Reviews with content warning for Torture - The Silence of the Girls

This was dreadful. Barker presents an interesting concept: the Iliad but without the romance and glory of war. Instead told from the point of view of Briseis, a side character who’s role in mythology is often just being tossed from one man to the next. Again: great concept to show us the horrors of war this way and remind us who the “heroes” we still hear about would have really been like.

But holy SHIT what an abysmal execution.

First of all: there’s the obnoxious overuse of very modern phrases and concepts (I mean modern as in there’s no way someone in Ancient Troy would even know what this MEANS let alone say it) which kept taking me out of the story. The author also straight up has no idea how to write dialogue. Each character sounds the same. They all speak the same. Exactly the same. And there’s ZERO consistency. A character will go from speaking fairly normally one chapter to speaking like a British chav the next (no joke. “Me mam bloody well told him to sod off, the wanker.” That’s the level of bizarre random, nonsensical dialect the reader is subjected to. It makes ZERO sense and comes and goes in such an alarming rate) then back to normal a sentence later. It’s insanity.

Most egregiously though, halfway through the book Barker decides to abandon the purpose. It’s no longer the Iliad from Breises’ point of view and told in her voice (granted her voice sounds like everyone else’s but still) but now we’re being subjected to jarring chapters told in third person all about Achilles and events that Breises wasn’t even around for. So the author essentially took back the idea that made this so interesting in the first place by tossing Breises aside and making this all about Achilles and his mommy issues.

Like I truly don’t know what editor approved this. This genuinely felt like I was reading an outline let alone an actual published novel. And a novel that people are apparently fawning over and think is really good and ~feminist~!? I’m just astounded by the praise this mess of a book has received. The one good thing honestly was Achilles being portrayed as a petulant toddler obsessed with breast-feeding a la Homelander in The Boys. That’s it. I hate comparing books but honestly just read Madeline Miller’s “Song of Achilles” even THAT is much more graceful and lyrical and does an infinitely better job of fleshing out Breises (AND SHE IS ONLY A SIDE CHARACTER!!! SHE ISN’T THE CHARACTER TELLING THE STORY!!!) than this drivel did. Both SOA and Circe were so well done and beautifully written that they felt like myths in and of themselves. This is just bizarre.

Content Warnings

apiora215's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Content Warnings

beauvisseau's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

One word: breathtaking. This retelling of a story as old as time was done so well, you can almost taste the love that the author has for Greek and Trojan mythology. The writing style was impeccable, and I can clearly see all of the conscious choices that the author made regarding things like speaking style, active versus passive speaking styles and the investment in certain themes.

Although the main character, Briseis, does not have a highly developed character, I feel that it fits with her state of being. The grief of losing her loved ones but also one's self can turn you into a shell of memories and thoughts.
One point of criticism though, is that I would have liked to see more perspectives of different women there. It is a missed opportunity to switch between Briseis, Patroclus and Achilles, when two of those three narratives have already been explored for centuries but so many narratives are missing.

Amazing work of fiction that truly expands upon the existing narratives and opened my eyes to many new ideas about war, feminism, story-telling, slavery and power. Would recommend to anyone.

Content Warnings

thevintageflowerfaerie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

jessy_03's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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kitkatkick's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

A fascinating recount of the story of the Iliad, The Silence of the Girls strongly embraces the current push toward reframing history as HERstory. We see the see the infamous tale through the eyes of Briseis, Achilles’ concubine slave and former Queen of Lyrnessys. Despite the fact that her existence was pivotal in the Trojan War, as the cause of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon and Achilles’ resulting refusal to fight, we so rarely hear from Briseis or see her discussed as more than an object to be owned, a prize to be won. The Silence of the Girls turns the focus onto her, considering her thoughts and emotions throughout her ordeal and using that perspective to reveal the experiences of other women in her situation.

The Silence of the Girls didn’t strike me as a book that required a background in Greek history or mythology. I’m not saying you’ll get it if you have no idea who Achilles is, but if you’re unfamiliar with Briseis, or Patroclus, or any of the other actors, it seemed like you would get along just fine. And for those of you who do have that background, you get to feel extra smart when you recognize a new character or know what’s coming up.

The reason I gave this book three stars as opposed to more is that to me, the story didn’t do the premise justice. Barker’s writing is certainly wonderful, and in Part One, she captures emotions and truly makes the reader empathize with Briseis. But as we enter part two, we encounter a sudden, jarring shift to including chapters from the male point of view. And not only do we suddenly hear from Achilles, Patroclus, and others, but we shift from first to third person. I understand that it was intended to cover parts of the story that Briseis’ point of view likely couldn’t, but I can’t help but feel it was poorly executed, or even a form of cheating. We picked up this book to hear from Briseis, but as we continue on past the story of Patroclus, we hear more and more of Achilles’ point of view, and less and less of Briseis’. And in that, there seems to be some sort of comment on the overshadowing of “herstory” by history that I don’t particularly have the energy to make.

Overall, I do think this book was interesting, and for fans of Greek mythology I would certainly recommend it for it’s mostly unique perspective. But I feel that it’s more apt for calling attention to the horrors of war than it is to do it’s intended job of illuminating the stories of the women of Troy.

Content Warnings

nicolaparty's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.0

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