Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

33 reviews

naoml's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-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

5.0

This is masterful. This is a beautiful critic of what voices are deemed important. How are people remembered? Who gets to tell the stories? Is it even possible to know a full truth?

The story follows the myth of Achilles but for once not through his eyes or the eyes of someone who adores him. We see that "heroism" is sometimes simply violence, depending on the lens you are viewing it through. However, this also gives us the nuance of sometimes evil doesn't always look that way, and even worse: not everything and evil person does is bad. Humanity is more complex than that, and you own no one forgiveness based on a single action or moment.

I can't fully put into words my thoughts and feelings on it, but I do know that it is incredible. The story will keep permeating my thoughts for a long time to come. 

**please read the trigger warnings

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

tetedump's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

pagesofplatypus's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A riveting tale of the Battle of Troy through the eyes of Brisies, slave to Achilles. In an era of Greek myth retellings with a feminist twist, this one sits in the top. The stories of the women taken captive by the Greeks are all varied and equally gripping and understandable in each woman's reaction to her situation.

The chapters are mainly from Brisies' pov, which I found to be the most interesting, but a few were from third-person pov mainly centering on Achilles. These chapters were also very different and engaging because it shows Achilles in a very different light than what many may typically view him and his story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death

gkm00's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

alice451's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and War

indigoimpulse'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

i actually really liked the fact that briseis wasn’t a perfect character and that she’s so judgemental of others around her, men and women alike - i feel like given her circumstances you can’t exactly expect her to act like a saint . her narration was very raw which i found gave her personality .

however the book promised me a story from briseis’ pov so i didn’t really appreciate so much of the book being taken up by achilles’ pov - this author writes grief excellently so his sections were great but it kind of took away from the fact that this was supposed to be briseis’ story . i don’t really think you can call this a feminist novel but i enjoyed it nonetheless 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jessellisx's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, and Pregnancy

risaleel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Torture, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

annasbookreviews's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

jabberwalky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and War

Moderate: Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Death of parent, and Alcohol