Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

3 reviews

esterohman's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

This was a quick and easy read, although not my favorite Greek mythology inspired novel. I liked the focus on female perspective, and it was interesting seeing the missing viewpoint in the original stories. However, it just wasn’t that exciting to read. I think that it’s just my own perspective and not the fault of the book however. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Vomit

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

erinjulia's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Rape, and Slavery

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, and Grief