Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes

5 reviews

angelofthetardis's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

3.0

As can easily be gleaned from my reading history, I do love me some Greek myth retellings. I've heard Natalie Haynes speak and be interviewed on several history podcasts I listen to, and she's always come across as bright, bubbly, funny and extremely knowledgeable about her specialist subject, so I thought I'd give this book a go, simply to get me a little more up to speed with the women of the Greek myths and to obtain a more female-centric view of them.

From very early on, the phrase that stuck in my head was 'stream of consciousness'. The writing is interesting and thought-provoking, but it makes for breathless reading - it came across to me as if the author simply couldn't type the words out quickly enough to keep up with her thought process. One line of examination flowed seamlessly into another; while in general that's a good thing, it made it very difficult to discern the point she was making.

The language used clearly puts this book well within reach of a general audience, but at the same time this is not a book to pick up if you only have a passing knowledge of the women and the myths studied. I class myself in that category - I could place most of the women in the right 'place' in the myths, but aside from that my awareness is in fact relatively limited. As a result, once again it became very hard to keep track of exactly what the author was trying to say - it was only with the last couple of women studied that a clearer recap of their 'standard' stories was included. Otherwise, it felt very much like being thrown in at the deep end, and therefore perhaps more appropriate for those with more expertise. I though this was a shame, as if matters were drawn out a little more I think it would have made a truly fascinating read.

Because of both these elements, I found it a harder going read than expected; for a fairly short book, it was quite heavy-going. I could only digest it for about 20 minutes at a time before the weight became too much and my attention started to drift. I think this would be an incredibly useful reference book if you were studying a particular myth or work such as the Iliad, as it would counter the male gaze of the main story and allow you to consider an alternative perspective. Likewise, if you were focused on one particular female from the pantheon, you might find her chapter in here a great source of information. But otherwise it's just not got that hook to make it a 'must read'.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Grief, Rape, War, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Blood, Emotional abuse, Child death, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Pregnancy

rebeccajost's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective relaxing

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Grief, Infidelity, Pregnancy, War, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Violence

anelya's review against another edition

challenging funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

While I did end up enjoying the book quite a bit, I must say I was let down at the start of it. So many arguments are brought up that are not fully developed in the end. I often found myself wondering, "So, what's your point?" It reminded me of a University seminar paper that hasn't been edited and given an interweaving red thread yet. So again, it was certainly a very interesting exploration, and it was nicer to read once I accepted there wouldn't necessarily be an overall point and just enjoyed the tangents, fun facts and titbits. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

marianneiriss's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Misogyny, Child death, Death, Murder, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Slavery, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Cannibalism, Infertility, War, Abandonment, Ableism, and Adult/minor relationship

wherethebooksgo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Suicide