Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

6 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

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.

liviaes's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Sexual harassment, War, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty

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

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

I’m usually hesitant to pick up sequels, but I’m really glad I read this one.
“The Women of Troy” follows Bresis after Troy has fallen, though the Greeks are not able to return home quite yet. The Gods are angered, resulting in impossible sailing weather and rising tensions. But above all, we see the trojan girls/women forced into slavery, telling a story of those left out in the epics.
Bresis character arc took a significant shift from “Silence of the Girls,” as she is no longer a slave, but the wife of a Greek fighter and the mother of Achillies baby. While her station is improved, Breisis finds her internalized conflict emphasized, because no matter how far she has come, slavery always seems to loom behind her. 
The feminism aspect of this book was phenomenal, and all women got their turn in the spotlight, even if Breisis was telling the story. I appreciated how Breisis tried to understand Helen and didn’t continuously slut shame her as other retelling tend to do. 
I did wonder, however, why Barker chose to include perspectives of the men in the duology, since the purpose was to explore experiences of the women.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, and Kidnapping

selkelite's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Child death

Minor: Animal cruelty