Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Heroines by Laura Shepperson

24 reviews

alexis_baldwin92's review against another edition

challenging dark sad

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

nicoles_reading_corner's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Child death

carmelien's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This book retells the myth of Phaedra and Hippolytus, first told in play form over 2000 years ago. This flips the play around however, having Hippolytus force himself upon Phaedra and the results thereof. Woven throughout this is the story of other women in Athens and across Greece, of the suffering they experience daily. Despite the tough themes and content, I found this book to be a disappointing read. It felt like every man involved was evil and every women suffered at the hands of the men around them, and this grew tiring and repetitive to read. It felt that the women had no agency and no way to impact the world around them, and even strong female characters like Medea fell victim to this in this novel.

If you want a Greek retelling there are many better out there, I would suggest Ariadne by Jennifer Saint or Medea by Rosie Hewlett. The writing was good however, and I will pick up the next book published by this author, I only hope the themes are covered more respectfully than in this first attempt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

korotasz's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

The ending was very anticlimactic and it felt rushed. I don’t feel like loose ends were tied up well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Murder, and Pregnancy

Details of sexual assault are sprinkled throughout the book, so there is not just one place that a reader can skip over

poseidons_siren's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

While it isn't a "feminist tale" of the myth of Phaedra, i thought this was one of the most phenomenal books I have read all year and likely will read all year. 

The author is clearly very well-versed on mythology and the different versions, as well as ancient Greek society and culture. The proper pronunciation being used in the audiobook was such a breath of fresh air. The story of Phaedra was never a happy one and I was insanely impressed in the way Shepperson intertwined many different versions and points of view of the myths into the dialogue between characters. While, yes, she did have some creative freedoms with the retelling, what author doesn't? I enjoyed her take on the myth greatly.

This book made me feel so seen and validated, and when you suffer what Phaedra did (in the book, not the myth, because there is a lot of different versions there) you just want to know that you aren't alone and that some sort of justice is enacted, however positive or negative the ending was for you, that's really up to the reader, in my opinion. But without giving away anything else, I loved this book. I think that the low ratings aren't really doing it justice and when you look at it more through the lens of myth interpretation, it works so much better. 

TL;DR, read the myth, go in blind to the book, ancient feminine rage will ensue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide and Sexual harassment

eastofvine's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Murder

irenemarie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement and Death of parent

read42024's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

acrosstheskyinstars's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did. I'm the first person to love a feminist myth retelling. The point of view shifting so frequently hindered the book in my opinion. It made it hard for me to feel truly connected to any of the characters. Don't get me wrong. I love a Greek tragedy, which this certainly is and I knew that going in. But the tone of this book was very dark, so definitely be warned that the subject matter is heavy. I preferred the book Ariadne by Jennifer Saint and Ariadne Unraveled by Zenobia Neil. Both of those were 5 star reads for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

hangrim's review against another edition

challenging dark tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

Mixed bag of a book… Really felt clunky with the writing style and direction of the story in the first 1/2 of the book. Felt like a chore to read. It does pick up steam and the writing becomes more cohesive and fluid as the story grows darker. At one point it was uncomfortable to read with every other word being “rape” and men belittling her.. Truly did not realize the extent of this being a contemporary tragedy, but man it holds up with some of the classics 😅 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide