Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

14 reviews

lauramay_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Pregnancy, Murder, Rape, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Rape

rosiedalton's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

Genuinely very lovely, very well written and enjoyable. I haven’t read The Silence of the Girls so I’m obviously missing the context from that but as a stand-alone retelling of the most boring part of the Iliad I think Barker does a wonderful job at fleshing out the characters. Briseis is such an interesting character and to choose her as the primary mouthpiece was a great choice. I also really enjoyed the perspectives of calchas and Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus in particular was a really interesting and complex point of view and I’d definitely be interested in more from Barker through his eyes; she fleshes out that mix of heroism and hubris so well and delves into the tumultuous psyche of the son of Achilles and slayer of Priam, without it feeling like a therapy session. However, when reading a book called The Women of Troy, I expected more perspectives from…the women of Troy. I had expected different women to get their own chapters, I would have loved to see the perspective of Helen and Cassandra, even one of the girls in Pyrrhus’ compound because Briseis, as lovely as she is and interested in her that I may be, she doesn’t have much in the way of a fleshed out personality; maybe that’s the point? Maybe she’s just had to learn over the years that she cannot have a personality but still her determination to survive is overarching and her emotional processes felt sincere because of how very stoic they seemed much of the time. Nevertheless, Briseis was a good choice and I still enjoyed her thoroughly but it would have been nice to feel a perspective that contrasted to hers, Cassandra’s perhaps? The defiant princess, fated to never be believed and for her marriage to lead to her doom and the hands of the first wife; a very complex emotional situation; her as mouthpiece would have been powerful contrasted with Briseis, the atmosphere of the book would have been different and a little more gripping possibly. 
It felt a little repetitive and slow in a few places but that’s to be expected given the lack of material on this particular period of the aftermath of the Trojan war. Otherwise a fantastic read and one of my favourites in the modern retellings of myths!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Rape, Slavery, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

historychatter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Slavery, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Violence, and War

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Slavery, Sexual assault, Suicide, and War

rosehw's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Gore, Grief, and Pregnancy

thehyacinthgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, War, Confinement, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Death, Violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Blood, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Vomit

iwishihadmoretimetoread's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Vomit, and Slavery

meg_sc's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

I finished this book in 2 days during my commutes to and from work. It had a hold on me that even travel sickness couldn't break. 

It seems like there are endless perspectives on the same story, and I'm loving reading different interpretations of the Trojan War from different points of view - even when I disagree on a character interpretation, I'm enjoying seeing new takes and how they've formed from the same source material. 

One of the things I like about this series is how it views the Trojan War from the side, using characters who are overlooked and forgotten by the main narrative. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Murder, Death of parent, Rape, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Child death, and War

jesticulate's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Abortion, Blood, Child death, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, War, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Mental illness, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Fatphobia and Ableism

quinn22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Slavery, Murder, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Child death, Torture, Physical abuse, Sexism, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Genocide, Miscarriage, Grief, Death, and Deportation

Minor: Torture, Dementia, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Fatphobia, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, War, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child death, Incest, Colonisation, Infidelity, Self harm, Violence, and Xenophobia