this book. If the book had been done differently, it had the potential to be a feminist retelling. But trying to focus a bit more on the women in a story that is male dominated and being unsuccessful at focusing on the women and their own lives does NOT make a book a feminist retelling. That is my main gripe with this book.
So if you’re looking for a feminist retelling of Greek mythology, this is not it. Otherwise it was an okay book.
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Toxic relationship, Suicide, War, Slavery, Infidelity, Medical content, Torture, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, and Violence
gkm00's review against another edition
3.75
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Animal death, Alcohol, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Gore, Emotional abuse, and Murder
joelrandeblad's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Jag fastnade direkt. Språket, huvudkaraktären, den poetiska brutaliteten.
Boken följer Briseis, kvinnan som tas som slav av Achilles och sedan blir ett byte för Agamemnon och Achilles att bråka över. Boken tar vara på något som böcker som The Song of Achilles och självfallet Illiaden... missar? Eller om man vill vara snällare kan man säga att det inte är deras ärende. Men här ligger fokus på kvinnorna som inte har en röst, inget val. Det är Briseis och hennes intrikata känsloliv, att behöva natt efter natt utnyttjas av mannen som mördat hennes bröder, bränt hennes stad och hem. Om kvinnorna som ser sina unga söner dödas, tvingas i sängs med männen som mördat dem, är byteshandel, är slavar, kastar sig själv från murarna för att en säker död är bättre än den framtid som väntar dem. Boken är våldsam och vacker, sorglig som jag vet inte vad. Man känner verkligen hur något går sönder.
Jag känner redan här att den här recensionen inte gör boken rättvisa. Att mina ord räcker inte riktigt till för att fånga den komplicerade känsla som Pat Barker använder hela boken för att försöka få grepp om. Den är komplicerad, djup, otrolig.
Kanske att man vill ha lite koll på Iliaden och kriget i Troja för att man ska hänga med. Det är många namn, många karaktärer och konflikter. Men personligen (som rätt mytologiintresserad) hade jag inga problem alls att hänga med. Nu vill jag bara dyka in i "The Women of Troy". Såg även att Pat Barker är på väg att släppa ännu en bok i höst på samma tema!
Sätter jag den på en piedestal? Absolut. Kommer alla tycka som jag? Förmodligen inte. Men det här var verkligen exakt min typ av bok! 5 välförtjänta stjärnor.
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Rape, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, and War
dannb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: War, Physical abuse, and Rape
emmagossage's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, War, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Suicide
patsypoo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
What will they make of us, the people of those unimaginably distant times? One thing I do know: they won’t want the brutal reality of conquest and slavery. They won’t want to be told about the massacres of men and boys, the enslavement of women and girls. They won’t want to know we were living in a rape camp. No, they’ll go for something altogether softer. A love story, perhaps? I just hope they manage to work out who the lovers were.
Really enjoyed this one! I love The Song of Achilles and it's nice to see another angle of it through Briseis' eyes. It's a very tough one to get through at times unsurprisingly. It's a war story after all so all the content warnings!
On one hand, I wish there had been less of Achilles here and on the other hand I feel his perspective is also needed to round out this particular story.
One drawback for me was the dialogue. It's very laddish and modern Britain to my taste and although I got used to it, it is kind of jarring on occasion and it took me out of the story somewhat.
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexism, Violence, War, Animal death, Sexual assault, Child death, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence
theothergrl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
And, of course considering everything else, this book is a wonderful example of how we can tell stories with even the extremes of sexual violence, and tell them well without gratuitousness nor overly graphic. I did not once feel that there was no need for a particular sex/rape scene, when they were there, it added to the story.
The 3 main characters in this book are loveable (and 2 very much despiseable) in a very complicated and heart wrenching way. But you'll definately enjoy spending time with them and hearing their story, I would 100% recommend this book.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, War, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Slavery, and Trafficking
Moderate: Sexual violence, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Blood, Infidelity, and Rape
Minor: Infertility, Vomit, Child death, and Pregnancy
indigoimpulse's review
- 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? No
3.75
however the book promised me a story from briseis’ pov so i didn’t really appreciate so much of the book being taken up by achilles’ pov - this author writes grief excellently so his sections were great but it kind of took away from the fact that this was supposed to be briseis’ story . i don’t really think you can call this a feminist novel but i enjoyed it nonetheless
Graphic: Grief, Pedophilia, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Torture, Blood, Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, War, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, and Gore
farah24's review
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Child death, Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Animal death
esterohman's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Sexism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Alcohol, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Chronic illness, Death, Animal death, Pregnancy, Blood, Child death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and War
Minor: Vomit