Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Galatea by Madeline Miller

114 reviews

laurendenton's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

The short story Galatea is mediocre at best, a quippy feminist piece that seems as though it was written by anyone but Madeline Miller. On it's own, I would probably give it a 3-star rating. It was okay. It kept me entertained for about half an hour and sucked me in, sure, but the story itself lacked depth. The extra 0.5 stars comes from the Afterword by Miller included at the end, which details the history of Galatea's story and the ways in which she had shaped the character into a more straight-forward and feminist individual. I personally found this section of the book the most intriguing - seeing the way that Madeline Miller was able to take a sparse and misogynistic story about women and their relationship to male desire, and crafted her into a badass heroine who risks it all to grant her daughter freedom. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

caterina's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.0

This is the feminist retelling that we needed for the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea. Miller shines a light on the disturbing misogyny that always felt like it was seething under the surface of this myth. Take a look at the content warnings before diving in!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

arachan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful fast-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? Yes

5.0

Wow, this carried a disproportionate punch for the length of the story.  A retelling of Galatea without Ovid's metaphors cluttering the brutal reality of the story.  Succinct, terse and wholly immersive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Abandonment

sunbathingturtle's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Reminded me of Atwood’s ironic, matter-of-fact tone in the Handmaid’s Tale. Only complaint is that it was over too soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Abortion

vanessa_reads_a_lot's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

2.0

This book gave me an anxiety attack and because The Song of Achilles is written on the cover I thought it was about Achilles and Patroclus 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Gaslighting

rtaire's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

4.0

Again, I love Madeline Miller's prose; it always captivates me. I liked this dark, feminist interpretation of the Galatea and Pygmalion myth. In some ways, it answers some unpleasant questions that always lingered in the back of my head when I heard the story of a man creating what he perceived to be the perfect woman and said woman coming to life -- like what of her agency and will? Quick read, that I highly recommend if you are in a place to handle the insidious implications that Miller explores.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming and Medical trauma

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Abortion, and Pregnancy

pvbobrien's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Pregnancy

laurenvoice's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

4.0

Galatea was a dark and reflective read. Although Galatea is only 49 pages short, Madeline Miller managed to pack a lot into those pages. Miller wrote about a sensitive topic in a beautiful way; I was hooked from the beginning to the end. After reading Galatea, I definitely have to read the other works by Madeline Miller!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

4.0

This was a great short story. I think I would have wanted it to be slightly longer but Madeline Miller has always had such a captivating and descriptive writing style. I could read her shopping list. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

slowly_dying_inside's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Pregnancy