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imlfox's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Violence and War
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
withlivjones's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is part character study, part prose poem, part 200-page long stream of consciousness that depicts one of the most realistic descriptions of wartime life out of all the Trojan Cycle retellings I’ve read. Christa Wolf understands that real life is far more complicated than fiction - there is no defined good and bad side, lines are blurred, not everyone working on the same team has the same agenda - and Cassandra is the perfect mouthpiece for this retelling as she is seen as a madwoman because she is able to see through all the politics involved in the war and she speaks her mind against it. The concept of Cassandra’s life literally flashing before her eyes in the minutes before her death is an ingenious one and so refreshing after reading a lot of retellings that narrate the same story in the same way.
It is the kind of book that grows on you - during the first third or so I was really struggling to get into it as the pacing felt too drawn-out and the non-chronological storytelling was quite confusing, but the second half had me in a chokehold. If you have a decent attention span and lots of free time I think you could read the whole thing in a day.
Overall this book is heartfelt and full of female rage. Would I recommend it to someone who is a complete newbie to Greek mythology? No. But as someone who has read the Iliad and several retellings of the Trojan War, this is definitely a new favourite in the genre.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Rape, Slavery, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
Period-typical attitudeschiara_dose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Body horror, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and War
soavezefiretto's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and War
ahjo0o's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
dean_the_bean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, and War
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Slavery