Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

13 reviews

texas118_mbs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Suicide, Violence, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

savage_book_review's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

4.5

The voices of Achilles, Patroclus, Agamemnon, Odysseyus, Ajax and all of the other heroes (or villains depending on your allegiances) of the Trojan War have echoed down the millenia into myth and legend. But what about those silent women, orphaned and widowed by a war they had no part in starting and forced into serving the men who took the lives of their loved ones? Briseis' name is well known, but her story? Well, for once, let the tale not be told by the victor, but the victim.

One day I'll find a Greek myth retelling I don't like. But today is not that day. This is beautifully written; lyrical, heartfelt, epic prose that runs over with emotion and buries its way into your consciousness. It's not poetry, but it is definitely poetic and so feels like it has almost perfect tone to complement the source material. There is something about the best authors writing these retellings (Madeline Miller and Jennifer Saint to name but two); they all have their own style, but they all embody this same tone in their work. So as soon as I 'felt' it, I knew I was in for a good read!

The only caveat to this praise is that there are moments where speech sounds almost too modern. I understand that it's meant to be soldiers talking in their own rough and ready way, but there was something about certain turns of phrase that jolted me out of the serene state the rest of the writing put me in. I'm all for a good round of turning the air blue, but even the cursing felt out of place in certain moments. It all still works and doesn't ruin the story or the flow, but I think the rest of the story feels so authentic the modern parlance sticks out like a sore thumb.

Each character is wonderfully rendered; Briseis herself comes across as a strong, capable woman, utterly defeated by circumstances, resigned to her fate and yet still with an independent streak that means while she might bend, she won't break. Her interactions with Achilles manage to find that sweet spot, where he is neither slave master that sees her as nothing but chattel, nor the dashing romantic hero that she can't help but fall in love with. It's a fabulous rendering of their relationship. Patroclus does come across a little more as the sweet, shy boy who befriends the slaves rather than beats them, but it's a great contrast to the rest of the Greek warriors. While the nature of Achilles and Patroclus' relationship is never explicitly stated, the small illustrations of their love for one another, whether platonic or romantic, are just gorgeous. Once again, I found myself hoping that the author might just flip the myth on its head... and this in a book that's not meant to be as sympathetic to them!

The book also conveys the harsh realities of 10 years living in a war camp and the bloodiness of battle, without being overly graphic or sensationalist. It's atmospheric and not pleasant at times, but it's never difficult to read.

There is a dual POV set up, alternating chapters between Briseis in the first person, and Achilles in the third. Switching between first and third person is one of the writing devices I struggle with, and yet it STILL manages to flow and keep me engaged.

This book deserves its accolades and is one I would definitely recommend. Book two is on order at the library, so I'll look forward to continuing this series soon!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Classism

acgeorge's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

trinofspades's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Trafficking, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Murder, and Classism

mushymargo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Loved seeing another POV of Achille’s story, about time. Felt real and raw and much closer to history then any other story of Troy. Loved the many mentions of other names from legends.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, War, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

Rating and review to come

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cannibalism

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

ibjilln's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, and Classism

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

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