Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

117 reviews

sosobee_06's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

 The Silence of the Girls made me see the trojan war from a very different perspective than I first did in The Song of Achilles, which I enjoyed. Although at some points, the story is told from Achilles´, rather than Briseis´ perspective, which takes away the "women´s pov" I was expecting, this book made me reflect on how stories are told and glamourized nowadays.
Overall, I really liked the way the Illiad was retold. 3,5 stars 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Rape

Minor: Physical abuse

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

allthebooksihoarded's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, 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, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm and Vomit

lynnrahm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

Another Greek mythology retelling because my Percy Jackson phase is still ongoing.

I’ve read a few negative reviews for this one and with a heavy heart I tell you they don’t speak nonsense. This book has its faults. It’s called The Silence of The Girls but Achilles and my sweet boy Pat outshine them all. Like come on! We love Pat and the bloodthirsty gay moron but WHERE IS THE CONTENT WE WERE PROMISED? WHERE ACTUALLY ARE THE GIRLS? Being raped? Being sacrificed? Being tortured to death? Hmm.

We were robbed of the things we actually wanted to read.

But I’m giving it a five star review. Nope nope I’m still the sanest person alive. And this book deserves a five star. I loved how the author succeeded in portraying the war and the lives of the soldiers. I loved that it had Achilles’ pov and loved the way he navigated around Patroclus and dealt with his grief. Come to think of it this book had more of Achilles than it had of Briseis (AND IT IS A BOOK TOLD FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF BRIS) But as I said—Achilles’ mommy issues (no cap) and his tenderness for his father leading him to be gentle with Priam and him caring for his myrmidons—truly splendid.

And thus it was worth my time.

PS: Ik I right the worst kind of reviews.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War

katieiser's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

streamthief's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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

Amazing book, wonderful retelling of the Iliad from the pov if Briseis, a captured and enslaved queen from Troy who becomes an object of conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon. It shows Achilles, and other Greek heros, as being complex people who can do awful things. Nearly all the male characters have slaves, some used for sex and other just for labor. I think largely the point of the book was to demonstrate that instead of simply retelling the tale of Troy. The book is fundemntally about Achilles and his story, but isn't told from his perspective. The writing was magical, and everything was paced in such a lovely way. It wasn't as 'enjoyable" of a read as other books may be, but it was engrossing and really makes you think. I read the entire thing in a day.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Grief, Colonisation, and War

katie_gibbs's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death and Infertility

nicolesr1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Slow burn for the first 20-30 pages then finished it in one sitting. Challenging read that left me sobbing by the end. 
I don’t think the blurb gives a realistic view of how the novel will handle Briseis’ story as well as the other women involved, as I felt it could have given more of a voice to them. I felt the end of the novel was rushed and could have done more to explore the women’s feelings and experiences as the myth wraps up. 
The unexpected shift from 1st to 3rd person was jarring and occasionally brought me out of the narrative. Overall I enjoyed the read after I was able to push through the gruesomeness but it is about War and doesn’t shy away from the horrors of battle. A realistic depiction but lacking the depth of the female characters that I was hoping for. It is refreshing, yet horrific, to read something that focuses on the women effected by war and the realities of life in times of conflict rather than just another retelling of the heroes whose names we all know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

andrea_carroll123's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Child death, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery