Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

88 reviews

glowan4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, War, Sexism, Pregnancy, Murder, Suicide, Misogyny, Grief, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Rape and Torture

Minor: Genocide

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

alexiasophii's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? No

4.5

Just like the previous book in this series,   please be careful of the content warnings, they are NOT a lie or minimized, this is a very heavy, graphic, and pain-ridden book. 

This one, differently from the first, is a lot slower. Just like the Greeks are stuck in Troy due to the weather, so we are stuck in a moment in time in the plot. The entire book focuses on a very short time spawn and it is very character-focused. The characters are amazingly done and I really enjoyed it, though not as much as the first one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Murder, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Colonisation, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Vomit, War, and Blood

remuslibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexism, Rape, Death, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Torture, Child death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and War

Minor: Body shaming and Suicide

orange4orange's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Gore, Child death, and Rape

mimlleigh's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Murder, War, and Child death

luci_cma's review against another edition

dark emotional informative slow-paced

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

3.5

I enjoyed the book as far as it tackles incredibly important topics. Ancient Greece/ and Greek Mythology is often romanticised to an extend where the cruelty many women had to suffer through is just brushed over.
However, while I loved the characters and world building, I couldn't help but feel like the plot was dragged out.
It almost felt like the same scenes were happening over and over again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual content

alyssapowelltate's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-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

5.0

Beautifully told

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, War, Slavery, Murder, Kidnapping, and Violence

rinniereads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Not necessarily something I would rave about, but it was a good travel companion for my bus ride to work. The story did drag on a bit at times and the ending kind of left me going "that's it?". Definitely caught off guard by the very unnecessary and uncalled for use of the R-slur twice in the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Violence, Death, Rape, Sexism, and War

Minor: Abortion, Ableism, Animal death, and Body shaming

circesophelia's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I love the way that Pat Barker writes, its so touching and subtle. 
The choice of Briseis as narrator is a decision that I feel made the book, though it focused less on her and more used her as a lens to interact with the other character's in the book. Some have criticised the very andro-centric nature of the plot, especially involving Priam, Pyrrhus and the now dead Achilles, however I found this representative of the male led existence that those women had - as the emotional vulnerability, perspective and ideas of the book are dominated by the women.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Violence and Rape