Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Dochters van Sparta by Claire Heywood

24 reviews

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

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

3.5

a greatly informative book with freshly interesting new perspectives. i really enjoyed reading about helen and klytemnestra, especially their childhoods, and the life at court for a woman and (house)wife as well.
still, i thought the characters were pretty... vanilla? like especially the men. you hear stories about the men's rage and bitterness, about the sexism and misogyny, but the men in this book were kind of ... alright i guess?
they were abusive sometimes and assholes of course, but when it came down to it, all they did was scream, mostly. and menelaos was like a puppy idk
i also thought the book was too slow and long in the wrong places. helen's and klytemnestra's childhoods were interesting, but you could keep it shorter. for the first half of the book not a lot really happened. i had wished for more infos and stories beyond the trojan war, explore the lives after, but it just cut off there, after the war had ended.

really addictive writing tho, would still definitely recommend. an informative, lyrical gem—with flaws:)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, and Medical trauma

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Death of parent

abfabulous17's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, and Suicide

faithwalan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

so good!! incredibly honest, so god damn sad i cried so much. made me feel injust and helpless but watching the women do as much as tehy could to control their own lives was so powerful. i’m a sucker for mythology so the story was so good. went a bit fast at times (lots of time skips) love love love

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Slavery

anishasaxena's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

heartbreaking but at least they ended with fates that they deserve. pacing was off and kinda ruined the narration of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Rape, Slavery, and War

chambersaurusrx's review against another edition

dark emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder, and War

therealslimkatie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.75

Hard to get into but did pick up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mollywill's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Slavery, Murder, and War

Moderate: Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide

alyssa_b_dub's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

cr1ssb's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Animal death and Blood

isabellejulianne's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad fast-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? Yes

4.5

I think this book would pair nicely with The Song of Achilles since both are written about the Trojan War, but more focused around Helen and Klytemnestra’s side. This book was beautifully written and truly captured women’s struggles in a strict patriarchal society. I was not a fan of the ending. It did not seem to wrap up the story in the way that I wanted it to. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Slavery, and Violence