Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

35 reviews

blissofalife's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I knew nothing about the myth before starting, so I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Clytemnestra. I also loved all the cameos of mythic heroes and legends. 

She’s not obviously likeable, which was refreshing. Clystemnestra is full of rage for much of the book, and spends much of the time plotting revenge. I loved how sure of herself she was, even if I didn’t always like her actions. A very strong character.

Overall slow paced with large time jumps, but an enjoyable read.

I really loved the letters in the middle of the book, I liked the window into the lives and thoughts of her loved ones and the outside perspective it gave, I would’ve loved to see more of that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, War, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Incest, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

audreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

All my homies hate Agamemnon!

Book is beautifully written. It’s a challenge to write this time period in a way that’s still easy to consume but this book definitely accomplishes that. It’s also super difficult for me to keep up with a lot of characters, but the descriptions and callbacks were so good that I rarely had to look back at the character list (which is also helpful)! I do feel like some scenes and details could be cut. While the book wasn’t especially long, it took me longer to get through than I expected. Overall I would recommend this to anyone interested in Greek mythology and/or female rage, with the caveat that you should definitely read the content warnings first.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, and War

Minor: Bullying, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Classism

I listed a ton of content warnings, yes, but most of them overlap for the same scenes and passages. The book is pretty honest about the treatment of people in this time, particularly women, so there are a lot of traumatic topics. I struggled with the amount of SA occurrences, but not so much that the book wasn’t worth it. Much of the book is dark, but moves on quickly and the end leaves you with some spark of retribution.

artcish's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

As someone who enjoys Greek and Roman mythology, this book was an interesting read. Not just interesting as it is from a woman’s perspective but also the  various events and mindsets that shaped the mythology. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and War

Minor: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

sestep's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping

beddy93's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

justagirlandherbookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Initially I enjoyed reading this book but around halfway through it  became tedious. I can understand the need for complex descriptions but it became a little too pedantic in its descriptors. I did push through and finish it but I will say some chapters could have been made shorter and others longer. I would be be intrigued to read more of Casati’s work when it comes out to see if it’s a topic issue or her work just isn’t for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment

amyiris's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Slavery

Minor: Body shaming, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Outing, and War

ialim01's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

josisteacup's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I was looking forward to this book for a while and it fulfilled all of my expectations. 
Being familiar with Greek mythology and Clytemnestras story I knew what I was going into. I've also read a few other retelling of Greek mythology so I knew there would likely be a critical discussion of societal issues, deep and complex character work and graphic descriptions of the horror of these times. 
Clytemnestra is a complex and not necessarily likeable character and the Author doesn't shy back from showing her flaws. As a "God forbid a women does anything" (sarcastic) enthusiast I love books which portray women as humans who have both positive and negative traits. 
The book is also very well written and has a nice flow. 
The side characters and their relationships with Clytemnestra are well developed.
All in all I enjoyed reading the book. It stands out amongst other retellings and I'm already looking forward to the authors next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism