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jabberwalky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
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
- 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
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
- 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
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
asternautt'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? It's complicated
4.5
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
alexiasophii's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is a hefty book, before anything else, please be careful of the content warnings, they are NOT a lie or minimized, this is a very heavy, graphic and pain-ridden book. However, it is incredible. It's amazingly sad, amazingly painful, but amazing nonetheless.
I might come back and do a bigger review later because I'm still gathering my thoughts, but I really enjoyed this book (I had a nightmare related to this book, that's how well-written it is!) and I'm planning on reading the sequel as soon as possible!
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Slavery, Alcohol, Excrement, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Child death, Torture, Genocide, Rape, and War
frank18's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Suicide, Death, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, War, Violence, and Rape
withlivjones's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I tried and failed to read this book twice before finally getting through it. It is a very slow-paced book that only really picks up in the second half. What really threw me off, however, is that while this book is marketed as being narrated by Briseis, there are many chapters (starting from about a third of the way in and gradually getting more frequent) where the point of view suddenly shifts to some of the men - most often Achilles, but also at points Patroclus and Priam. While this does provide an interesting perspective of the war, since few writers have dared to examine the depths of Achilles’ psyche in such detail, it was really not what I was expecting from a book that wanted to tell a more female-focused version of the myth. The dilemma is this: women are notoriously silent in Greek mythology and hardly ever have the freedom to tell their own story, so why, then, in a novel where Briseis is presented as reclaiming her own narrative, is a male perspective inserting itself into said narrative just like they have done for the last two thousand years?
The novel is still very enjoyable and well-written, and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in Greek mythology, but I can’t help feeling a little disappointed that I seemed to be reading a different book to the one that was advertised.
Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, War, Animal death, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Cannibalism, Cursing, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Vomit
Period-typical attitudesredheadorganist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Slavery, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Medical trauma, Blood, War, Murder, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Pregnancy and Alcohol
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.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