Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

253 reviews

eringobragh's review against another edition

dark reflective sad

4.0

Overall a strong premise and a strong story. Achilles can't help but become the focus even when the book purports to be entirely Briseis' story, but the parts where he is involved are interesting. The language doesn't always fit the place and time and can be too modern at moments, which took me out of the story a few times. Not an easy read, as the subject matter and many of the events are brutal, but it did give me a lot to think about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

Moderate: Misogyny, Violence, and War

sarahsbooklife's review

sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I like this story but I struggle to put my finger on what I did and didn't like about this book.
Maybe it was the characters or the writing or the story itself. But I struggled to regain interest in this book each time I stopped reading and put it down.
I think I liked this book because I like Greek myths and legends. It was quite interesting to read about a different side of the myth that goes into what it was like for the women that were taken as slaves by the Greeks. 
It's an interesting take on a classic Greek tale. 
But it's not the epic story that some people make it out to be. It felt a little lacklustre to be to be honest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Grief, Sexual content, Slavery, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Violence, War, Death, and Rape

Moderate: Pregnancy, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Medical content, and Child death

Minor: Violence and Vomit

jabberwalky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, War, Slavery, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, Incest, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

Rating and review to come

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Child abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, and Classism

Minor: Cannibalism

nialiversuch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual content, Animal death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, Kidnapping, Slavery, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Suicide, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Excrement, Pregnancy, and Vomit

readingoccasionally89's review

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

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

3.75

it started off well and the change of perspective (to the women’s perspective) is definitely a plus for me, but it was WORK reading this book, especially in the middle. 
one thing that bothered me aswell was how the relationship between patroclus and achilles is described, especially because i read this after tsoa, (which i definitely liked better.) but that’s just my personal opinion and NOT a flaw of this book. 
i think the intention of this book was to show the hopelessness, troubles and crimes in the trojan war from a woman’s perspective, in which pat barker definitely succeeded, but stil i wouldn’t call this book a favourite. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Genocide, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, and Slavery

asternautt's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Death, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Kidnapping, Excrement, Gore, Rape, Gaslighting, Trafficking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Medical content, Blood, Pregnancy, and Murder

Minor: Cannibalism and Vomit

ladystardust1979's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, War, Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Rape, Grief, Misogyny, Slavery, and Violence

iwishihadmoretimetoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Misogyny, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexism, Grief, Sexual harassment, Child death, Blood, War, Suicide, Sexual violence, Gore, and Death

Minor: Cannibalism

bobcat_98's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

• 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Rape, Blood, Child death, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, and War