Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome by Emma Southon

13 reviews

ithladin's review

dark funny informative medium-paced

5.0

All the trigger warnings apply, but this book manages to be very interesting and funny and respectful at the same time.


The author has a great voice and I loved her analysis and how she gives context of the sources without losing the rhythm.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, and War

inkwellimps's review

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

4.75

At first, I wasn't sure about this book. As someone more interested in Roman history than in true crime or popular culture, I hesitated in the introduction, as the author asserts that this book is Roman history for fans of true crime. I wasn't really fond of how Southon made a point to mention several times how "dull" aspects of Rome's history beyond the scope of the book were as a funny transition. This was probably exacerbated by the audiobook performance by Sophie Ward. Her haughty performance I found funny for the first hour and then for the next two I was thinking "how on Earth am I going to get through all of this?" After that though, I was able to get used to her delivery. 

The book really shines in the later half once it has your attention. Southon interprets "murder" broadly and gives details about gladiator fights that were completely new to me, amongst a plethora of other topics including murder within families and what society deemed as murder via magic. I would say the most important part of this book is how it  paints a detailed picture of slavery in Roman society. I had not realized quite how widespread the practice was. It was also interesting to me how Southon paints a realistic picture of Rome by assessing the biases that determine what history was written about and what history was not. I do recommend this book despite my rocky first impressions, and I intend to read more of Southon's works. I think for a general audience the writing style is approachable and the occasional modern analogy is welcome, I may have just had a problem with the audiobook's narrator.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Classism

Minor: Child death and Suicide

emmsbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, and War

kwthor's review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, and Colonisation

subatomiclaura's review

dark informative slow-paced

4.0

Hard to read cause Roman names are not easy.  Very informative.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Murder

another_dahlia's review

dark funny informative medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism

allisonmeyette's review

dark funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

tlholmes's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

nassuada's review

dark emotional funny informative sad slow-paced

4.5

A really interesting read, particularly when the author covers how the life of women, enslaved people, and children were regarded in Rome. Her writing style really elevates the content and it reminded me of a true crime podcast (but one of the good ones where they actually respect the lives of the victims and don't just use them for entertainment value). 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Abortion, and War

simixfe's review

dark emotional funny informative medium-paced

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Antisemitism