Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Troy: Our Greatest Story Retold by Stephen Fry

15 reviews

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Another great installment in the epic mythology and history of Ancient Greece. I find it ever fascinating how much can be interpreted as fact and how much can be legend. The blend of it all and how closely interwined the people of the time lived with their gods is so interesting.

The story of Peleus and Thetis' wedding was perfectly accompanied by The Day I Fell into A Fairytale, which was reimaging Briar Rose/Sleeping beauty's story and I couldn't help but notice the themes of a women scorned from not being invited to a celebration.

This was such a great account of the rise and fall of Troy. There's was so much I hadn't ever gotten to the point of understanding before, by Fry takes us through all the players and events of this dramatic period of time.

I read this and listened, simultaneously and adored that combination.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Classism, Infertility, Torture, Cannibalism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, War, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Gore, Death of parent, Incest, Murder, Pedophilia, Child death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Vomit

annakh16's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

This flew off the page. It’s truly impressive how Fry manages to convey such a complex story in such a fun and accessible way. I especially loved his descriptions of the history of the city and the genealogy of all the factions - learned a lot there. I also enjoyed his reflections on the significance of each character to wider culture and even our personal lives.

Fry somehow always manages to pick my least favourite version of any episode - e.g. Iphigenia in Tauris

(saved last minute by Artemis)

or the abduction of Helen

(supposedly head over heels for Paris, at least at this point

. I think feminist retellings à la Jennifer Saint have more to offer here in terms of the impact of the war on women. But, to be fair, he is faithful to and honest about his sources. 

If you’re new to the story of Troy, I‘d say this is a great introduction. And if you love it already, then I‘ve no doubt you‘ll love this too. Would recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, War, Gore, and Violence

Minor: Rape

cobracommandeer's review

sad medium-paced

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

2.5

Worst of the series unfortunately. All it adds to a base understanding of Troy is a deep dislike of almost every character. For me Troy has only taken away from the history, while Mythos and Heroes added to and informed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Murder, and Misogyny

danimacuk's review against another edition

adventurous informative slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Minor: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Abandonment, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Slavery, Blood, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, and Violence

moveslikewind's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Rape, and Child death

aislingnic's review against another edition

adventurous informative medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Child death

Moderate: Rape

javafenn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

4.0

Stephan Fry is brilliant and his story telling makes my heart so happy. As someone who views all religion as a sort of mythos and knowing Fry is a self described atheist as well, I read and listen to these stories for their window in time and purely for their stories! Fry is one of my favorite story tellers at this point and I will read anything he writes. I only give this one 4 stars simply because it really is so graphic and the death of children is just hard to read/listen to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Abandonment, Death, Confinement, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Self harm, Violence, Death of parent, War, Grief, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Excrement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Slavery, Confinement, and Pregnancy

em_davies7019's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Blood

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Gore

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

3.0

If you aready know the myths surrounding Troy then you won't get much from this book. I feel like this would be perfect for those who are first getting into the myths, but are unsure where to start, since they are presented in the order they occurred. 

It took forever for me to get through this book. I found myself really losing interest after the first 100 pages. It's actually quite easy to read, besides some of the names, but that's to be expected. However, I didn't find Stephen Fry's voice here to be very interesting. I mean, yeah, he's certainly telling us the myths, but it's just not the fresh take that I think most are looking for when it comes to retellings. 

The actual book ends on page 333 (paperback version), with the last 100 pages being the Appendix, List of Characters, Picture Credits, Acknowledgements, and Index. So it's at least less of a beast to read than it first appears. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Infidelity, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Murder, War, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Gore, Rape, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide

marianneiriss's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child death, Cannibalism, Violence, Murder, Animal death, Grief, War, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood