Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

66 reviews

caelfind's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

“Because isn’t that, ultimately, the way we cope with grief? There’s nothing sophisticated or civilised about it. Like savages, we ingest our dead.”

This was an exquisite story of the complexities of war, freedom, and womanhood, set amidst the immediate aftermath of the Fall of Troy. Barker crafts a harrowing, raw tale, never flinching from the realities of ancient warfare, and offering us fresh, nuanced depictions of well-known characters. Her characterisation is the shining star of this book; the characters’ deeply complex, and sometimes contradictory, personalities perfectly mirror the horrific war they grapple with. The Greeks must find a way to return home and face the violence they wrought, while the women wait to meet their uncertain futures. And all the while, the countless dead seem to hover in the corner of every hut, watching with judgemental eyes. This was a truly masterful work and I can’t wait to pick up the third book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Murder, Death, Sexual assault, Violence, and War

Minor: Child death

mblanke's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Child death, Sexual content, Violence, Torture, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Sexism, Slavery, Death of parent, Infidelity, Grief, Rape, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and War

Minor: Animal death

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

theothergrl's review against another edition

hopeful 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

4.0

I really enjoyed The Women of Troy as a sequel. It was really interesting to read more about the politics of the camp, especially through the POV of a seer navigating these power dynamics very consciously. It was great to read an author write that power is the root of all the violence and misogyny, that these things are distributed by normal men, 'good' men.
I didn't enjoy it as much as the 1st, and I felt there was fatphobia that wasn't just through the 'eyes of the men' as it claims. So I give it a 4.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Trafficking, Violence, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Child death, Death, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Medical content, Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Torture

jessellisx's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Rape and Torture

katy_bee's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this book for the start and middle but knocked a bit off my score for the end. I appreciate that by building on the Greek myths there was a limit to plot points but it felt a little lacking in clear resolution to me. 

Nevertheless I like retellings and this one engaged with the idea of what it actually means to be given as a prize of war- pretty bleak. The way the women were trying to find ways to be - and stay true to themselves- in terrible circumstances was compelling and felt well handled

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Slavery, Kidnapping, Grief, War, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, and Death

Minor: Torture

reclusivebookslug's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this sequel considerably more than the first book and I found it a much more unique and interesting retelling. It feels more woman-centered; the male characters don't overshadow the Trojan women. Seeing Briseis' role evolve with her changing circumstances was cool. Helenus was another interesting new character. I'm looking forward to the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Animal cruelty

Triggers are all similar to that of the first book.

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

blalloland's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, War, Slavery, Abortion, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Homophobia