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jrosegross's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
vivelarevolution's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I read this book as a teenager and loved it. I was a bit nervous to re-read it because my tastes have changed quite a bit, as has my religion-I'm converting to Judaism. I definitely did find a lot of odd and even anti-semitic inaccuracies scattered throughout the first 139 pages of this book, but none of them were bad enough to make me stop. What made me stop was so egregious I have absolutely no idea how I missed it on the first read.
This author has, for whatever mysterious unhinged reason, decided to depict Jesus as a fucking pedophile. Ana, the protagonist, is 15 when they marry. Since Jesus's age was left ambiguous, I read on for a bit, assuming that he might have been a bit older than her but surely not more than a couple of years. I was wrong. It's not long before Jesus's age is confirmed - he's at least 21.
I don't particularly care that the legal age of marriage in Rome was 12. We all know that shit is sick. Why someone would want to imply that marriage between a 15 year old and a 21 year old is not only acceptable but so freaking acceptable that they'll write about the founder of their religion doing it is incomprehensible to me.
Also, there is explicit sexual harassment and abuse of Ana by Herod in the preceding chapters. I thought their inclusion was strange despite the time period and general theme of rape culture in the book and I should've listened to that instinct. No way could this author have written a sincere and meaningful condemnation of rape culture while explicitly condoning and celebrating child marriage & rape.
This author has, for whatever mysterious unhinged reason, decided to depict Jesus as a fucking pedophile. Ana, the protagonist, is 15 when they marry. Since Jesus's age was left ambiguous, I read on for a bit, assuming that he might have been a bit older than her but surely not more than a couple of years. I was wrong. It's not long before Jesus's age is confirmed - he's at least 21.
I don't particularly care that the legal age of marriage in Rome was 12. We all know that shit is sick. Why someone would want to imply that marriage between a 15 year old and a 21 year old is not only acceptable but so freaking acceptable that they'll write about the founder of their religion doing it is incomprehensible to me.
Also, there is explicit sexual harassment and abuse of Ana by Herod in the preceding chapters. I thought their inclusion was strange despite the time period and general theme of rape culture in the book and I should've listened to that instinct. No way could this author have written a sincere and meaningful condemnation of rape culture while explicitly condoning and celebrating child marriage & rape.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, and Child abuse
Moderate: Antisemitism
anastasia_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
"A book to be enjoyed like a cold lemonade during a hot summer afternoon"
I loved getting into Ana's world everytime I opened this book. The historical context is so well researched that I feel I've learnt a lot while reading. The plot itself is amazingly well executed, with a flawless logic. I didn't find myself asking "why" for lack of context from the author's part. It really was like reading someone's memoir or autobiography. There were only a very few moments were the story got slow but picked up almost immediately so as to not vet boring. Long book (over 300 pages is long to me ^^) but so worthwhile! Would recommend if you enjoy female lead characters, coming of age novels a dive into history and/or rewritings of ancient texts!
I loved getting into Ana's world everytime I opened this book. The historical context is so well researched that I feel I've learnt a lot while reading. The plot itself is amazingly well executed, with a flawless logic. I didn't find myself asking "why" for lack of context from the author's part. It really was like reading someone's memoir or autobiography. There were only a very few moments were the story got slow but picked up almost immediately so as to not vet boring. Long book (over 300 pages is long to me ^^) but so worthwhile! Would recommend if you enjoy female lead characters, coming of age novels a dive into history and/or rewritings of ancient texts!
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
livciotta's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
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