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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
florana's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Slavery, War, Death, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Grief, Rape, and Sexism
kt2e56's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
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.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Slavery, Sexual violence, War, Gore, Rape, Child death, Excrement, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicide, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Cursing, Grief, and Medical content
introverted_reads'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? No
4.25
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Rape, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Suicide
Minor: Animal death and Excrement
sheshallbenamed's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Animal death, Child death, Death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Violence, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Excrement
velokei'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I like it in the way you like an ugly but healthy puppy, is it ugly? Yes, but it’s still living and breathing and you end up developing an attachment to it anyway. I could barely put it down, but at the same time I really wanted to put it down.
Briseis (our main character) is boring and just bland. I don’t like her and that should not be the case! In a book supposedly meant to be centred around women, why is there only one woman’s pov but two mens? And why are both the men far more interesting than the woman? Pat if you wanted to write specifically just about Patroclus and Achilles, that’s okay! My favourite parts of the book involved just the two of them.
I also don’t get why the last line is ‘Now, my own story can begin’ if the books whole point was supposed to be the story of Briseis, and I didn’t like the changes to the myth including who she marries and
Tldr
Loved Patrochilles moments
Hated Briseis she was boring
Didn’t like the changes to the myth
This didn’t feel very feminist
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Death, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Vomit, Sexism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and War
jadehusdanhicks's review
I know it’s a well known story but I still wasn’t comfortable going ahead reading it
Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Trafficking, Slavery, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Child death, War, Murder, Death, and Blood
heuteschongekurtet's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, War, Suicide, Rape, Slavery, Sexual content, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Death, Grief, Blood, and Child death
Moderate: Rape and Vomit
glutenfreemaggie's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Excrement, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt
kitkatkick's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Rape, Toxic friendship, War, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Genocide, Murder, and Slavery
Moderate: Alcohol, Confinement, Pregnancy, Suicide, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Child death, Classism, and Kidnapping
Minor: Child abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Torture, and Panic attacks/disorders