Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

53 reviews

iwishihadmoretimetoread's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

mamaowlbear's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful and tragic.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Grief

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

znvisser's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.5

I expected this to be a story about Medusa but instead it was mostly written around the man hunting her - which felt quite contrary to the point. It felt like the author had a vision but discovered along the way there wasn't actually enough source material or creativity to pull from. So instead, many subplots are piled onto the core story, in which we merely meet characters so one-dimensional you don't even get the chance to ponder how to feel about them. And if you still do, you don't have to wait too long for an intermezzo in which some extras come out of nowhere to spell it out for you even more explicitly. I love reading about Greek mythology but to me, the strength in a modern retelling lies in the capability of its story telling: does the writing convey new dimensions to a story long told? To me, this was unfortunately not the case with Stone Blind.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Sexual violence, Blood, and Grief

I expected this to be a story about Medusa but instead it was mostly written around the man hunting her - which felt quite contrary to the point. It felt like the author had a vision for this book but discovered along the way there actually wasn't enough source material or creativity to pull from, leading to many loosely related storylines being piled onto it. And every single character in those subplots is one-dimensional, so we can't be too confused about how to feel about every single one of them (and if you still are, you don't have to wait too long for an intermezzo in which mostly irrelevant extras spell it out for you even more explicitly). I do love reading about Greek mythology but to me a key factor in the success of modern retelling is the storytelling: does the writing convey new dimensions to a story long told? Unfortunately, I didn't feel that way about this one.

katrinky's review

adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

i loved this book! extremely here for any and all feminist re-framings of greek mythology. (do NOT read this book if you strongly love perseus, andromeda, athena, or really any olympian.) i guess i adore medusa, the gorgons, and a giant sea monster mother now?? 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, and Murder

theblerdnewsletter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Perhaps I shouldn’t have read this right after I read Ithaca. I dislike books that start off with character lists, because I’m not flipping back and forth (something that’s impossible to do if you’re reading an audiobook). Also, I thought the depth of the characterization wasn’t as well done as literally all of the other Greek mythology retellings. It’s a fast read, good perspective from Medusa and her sisters, but pretty bland otherwise.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

elizabeth_lepore's review

adventurous dark reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Violence, Grief, and War

onceupona_nessa's review

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Grief

abbyarm's review

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

Minor: Incest, Infidelity, Grief, and Pregnancy

alexisgarcia's review

adventurous dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

i wish this focused more on medusa's story. i feel like the whole thing was about perseus :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail