Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

271 reviews

clemireads's review against another edition

emotional informative slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, and Pregnancy

marmoo's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

There’s no shortage of literary projects that set out to dig out the female collateral buried in foundational male epics, though not all of them assemble those excavated remains with equal skill. While it remains an interesting project for holding up a mirror to our modern gender norms—and perhaps tracing some of them back to the source—this addition to the canon of canon-critical feminist retellings never fully cohered for me.

I’m intrigued by Pat Barker’s effort to give voice to the unsung victims of the Trojan war, I just wish that voice was a wee bit more distinctive. For all that the novel centers the unlucky Briseis, it doesn’t give her a whole lot of depth.

One never gets the sense that Briseis is a woman from a different time and worldview, which is generally my yardstick for success in historical—or historical-ish—fiction. The insertion of slang vernacular (“Cheers, lads,” quoth Achilles on his first up-close appearance) seems intended to recontextualize the mythic violence as something more familiar, but it had a jarring effect.

Likely that’s by design, foregrounding the continuity of female suffering during men’s wars down through the ages, but it has the unfortunate effect of once again pulling focus from the titular women and back again to Achilles. Unlike Briseis’s bland first-person narration, the third person shift in his section draws us into an unsettling and (sorry!) more interesting world, a world governed by deadly notions of honor and the whims of the gods. 

Still, despite the sometimes underwhelming prose, Pat Barker effectively wields the brutality of her chosen setting to jostle readers out of our familiar reactions to a familiar story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, and War

tetedump's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

drj's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

Moderate: Gore, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Confinement, Blood, and Alcohol

natasza's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I just finished reading this book and I needed good 10 minutes to reset and lay on my couch. What an incredible but tragic story. I highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

ylimets's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

Moderate: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

kajasversion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? No

3.5

While i do think its important to amplify women’s voices during war time, i felt like this book had nothing nee to offer on the subject. The original text was bot enhanced, and the author even strayed away from the whole purpose of the book when she started writting chapters in Petrocolous’s and Achilles’ perspective. It makes no sense to have their POVs in story centered around women that is meant to shed a light on them. I did like the book as a whole, as i am a slut for retellings and i would recommend it, bit it wasn’t the best i had read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Slavery, and War

Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Animal death, Suicide, and Vomit

cthulhu_calamari's review

challenging 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

5.0

I read this right after re-reading The Iliad, which is not as great as its expectations. This book gives so much deeper and resonant context and meaning to the Trojan War that it should be considered a required companion to its source. Greek myths were meant to evolve with their audience, and *this* is the form that should be considered canon in the current age. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Confinement

daniielle_lee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: Child death

kartemis's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

well done and very honest adaption of the iliad!
While first a bit slow and hard for me to really get into, the story eventually captured me.
And even though I know the story of the iliad and all the main plot points and tragedies, Briseis added an interesting pov and switched around the story focusing on the often forgotten and silenced women & girls in war. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Rape