Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Daughters of Sparta by Claire Heywood

47 reviews

lanid's review against another edition

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

3.25


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mothman19's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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icarusandthesun's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

a greatly informative book with freshly interesting new perspectives. i really enjoyed reading about helen and klytemnestra, especially their childhoods, and the life at court for a woman and (house)wife as well.
still, i thought the characters were pretty... vanilla? like especially the men. you hear stories about the men's rage and bitterness, about the sexism and misogyny, but the men in this book were kind of ... alright i guess?
they were abusive sometimes and assholes of course, but when it came down to it, all they did was scream, mostly. and menelaos was like a puppy idk
i also thought the book was too slow and long in the wrong places. helen's and klytemnestra's childhoods were interesting, but you could keep it shorter. for the first half of the book not a lot really happened. i had wished for more infos and stories beyond the trojan war, explore the lives after, but it just cut off there, after the war had ended.

really addictive writing tho, would still definitely recommend. an informative, lyrical gem—with flaws:)

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abfabulous17's review against another edition

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

4.25


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charity1313's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

A retelling of the Trojan War is going to inevitable be graphic and tense. Very interesting perspective and well written but some of the time/character jumps felt...awkward. Helen didn't seem as well developed and well rounded as Clytemnestra. I realize this is written to skew our sympathies away from Helen and toward Clytemnestra but I think there is room to explore both, which does happen eventually but just not to the same extent. 

As much as I knew about this story beforehand the versions I've read and heard were obviously somewhat sanitized as they left out the details of child sacrifice and poor Prince  Hector's fate. Both descriptions haunted me a bit. She did a great job writing them but it was a bit triggering for this combat veteran.

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annasbookreviews's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective 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

4.5


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shellybelly's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0


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owlliecat's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad fast-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? No

4.75

A classic story retold from the perspective of the women. There were so many deeply relatable moments from the emotional struggles the women went through. Struggles with marriage, control, and motherhood.

I wouldn't say I loved any of the characters, most of them were flawed in their own way. But I did find myself feeling pity for them. 

Excellent retelling of the infamous Trojan War. 

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bookish_bea's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


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redheadorganist's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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