Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

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

9 reviews

sara_shocks's review against another edition

dark funny informative

4.0

Roman history if you want to think about the legality of homicides and also want Philomena Cunk narrating. I generally enjoyed the more dry humor, but it's not for everyone, especially on the topic of murder.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt

crownoflaurel's review

challenging funny informative medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Sexual violence, and Suicide

rheagoveas's review

funny informative slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Slavery, and Violence

allisonmeyette's review

dark funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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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

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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). 

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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

sophiesaurus91's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Slavery, and Murder

bookstorian's review

funny informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

After a dry spell on the audio book reading front, I found 'A fatal thing happened on the way to the forum: Murder in Ancient Rome' to funny, modern and highly informative. A good way to splash back into audio books. 

A clever and relevant start,  the book begins with some startling facts about true crime as a genre of fiction and how her book also connects with this genre. Using a range of sources Emma Southon details murder across all social classes and gender (men, women, slaves, emperors, wealthy families, few are left untouched). I loved the cheeky use of language and comparisons to modern life, it made the non-fictional work easy to digest. In addition, I learnt so much about Roman law, politics, family lives and justice (or injustice). 

The only downfall for me was that the names at times became tricky to distinguish and, at times, moments of the book just washed over me. I would recommend making sure you complete at least one chapter per sitting rather than pausing part way through the chapter and coming back to it later. 

The book encouraged me to recall information from my days as a history student and reminisce on my time in Rome. If you are a history lover or one of the millions of people obsessed with true crime, check this title out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Murder

vicious's review

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I was super excited for this book having read and thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Southon's Agrippina book a few months ago, and I was not disappointed. Southon writes as if she were sitting across from you in a bar, telling you about Roman history over a few beers and some greasy fries. Her writing is engaging, fun, and interesting. I've never been one for Roman history, but she ignites an interest inside of me purely because she makes learning about it so fun.

This book is about the complicated definition of murder from a Roman standpoint, comparing it to a modern viewpoint to realistically put into perspective just how different today's world culture is from that of ancient Rome. It's very fascinating. If you're into true crime and/or Roman history, you will love it. If you, like me, are not into either, you may still take a liking to it as I have. If only all history books were written in such a fun and engaging manner maybe more people would be interested in history as a whole.

There are some hefty trigger warnings to take into account with this book as it does detail some brutal and gory deaths. Also, definitely keep a placeholder on the footnotes; they can be a joy to read and often provide additional information.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, and Death of parent