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halthemonarch's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.0
We begin at the sacking of her town. Achilles’ war cry grew closer and closer until his army was at their gates. He felled them easily and Briseis watches him kill her brother. She had a husband, parents and siblings, but in one fell swoop, she and all the women not brave enough to jump from their chambers become sex slaves for Achilles’ army. Briseis is highborn and thus is designated to Achilles himself, who is mostly uninterested in her until Briseis begins to bathe regularly in the ocean. Achilles’ mother is a sea nymph, so anything that reminds him of her stokes him. For a while that is their way until Agamemnon disrespects a priest by denying his daughter, his sex slave, to be returned to him. The camp falls ill, no longer under Apollo’s protection and the girl is returned. Agamemnon demands Briseis in return.
Later, when making the final efforts to fell Troy, Agamemnon and the rest of the main forces need Achilles, but he refuses to go for the disrespect shown to him. Patroclus, his more-than-a-bestie bestie suggests he go in Achilles’ stead and fight in his armor to inspire the men. Achilles sees the sense in this plan but Briseis (silently and to herself) predicts this will be the end of Patroclus. Indeed Hector kills him and Achilles falls apart, avenges him, and falls apart again. The king pleads with him for his son’s body, to which Achilles relents. Then Achilles is slain in battle, something he was yearning for after losing Patroclus. His son vows to avenge him, and Briseis meditates on how the story of Troy would live on in the sons these women had; that their lives weren’t glamorous or pretty, but history would remember the silent girls.
Like in The Wolf Den, I found the constant “you wouldn’t get it, you’re not a slave” aside to be condescending. A reader should be able to empathize with a protagonist who has no agency over what horrible things happen to them. Like Amara, Briseis is pushed around her story and the only agency and defiance we see of her is her introspection. When that introspection stops and begins to split off into other characters, she becomes weaker in comparison. The other characters are doing things, or their active refusal to do things is part of the narrative-- Briseis gets raped repeatedly, disrespected by Agamemmnon, and then disregarded by the story up until her final cry-- a flickering match in a dark room-- “the children at our breasts now will remember the women of Troy” type shi. I enjoyed the bit where she attempted to run away because of course she would (although the result frustrated me)
As always, books from this period in time captivate me. The literary voice is nice, and I do appreciate the intention of illuminating mostly anonymous women from mythology. I believe Briseis in Homer’s source poem is simply a woman from Lyrnessus who was given to Achilles and then later given to Agamemnon. In this book she still felt like that to me, she just had far more speaking lines. Barker wasn’t altering the story, but expanding it within the mythology. I don’t like that a book that promised to be about the girls became mostly about the boys, Achilles, Patroclus, and Agamemnon, and to a lesser extent the war system all around them all. I'm giving this the good ol' three star special.
Moderate: Slavery, Violence, and War
Minor: Physical abuse and Rape
tetedump's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
natasza's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and War
ylimets's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and War
Moderate: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
cthulhu_calamari's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Confinement
nalli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, and Blood
stitchbooks22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
However, can publishers and marketing teams stop pushing the term “feminist retelling” onto books that are so clearly NOT a feminist retelling? That is my biggest issue with this book. If the book had been done differently, it had the potential to be a feminist retelling. But trying to focus a bit more on the women in a story that is male dominated and being unsuccessful at focusing on the women and their own lives does NOT make a book a feminist retelling. That is my main gripe with this book.
So if you’re looking for a feminist retelling of Greek mythology, this is not it. Otherwise it was an okay book.
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
gkm00's review against another edition
3.75
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
joelrandeblad's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Jag fastnade direkt. Språket, huvudkaraktären, den poetiska brutaliteten.
Boken följer Briseis, kvinnan som tas som slav av Achilles och sedan blir ett byte för Agamemnon och Achilles att bråka över. Boken tar vara på något som böcker som The Song of Achilles och självfallet Illiaden... missar? Eller om man vill vara snällare kan man säga att det inte är deras ärende. Men här ligger fokus på kvinnorna som inte har en röst, inget val. Det är Briseis och hennes intrikata känsloliv, att behöva natt efter natt utnyttjas av mannen som mördat hennes bröder, bränt hennes stad och hem. Om kvinnorna som ser sina unga söner dödas, tvingas i sängs med männen som mördat dem, är byteshandel, är slavar, kastar sig själv från murarna för att en säker död är bättre än den framtid som väntar dem. Boken är våldsam och vacker, sorglig som jag vet inte vad. Man känner verkligen hur något går sönder.
Jag känner redan här att den här recensionen inte gör boken rättvisa. Att mina ord räcker inte riktigt till för att fånga den komplicerade känsla som Pat Barker använder hela boken för att försöka få grepp om. Den är komplicerad, djup, otrolig.
Kanske att man vill ha lite koll på Iliaden och kriget i Troja för att man ska hänga med. Det är många namn, många karaktärer och konflikter. Men personligen (som rätt mytologiintresserad) hade jag inga problem alls att hänga med. Nu vill jag bara dyka in i "The Women of Troy". Såg även att Pat Barker är på väg att släppa ännu en bok i höst på samma tema!
Sätter jag den på en piedestal? Absolut. Kommer alla tycka som jag? Förmodligen inte. Men det här var verkligen exakt min typ av bok! 5 välförtjänta stjärnor.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Murder, and War
dannb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, and War