Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Le silence des vaincues by Pat Barker

20 reviews

velokei's review against another edition

dark sad fast-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

3.25

How do I even begin to describe how I feel about this book. 
I like it in the way you like an ugly but healthy puppy, is it ugly? Yes, but it’s still living and breathing and you end up developing an attachment to it anyway. I could barely put it down, but at the same time I really wanted to put it down. 
Briseis (our main character) is boring and just bland. I don’t like her and that should not be the case!  In a book supposedly meant to be centred around women, why is there only one woman’s pov but two mens? And why are both the men far more interesting than the woman? Pat if you wanted to write specifically just about Patroclus and Achilles, that’s okay! My favourite parts of the book involved just the two of them. 
I also don’t get why the last line is ‘Now, my own story can begin’ if the books whole point was supposed to be the story of Briseis, and I didn’t like the changes to the myth including who she marries and

The reveal of her pregnancy, like??? Bit weird but okay 


Tldr
Loved Patrochilles moments 
Hated Briseis she was boring 
Didn’t like the changes to the myth 
This didn’t feel very feminist 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

beauvisseau's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

One word: breathtaking. This retelling of a story as old as time was done so well, you can almost taste the love that the author has for Greek and Trojan mythology. The writing style was impeccable, and I can clearly see all of the conscious choices that the author made regarding things like speaking style, active versus  passive speaking styles and the investment in certain themes. 

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.

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Content Warnings

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

glutenfreemaggie's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

The title of the book is contradictory in that only the first part of the book is from Briseis’ perspective. The second and third parts rotate between Achilles’ POV, Briseis’ POV and like a third person narrator? Idk it took away from the story a little bit for me because it was literally a silencing of the girls. Not sure if that was intentional. I understand why we got heavily into Achilles’ perspective once Patroclus died, but the story was supposed to be about Briseis’ experience so the story lost its structure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

shellybelly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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

This was an amazing look into more of Briseis’ story. It tells her as a main character, instead of usually having her as a side character with Achilles as the main character. It was incredibly refreshing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jessy_03's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kitkatkick's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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

3.0

A fascinating recount of the story of the Iliad, The Silence of the Girls strongly embraces the current push toward reframing history as HERstory. We see the see the infamous tale through the eyes of Briseis, Achilles’ concubine slave and former Queen of Lyrnessys. Despite the fact that her existence was pivotal in the Trojan War, as the cause of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon and Achilles’ resulting refusal to fight, we so rarely hear from Briseis or see her discussed as more than an object to be owned, a prize to be won. The Silence of the Girls turns the focus onto her, considering her thoughts and emotions throughout her ordeal and using that perspective to reveal the experiences of other women in her situation.

The Silence of the Girls didn’t strike me as a book that required a background in Greek history or mythology. I’m not saying you’ll get it if you have no idea who Achilles is, but if you’re unfamiliar with Briseis, or Patroclus, or any of the other actors, it seemed like you would get along just fine. And for those of you who do have that background, you get to feel extra smart when you recognize a new character or know what’s coming up.

The reason I gave this book three stars as opposed to more is that to me, the story didn’t do the premise justice. Barker’s writing is certainly wonderful, and in Part One, she captures emotions and truly makes the reader empathize with Briseis. But as we enter part two, we encounter a sudden, jarring shift to including chapters from the male point of view. And not only do we suddenly hear from Achilles, Patroclus, and others, but we shift from first to third person. I understand that it was intended to cover parts of the story that Briseis’ point of view likely couldn’t, but I can’t help but feel it was poorly executed, or even a form of cheating. We picked up this book to hear from Briseis, but as we continue on past the story of Patroclus, we hear more and more of Achilles’ point of view, and less and less of Briseis’. And in that, there seems to be some sort of comment on the overshadowing of “herstory” by history that I don’t particularly have the energy to make.

Overall, I do think this book was interesting, and for fans of Greek mythology I would certainly recommend it for it’s mostly unique perspective. But I feel that it’s more apt for calling attention to the horrors of war than it is to do it’s intended job of illuminating the stories of the women of Troy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicide, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury

radfordmanor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Incest and Alcohol

ananko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide, and Torture

tashadandelion's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Though this store illuminates how a women such as Briseis might have experienced the tragic circumstances around the sacking of Trojan cities by the Greeks, the story's vibrancy is ultimately hampered because Briseis -- like all mortal women in this time and place -- has no agency. We see her thoughts and feelings as she's treated like a thing, not a person, while she has no choice but to be submissive, quiet, and obedient for survival's sake. The most compelling aspect of this book is the attention given to the grief of the women who have lost male loved ones to the never-ending wars. Every soldier who falls in a war is someone's beloved child, and every death ruins a whole family, not just that one person's life. I've given this 3.5 stars because the writing is well-done and I think Barker has faithfully portrayed the martial world of Ancient Greece and Troy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Grief, and Medical trauma