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islamaunder21's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
- Considering how patriarchal Ancient Greek culture was, I found it refreshing to read the famous tale of the Battle of Troy from a woman's perspective. This book certainly lives up to its title, brutally portraying the traumatic and tightly restrained experience of women in this period, especially from the perspective of captured women turned war trophies and sex slaves. I also enjoyed how accessible Pat Baker made this story since ancient history is often portrayed in an either far fetched and overly fantastical way, or through a stuffy super-academic lens. Therefore, despite this being a mythological retelling, the book didn't feel overdone and sadly some aspects of the women's experience still ring true today and felt somewhat relatable to real life, albeit in a watered down way. I also liked the emphasis on female friendships which was a welcome change from the competitiveness so often encouraged between women in Western society.
- I guess if it's a retelling there's not all that room for adapting the story too much, and maybe this is because I've already read 'The Song of Achilles' so the narrative wasn't new to me, but I did find a lot of this book a bit boring and the narrative style itself wasn't especially captivating. I was expecting there to be some kind of rebellion or assertiveness from the captured slave women but it was a bit disappointing that for the most part they were passive and resigned to their imprisonment,
apart from Briseis's attempted escape which she gives up on , although obviously a sex slave isn't going to be able to just girl boss their way out of violent oppression and perhaps this portrayal was more realistic. Maybe my issue isn't with this itself, but with the concequential monotomy and lack of depth/expression of the female characters. Also this is pedantic of me but some of the story was told from Achilles' and Patroclus' perspective so it didn't feel like it was that ground-breaking in championing and empowering women's storytelling or centering the female experience. - However, I do feel like I learned a bit more about the traditions of Ancient Greece and undervalued women's work which made an important contribution to society in this period.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
vouija's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War
jelkebooks's review against another edition
- 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? No
2.0
Now, I do have to say that I didn't hate this book. I did quite like the writing. It was also a really quick read, and I do think some things were really interesting in this book. Especialy when it comes to the idea of having to be around the people who murdered your people, and seeing them have to make the best of things. The inner conflict surrounding that was quite interesting. I also quite liked that we got perspectives from Achilles and Patrocles at times. It just brought us a bit more in the action than Briseis' POV could do. It isn't much, but it is something.
So yeah, this wasn't a terrible book, I just kind of didn't get the point of it. It was a bit of nothing, and I just overall felt very underwhelmed with this book. I was quite bored towards the end as well. I don't know. I'll probably not continue with the series, even though I have heard amazing things about book two.
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, and Slavery
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Fatphobia
stitchbooks22's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
However, can publishers and marketing teams stop pushing the term “feminist retelling” onto books that are so clearly NOT a feminist retelling? That is my biggest issue with this book. If the book had been done differently, it had the potential to be a feminist retelling. But trying to focus a bit more on the women in a story that is male dominated and being unsuccessful at focusing on the women and their own lives does NOT make a book a feminist retelling. That is my main gripe with this book.
So if you’re looking for a feminist retelling of Greek mythology, this is not it. Otherwise it was an okay book.
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
baobaebye's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
gkm00's review against another edition
3.75
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
sakisreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I’m not hugely into Greek mythology nor have I spent much time with Homer’s Iliad, but this feminist retelling was FANTASTIC. Gosh, I applauded Pat Barker so much for this one 👏🏼
Breseis is a fully formed character and her thoughts, feelings and concerns are all highlighted throughout the story. Of course the majority of the males made me cross, but when don’t men make me angry? 😂
I did appreciate Patroclus though, and if that’s not ✨ nuance ✨ I don’t know what is!
4 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨
Graphic: Death, Gore, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
olive_ia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, and War
Moderate: Alcohol
civetta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
patsypoo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
What will they make of us, the people of those unimaginably distant times? One thing I do know: they won’t want the brutal reality of conquest and slavery. They won’t want to be told about the massacres of men and boys, the enslavement of women and girls. They won’t want to know we were living in a rape camp. No, they’ll go for something altogether softer. A love story, perhaps? I just hope they manage to work out who the lovers were.
Really enjoyed this one! I love The Song of Achilles and it's nice to see another angle of it through Briseis' eyes. It's a very tough one to get through at times unsurprisingly. It's a war story after all so all the content warnings!
On one hand, I wish there had been less of Achilles here and on the other hand I feel his perspective is also needed to round out this particular story.
One drawback for me was the dialogue. It's very laddish and modern Britain to my taste and although I got used to it, it is kind of jarring on occasion and it took me out of the story somewhat.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and War