Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper

74 reviews

diana_dea's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Honestly, this was everything I want from a historical fiction book. It conjured a vivid and complex picture of ancient Pompeii from the perspective of those who lived in the city. I enjoyed that while this was set in Pompeii, it did not revolve around the eruption of Vesuvius, as most books set in the city do, but merely used the fact that we know so much about this city to build a believable backdrop to the story. Centering the story on an enslaved prostitute offered a unique perspective, and one that managed to show both light and darkness, both the cruelty humans are capable of and the warmth and solidarity they can show to each other. I found Amara's character very intriguing, she is not perfect but flawed, not all of her decisions may be unanimously considered correct, she may even be selfish and cruel sometimes, but she is very much shaped by her circumstances and at no point did I not find myself rooting for and sympathizing with her.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Grief, Misogyny, Suicide, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Abortion

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Classism, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Cursing, Murder, Grief, Child abuse, Slavery, Rape, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Trafficking, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Vomit, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, and Abortion

bealmg's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• 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? No

4.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Union Square & Co. for the e-ARC. 

The Wolf Den, the first of a trilogy by Elodie Harper, follows the story of Amara, a Greek woman sold into slavery after her father dies and her mother struggles with paying his debts. She is brought to Pompeii where she becomes an enslaved sex worker in one of the city's most infamous brothels, The Wolf Den. 

Although this is historical fiction set in the Roman Empire, the writing was surprisingly modern and easy to read. While it took me by surprise at first, I found myself enjoying this modern spin. The descriptions of ancient Pompeii are beautifully vivid, from the narrow roads to the graffiti adorning the walls of the houses. Although this book is about the lives of enslaved sex workers, I thought the author did an incredible job at showing the cruelty of the pain and violence these women go through without too many explicit and graphic details. She showed just enough for us readers to get the picture and still feel for these characters.

I really enjoyed how nuanced most of the characters were, particularly the women. I also liked how nobody, not even the protagonist, is shown as inherently good or bad - although there are clearly evil characters in the book who are not, and rightfully so, redeemed, you see how every character tries to do whatever they can to survive. Harper slowly tells you about their backstories and it adds so much rich detail to the dynamics of the relationships in this novel, especially the friendships between the women. 

The pacing of this book is quite slow, but I thought it was necessary to fully explore these characters. The only thing I thought could have been better was the plot - there's no problem with it per se, but sometimes I felt that the main plot (Amara trying to become a free woman) was overshadowed by the everyday lives of these characters, which, although I really liked reading that, eventually led to a very rushed ending, in my opinion.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and the themes it explored, which are still incredibly important and relevant nowadays. I'm interested to see where the story goes next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Rape, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Trafficking

ninjamuse's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper is a refreshing take on historical fiction. Not only is it set in Roman Pompeii rather than northwestern Europe in the 19th or 20th centuries, but it’s centered on enslaved sex workers and told in modern language. (No thou’s or attempts to mimic Latin here!) The author has done a great job of bringing the ancient world to life and making it feel nearer than it is. 

The book focuses on Amara, born into a middle-class Greek family and sold into slavery after family tragedy. As she does her best to better her circumstances at any cost, we get not only a portrait of a living Roman city with its pubs, parties, clothing stores, food stalls, and everyday injustices, but also a wonderful sense of the friendships and competition within the brothel she works in. I loved seeing how the women there formed a community among themselves, and how they fit into the wider society (or didn’t). I got the real sense that Harper had not only delved deep into how Roman society would’ve worked at the street level, but had done her diligence regarding the lives of (modern) sex workers too.

I also thought that Harper did a good job portraying the characters as complex, fallible, and human. She gives her female characters, especially Amara, the full range of emotions and all are believably imperfect. The worst of the men get sympathetic moments and the best of them, damning ones. They all feel of their time too—relatable or familiar, but also holding attitudes and beliefs that remind you this isn’t a modern story. (For instance, it’s clear that Amara knows slavery sucks for all enslaved people, but she never quite questions why slavery is even a thing.)

All in all, reading this felt like reading about real people leading real lives much more often than it felt like reading a novel. It’s a slowish read that feels at times like it’s digressing or offering up set pieces of Pompeiian life, but those moments all get woven back in neatly by the end. (It’s also slowish because of emotional drain. I couldn’t binge-read because bad things kept happening.) I found the ethical dilemmas compelling, though—if you’d damned no matter what, what’s the right option?—and enjoyed both how Harper told this story and woven in her themes and critiques. It’s definitely been one of the highlights of my reading month and I hope it gets a lot of attention once it’s out.

Note: while this book is definitely pro-sex work and has a lot of sympathy for those who find themselves forced into that life or exploited, it’s still set within an incredibly misogynistic society that saw no problem with degrading or harming women. If harassment, issues with consent or boundaries, or sexual violence are things you don’t want to read about, this might not be the book for you. They’re rarely graphic, but definitely prevalent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

liteartha's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

centred on the lives of amara and the other women enslaved at a brothel in pompeii, the wolf den is a heartbreaking, thought-provoking, and deeply human story. brilliant historical fiction, incredibly well grounded in its pompeian setting despite its very approachable modern style

i was particularly struck by the complexity of the characters' relationships, be it within the power structures of their surroundings or interpersonally. the relationships between the women especially were portrayed with such nuance and depth, which i loved, but i would have appreciated a little more exploration of the characters themselves. while i understand why we didn't get a wealth of background for much of anyone, it still left me feeling less invested than i otherwise would've been

on the whole, such an impressive start to a trilogy. i had very high hopes for this book and while it wasn't quite all that i'd hoped, i'm walking away satisfied and very excited to continue on with the series

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicide and Death

Minor: Abortion

alice_clay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Racism, Sexism, Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Fatphobia, Grief, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Abortion, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicide

bookphenomena_micky's review against another edition

3.25

Headlines:
Traumatic narrative
Raw life in a brothel in 79AD
Men with power

I didn't expect to be rating as high as 3.5 stars to be honest but the characters weedled their way into my psyche and I found it harder and harder to put the book down. Do not be mistaken, this is a difficult book to read. I am putting triggers warnings at the bottom of this review because the narrative is overtly abusive and not for the faint of heart.

The MC Amara was a kidnapped Grecian young woman, sold into sex slavery and living in a brothel in Pompeii (yes, I too wonder where the volcano might feature). The cast of characters in this story were difficult to like, even the MC and some of the other enslaved women. They weren't endearing but can you blame them? No. However, I did grow to become invested in their lives. Amara did have some surprising character development.

The cast of men are quite frankly almost completely vile; none more than Felix. There were some men who gave the women compassion or chances but it was often for a price or to gain something. Life in Pompeii was rough, dangerous and male-centric. Men had all the power and women had none to very little. You could never call this a feminist read because the women were afforded nothing; they were surviving.

I'm glad I read this despite my difficulty with the trauma in the first half. I'll definitely be reading on in the trilogy and I'm really glad this was a buddy read so that we could fume and discuss together.

*TW - rape, sexual assault, abortion, suicide, physical abuse, sex trafficking*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Trafficking, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, and Child death

lucyselim's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, and Trafficking

Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Violence

evangelinereading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse and Abortion

Minor: Suicide