Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak

9 reviews

lemonwrlds's review against another edition

adventurous informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Excrement, Sexism, Violence, Abortion, War, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Classism, Confinement, Pregnancy, Blood, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Rape, Religious bigotry, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Slavery, and Torture

heliofoe's review

dark informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

I love that the book is about two women who have otherwise not been written about much. I remember then from reading Gregory of Tours in university, but didn't know this much.

The themes and framing of the historical facts into a story is very well done. However, it does mean that's as a historical exercise I was left wanting to know more about the sources. The 6th century has very limited textual evidence and it's necessary to extrapolate from contextual evidence. I'd just like more clarity on where some of the evidence comes from.

As a trade history book though it's very fun, and I absolutely need a good movie about this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, War, Pregnancy, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Xenophobia, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

This is absolutely full of triggers because the medieval world was effed up. IMO worth it if you can read it, as it's not dramatized to the extent it might be in fiction.

agathajanemaud1908's review

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

So glad I heard about this book on the Vulgar History podcast! I had no idea about this period in history or that the collective world knew so much information about this time. And of course, I had never been introduced to these amazing women before. Highly recommended for history, especially women’s history, lovers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Sexism, Death, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Confinement, Child death, and Violence

Minor: Suicide, Body horror, Sexual violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Torture

lauratakens's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Torture, Rape, Murder, Violence, and Misogyny

roses_posy's review

dark informative fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Torture, Suicide, and Slavery

constancely's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

I loved every page of this book and have already recommended it to all my friends. In case anybody doubts whether it's boring or slow-paced at some points, it isn't. It's incredibly compelling and I certainly wasn't expecting to enjoy this book so much.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Torture, Murder, and Death

awebofstories's review

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

5.0

I spent most of my college career reading history books.  While I enjoyed earning my degree, I have only rarely read a history book since graduation.  As this book came to me described as "a history book that reads like a novel," I knew I had to try it.

I had never heard of Brunhild and Fredegund, even though my degree is in Medieval History (to be fair, "medieval history" is considered by many to start in 800, and these two queens lived during the 6th century).  It took Eleanor of Aquitaine to interest me in the medieval world, but she doesn't hold a candle to these two queens.

I learned so much from this book.  I ended up taking pages of notes and then regaling my husband with random facts about the Merovingians, which I'm sure he appreciates to no end.  But, I'm left wondering why there has never been a movie--or, probably better yet, a prestige TV drama--of these two women.  I recently described Brunhild and Fredegund as House of Cards and Game of Thrones, respectively.  Who wouldn't want to watch that?

This is not a "history textbook" but rather a work of narrative nonfiction, which is what makes it so accessible to readers.  One thing I noticed in so many history books is that historians sometimes get so deep into the weeds that they start to see the people they are studying as chess pieces rather than humans.  Puhak not only doesn't fall into that trap but sassily points it out when she finds examples in her research.

While I would recommend this book to anyone, I have this caveat.  When writing history or historical narrative nonfiction, the author cannot control the plot's events.  This book can be incredibly brutal.  Puhak does an admirable job of writing the harder parts with accuracy and compassion, but that doesn't change the fact that this tale has its share of the hard stuff.  A reader would need to accept things for what they are: recounting events that happened and that the author has a responsibility, rather than a choice, to depict them.

I have not stopped thinking about this book since I finished it, and I eagerly await someone to bring Brunhild and Fredegund--and this book--to the screen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Violence, and Child death

xandra_lyn's review

dark informative tense medium-paced

3.5

This was a hard book to rate. Basically, the story writes itself - the author simply accumulated the known writings of these two queens and put it into a book.

However, Shelley Puhak (the author) admits this is "not an academic history; it is a work of narrative nonfiction" (171). As an historian, that didn't sit well with me. I also felt there were some analysis issues that a true historian would have navigated better. On a more petty note (but one that bothered me) her citations were rather unconventional, using page numbers and quotes rather than footnotes. (Ms. Puhak is not an historian, but is actually a poet, so that may explain some of it.)

Those are big things for me, but may be little things for non-historians. Overall, it's a good story. Like I said, the history is fascinating and writes itself.  Ms. Puhak was simply kind enough to compile it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Death

Death: there's a lot of people who are killed Torture: quite a few torture methods are briefly described.

alisonvh's review

adventurous challenging dark informative medium-paced

5.0

This book is so good and I learned so much! Everyone should read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Sexual assault