Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

33 reviews

adrienneb18's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

alexiasophii's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5

Of all the books that retell The Trojan War I've read in the past months, this was the one I liked the least. Primarily because of Elektra's character. I know I'm biased since this isn't my first book on the Trojan War and I'm very familiar with most characters, but I just could not like Elektra. There's one quote, in particular, that annoyed me profoundly and made me hate her:

" They buried the woman [Kassandra], the one I saw walking behind him. No one has told me how she died. I wish that I could have talked to her: perhaps she could have told me stories about my father. The slaves say she was a princess of Troy. She was so lucky to be chosen by a king, the greatest king in Greece, to be brought here to a palace that must be as fine as the one she left. Finer, I’m sure. Whatever wealth Troy possessed, Mycenae had Agamemnon. And she did too, for a little while. "

I mean... how ENTITLED do you have to be to think that a SLAVE is "lucky" to be driven from her home, used by your father, and see her family and home dead and burned just because... what? You miss your daddy? I swear, this character just boiled my blood. And, once again, I'm on  Clytemnestra's side in this whole ordeal, though I still find myself wishing she had influenced her children not to be so devoted to Agamemnon but oh well. 
Overall, this book is not as good as the ones I've read before and the MC really annoyed me, so it's a 3.7 stars for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, and War

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nicnevin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

Good story but I feel like the titular character honestly didn't have much to do with her own story, especially since the more interesting aspects were with Cassandra and Clydemnestra.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tinyjude's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

A very emotional and poetic writing style that flows perfectly well with the three main protagonists. The story is filled by rage, grief and atrocities, but also ultimately, about love, honour, admiration and justice. A story in which the women's suffering and courage is highlighted instead of being diminished or hidden. They are complex women with different believes and desires, yet the author makes a fantastic job in their characterization, so you cant help but to understand and feel bad for them even if you disagree with their actions. Helen is both a complex and enigmatic character with agency in the eyes of these women, but reduced to a prize in the eyes of men. With such subtleties, the focus, which is put into the women related to Troy, the narrative vindicates these 'forgotten' characters and criticizes/attempts to create a feminist retelling that is both piercing and engaging.

Especially, what I have enjoyed the most is the portrayal of motherhood and mourning. The chapters that focused on Clytemnestra were by far my favourites. There is so many violence against women in this story (og and retellings) but the tenderness, the compassion she showed for other women's suffering through the novel made it such a compelling read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Pregnancy

ruby_mae_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War

acasiamae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child death, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.75

i really enjoyed this. Clytemnestra's storyline and perspective was by far the best in my opinion. Elektra's storyline, while connecting the characters and giving us a new perspective, was a little lackluster at times. if not for that i would have enjoyed this even more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kaitlyng's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Fire/Fire injury