Reviews

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

Only show reviews with written explanations

the_girl_who_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

mblanke's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad fast-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

sophiedianee's review against another edition

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3.0

I was quite surprised this sequel even existed, considering that the first book (Silence of the Girls) seemed to end so well. Like the first, it gives a voice to many iconic Greek women who were lost to history and the atrocities they faced forgotten. I did continue to appreciate this books feminist intentions and aspects. However, I did feel this was lacking compared to the first. It felt like dozens of sub plots pushed together instead of one main line of conflict and I wish we could have seen more character growth from the last book instead of packing on new points of view that didn’t totally feel necessary.

aislingat's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

sslovesbooks_1's review against another edition

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4.0

I loved this sequel to The Silence of the Girls and thought the women’s voices throughout this book were captivating and I adored hearing their stories.

poorlywordedbookreviews's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵… 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵; 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Following on from The Silence Of The Girls, Troy has fallen, but the gods are not happy. A hot, fierce wind blows in off the sea, not allowing the Greeks to return home with their spoils of war. Trapped in the shadow of their deeds, with no grand purpose to rally around, the Greeks hunt for a politically palatable way to appease the gods. The women of Troy? They must find a way to navigate their new world, and place within it, all whilst managing their grief, anger and terror.

I enjoyed this just as much as the first instalment. Barker’s writing, style and dialogue is brilliant. I think the balance between focusing on Briseis/the other enslaved women, and Pyrrhus (son of Achilles, aka Neoptolemus) was done well - a female refocusing of a story so heavily shaped by the action of men would feel false without it.

This duology is definitely worth your time if you want a less militaristic retelling of the tale of Troy, with complex characters of both genders. It’s not big and showy, and feels like true feminist retelling rather than a cynical or wish fulfilment ‘girl power’ tale. My only note is that Briseis’s as a narrator is very restrained, and whilst it worked for me, allowing her moments of greater honest to really hit, I suspect many will find her ‘dull’.

trak17's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

4.5

ladykelsier's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

sakisreads's review against another edition

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dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.0

✨ Gifted ✨

My friend bought me this for my birthday and I was super pumped, having just finished ‘Silence of the Girls’.
He did say there was less drama (and he wasn’t wrong), but I still found Briseis’s energy inspiring and necessary. What a woman, helping other women in the horrific patriarchy!

I hated Pyrrhus (and now that I’ve looked at visual depictions of him, I hate him even more) 😂 But I also could sympathise with how he might have been a product of the trauma he went through 😳

3 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨ I am really enjoying Pat Barker’s twists on Greek mythology (although I’m unsure whether I’ll pick up the next one or not)!

Content Warnings

tbooth's review against another edition

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4.0

Adding another star to this after a second read.

Having now read the first book before this one and then re reading it made the story a lot more interesting especially with the behavioral differences in between Achilles and Pyrrhus. I think you really see Brisesis harden in this second book, all too often these retellings group women together as one and the action of one affecting all. I like how whilst she did want to help the other women, she had much more self preservation and felt like she wanted to survive this.

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