Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

203 reviews

rubyd2012's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

2.5

I HATE THIS, GODDD IT MAD ME SO MADDDD I LOVE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO CHARACTERS BUT DEAR GODDD, I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THATTTTT AT THE ENDDD PLEASEEE STOPPP MAKING ME CRYYYYY

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

spatterson7's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

barnesbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I knew how this book would end since I knew the story, but the way Miller writes it just destroyed me.  This books was not what I thought it was going to be, in a good way. I thought it was mostly going to focus on the war, but I love that it shows the whole life of the characters. The novel format of this makes the story much more accessible for people. Miller paints the relationship so beautifully and boldly that I couldn't help but wish for a different end. This book absolutely lives up to the hype. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Kidnapping

tabea1409's review against another edition

Flat characters, way to much talk about rape, both partners cheat and even impregnate a girl 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War

_pauline's review against another edition

adventurous sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

first of all, this book is GORY af

If you like greek mythology & don’t mind the content warnings, this might be for you. (ignore my review then, though)

The combination of war & romance was weird - I don’t need to read about how beautiful someone looks while killing people; neither did I want to read about 13 year olds forced to have sex (if that’s needed to accurately describe what that time was like, it could’ve at least been less detailed); same with animal killings, though ig that too is unavoidable considering the context

I didn’t love the pacing, character development & all the talk about feet etc?? Achilles got progressively more unlikeable (this really is a story about his irrational, insufferable pride), and I cared a lot more about Briseis. She was so right when she said

'You care more for him in death than in life […] Kill me. It will not bring him back. He was worth ten of you. Ten! And you sent him to his death!' […] He fought to save you, and your darling reputation.
Because he could not bear to see you suffer! […] You have never deserved him. I do not know why he ever loved you. You care only for yourself! […] I hope that Hector kills you.'

'Do you think I do not hope the same?' he asks

The last 100 pages were kind of page-turning & heartbreaking though and it got better and better until the very last page. Can’t say I always enjoyed reading this, but I don’t think it’s a bad book.
It didn’t live up to the hype in my opinion BUT tbf I never cared - or knew much - about greek mythology, nor am I a big fan of war novels or romance, so I really am the worst possible person to review this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

valerian_honeybee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War

Moderate: Medical content

davbat's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Extremely tragic, even more than you'd expect going into it with knowledge of the story. Time after time, Miller shows you what could have been if not for fate/pride/war. Extremely tragic doomed romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Slavery, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Outing

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

Rape and murder are just as common as in the original myth but without any of the euphemism

casleigh's review against another edition

Too slow, maybe it’s the audio but I couldn’t pay attention 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, and War

caitlinspeachyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I understand why there is such a hype around the genre of book but I struggled to connect with Achilles. Also the constant threat and statements of woman being SA’d really added to made the struggle to enjoy this. 

Loved seeing a LGBT+ story being so well regarded. Wish I liked it more! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

inkwellimps's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

INCREDIBLY investing reinterpretation of Achilles and Patroclus (and Briseis!) from the Iliad from the point-of-view of Patroclus. The story begins in the pair's childhood and follows their origins through

their deaths and, in Patroclus' case, a bit further.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Medical content and Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Gore, and Grief

Child death refers to

a child bully character that is killed by another child character on accident. It is graphic in detail, but not emotionally overwhelming in my opinion

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