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condygurl's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
This is a story of the war between the Greeks and Troy due to Helen. Helen plays a very minor role in the story.
The story is from the perspective of a captured woman who once was going to be Queen, but instead becomes the slave to the most fierce warrior of all time.
The only part I was truly upset about is the author silencing the girls. The beginning starts out very strong, but then we switch POV, and poof, out goes the female voice, and in comes the crazy male voice. It also got a bit repetitive in the camp, but I guess that is par for the course because how different is daily living from day to day when you are a slave?
Very good story but I think it could have been better if the author stuck with one pov.
Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Violence, Sexism, Pregnancy, Murder, Bullying, Blood, Grief, Sexual assault, Cursing, Child death, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Death
jnichols's review
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Slavery, Child death, Self harm, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Death
lunamond's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Ableism, Child death, Genocide, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Slavery
sapphicpenguin's review
4.0
I didn't like some of the punctuation/format choices, and especially at the beginning a lot of the language felt cliche. After every mediocre sentence, though, was a paragraph that blew me away, so I couldn't dislike the writing.
My main issue was how much of the book—a first-person POV book, too!—didn't center Briseis. This book is from her perspective, marketed itself on being her story—and yet multiple chapters don't include her. It felt like the author just felt we would be too bored without some of Achilles's story as well—but doesn't that defeat the point? Of course that's the issue you run into—all the exciting bits of the Iliad happen with zero women present, that's the challenge of a retelling centering women. It just didn't feel like the author completely overcame the urge to just write a story about Achilles and Patroclus.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Murder, Alcohol, Excrement, Physical abuse, War, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Animal death, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Self harm
Minor: Cannibalism, Infertility, and Miscarriage
The worst/most violent of the sexual assault is skipped over, but it is very present. The aftermath is discussed.queen_of_the_rats's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Body horror, Child death, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual assault, War, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, Death, Torture, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
emilyandthewhippet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Confinement, Gore, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Deportation, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Misogyny, Blood, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Torture, Violence, War, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Cannibalism
sas_lk's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
The entire time I was reading, I so desperately wanted the women to fight, to try different things, to escape this hell. But at the same time, you know that they will never be able to get out of that situation. It is so sad how a lot of the events are not even historical, in the sense that many women are still treated like this.
At the end, it still ended up being quite a bit about Achilles. While i understand why Barker wanted to do it, I still wish the focus was even more on the women because in the end, it almost felt like the book was forgiving Achilles and the men for what they had done.
That said, when Achilles grieves Patroclus, Barker wrote it extremely well.
Graphic: Animal death, Slavery, Child death, Death, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Kidnapping, Rape, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Violence
michellewalsh's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Rape, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Body horror, Physical abuse, and Grief
sendhelporcoffee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
guivx5'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? Yes
3.0
“The Silence of The Girls” relies on the famous Iliad story, a tale with so many different takes and interpretations that it has come to be known, even if just a bit, by everyone. I myself have started to enjoy stories based on greek epics when I first read Madeline Miller’s books. So I had high hopes on this one. And, honestly, it had everything to be really good. The dense characters; the abuses inflicted towards women, usually omitted in retellings; a rich scenario to explore. It had the bread and cheese, and it could’ve been a hell of a lunch. If the writing wasn’t such a slog.
Look, I’ve really tried to like this one. I really did. But getting through the chapters turned into a battle. The author writes like this, using commas repeatedly through the paragraphs, often turning phrases into a mess, a big mess, of convoluted information, agonizing confusion, crossing each other, making the long paragraphs often composed of one or two sentences. It. Is. Really. Exhausting. This, mixed with the questionable narrative choices, made this book the biggest slog for me.
Overall, it’s The Iliad in some way, so it’s good in some way, although I do feel that this book is not so friendly towards people who don’t have much knowledge about the original story. It’s sad it turned out this way for me.
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Death of parent, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, Sexual violence, Body horror, Infertility, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Domestic abuse