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alexiasophii's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is a hefty book, before anything else, please be careful of the content warnings, they are NOT a lie or minimized, this is a very heavy, graphic and pain-ridden book. However, it is incredible. It's amazingly sad, amazingly painful, but amazing nonetheless.
I might come back and do a bigger review later because I'm still gathering my thoughts, but I really enjoyed this book (I had a nightmare related to this book, that's how well-written it is!) and I'm planning on reading the sequel as soon as possible!
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
emilyandthewhippet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Minor: Cannibalism
sas_lk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
The entire time I was reading, I so desperately wanted the women to fight, to try different things, to escape this hell. But at the same time, you know that they will never be able to get out of that situation. It is so sad how a lot of the events are not even historical, in the sense that many women are still treated like this.
At the end, it still ended up being quite a bit about Achilles. While i understand why Barker wanted to do it, I still wish the focus was even more on the women because in the end, it almost felt like the book was forgiving Achilles and the men for what they had done.
That said, when Achilles grieves Patroclus, Barker wrote it extremely well.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War
eza008's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Confinement, Infertility, Miscarriage, Self harm, Torture, Xenophobia, Excrement, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
shadereads's review against another edition
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and War
Moderate: Pregnancy
kt2e56's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
But holy SHIT what an abysmal execution.
First of all: there’s the obnoxious overuse of very modern phrases and concepts (I mean modern as in there’s no way someone in Ancient Troy would even know what this MEANS let alone say it) which kept taking me out of the story. The author also straight up has no idea how to write dialogue. Each character sounds the same. They all speak the same. Exactly the same. And there’s ZERO consistency. A character will go from speaking fairly normally one chapter to speaking like a British chav the next (no joke. “Me mam bloody well told him to sod off, the wanker.” That’s the level of bizarre random, nonsensical dialect the reader is subjected to. It makes ZERO sense and comes and goes in such an alarming rate) then back to normal a sentence later. It’s insanity.
Most egregiously though, halfway through the book Barker decides to abandon the purpose. It’s no longer the Iliad from Breises’ point of view and told in her voice (granted her voice sounds like everyone else’s but still) but now we’re being subjected to jarring chapters told in third person all about Achilles and events that Breises wasn’t even around for. So the author essentially took back the idea that made this so interesting in the first place by tossing Breises aside and making this all about Achilles and his mommy issues.
Like I truly don’t know what editor approved this. This genuinely felt like I was reading an outline let alone an actual published novel. And a novel that people are apparently fawning over and think is really good and ~feminist~!? I’m just astounded by the praise this mess of a book has received. The one good thing honestly was Achilles being portrayed as a petulant toddler obsessed with breast-feeding a la Homelander in The Boys. That’s it. I hate comparing books but honestly just read Madeline Miller’s “Song of Achilles” even THAT is much more graceful and lyrical and does an infinitely better job of fleshing out Breises (AND SHE IS ONLY A SIDE CHARACTER!!! SHE ISN’T THE CHARACTER TELLING THE STORY!!!) than this drivel did. Both SOA and Circe were so well done and beautifully written that they felt like myths in and of themselves. This is just bizarre.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy
beauvisseau's review against another edition
- 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
Although the main character, Briseis, does not have a highly developed character, I feel that it fits with her state of being. The grief of losing her loved ones but also one's self can turn you into a shell of memories and thoughts.
One point of criticism though, is that I would have liked to see more perspectives of different women there. It is a missed opportunity to switch between Briseis, Patroclus and Achilles, when two of those three narratives have already been explored for centuries but so many narratives are missing.
Amazing work of fiction that truly expands upon the existing narratives and opened my eyes to many new ideas about war, feminism, story-telling, slavery and power. Would recommend to anyone.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lotten4's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, and Pregnancy
Minor: Self harm, Vomit, Medical content, and Alcohol
ellida's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
2.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
busco's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Death, Rape, Slavery, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Minor: Pedophilia and Suicide