Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

35 reviews

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

nialiversuch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Excrement, Vomit, and Pregnancy

iwishihadmoretimetoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cannibalism

queen_of_the_rats's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

emilyandthewhippet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

eza008's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

priscilla's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

"Make no mistake, this was his story - his anger, his grief, his story. I was angry, I was grieving, but somehow that didn't matter."

What a fantastic book. The writing was phenomenal and, though it did feel a bit slow at times and a bit gruesome at others (and there was one particular bit of fatphobia towards one character that didn't sit well with me at all), I feel like it did exactly what it set out to do. It shows Briseis perspective on an age-old story, but without losing sight of the fact that she is, to some degree, powerless and trapped in a narrative that never cared for her.

The writer used some amazing devices to get right to the reader's heart, for example in the scene where

Achilles murders a LOT of Trojans and Briseis talks about how none of their names mean anything to the reader - until you hear the stories their mothers tell about them.

This book deals with the harsh conditions that Briseis and the other Trojan women live in in a very matter-of-fact way, which only highlights just how awful it all is.

At the same time, there were a few times where I laughed out loud, most notably when

Odysseus talks about them only needing a good wind and then they'll be home in three days - what a fantastically hilarious way to hint at his story, I cannot, hahaha

.

All in all, a great book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Slavery

Minor: Animal cruelty and Fatphobia

bibliobetty's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Grim, bleak, and unrelenting.

I appreciated the writing style and commentary and definitely found it worth the read but probably won't come back for another read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Gore