Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

27 reviews

mthornburg13's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

fragrant_stars's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Another book I could hardly bear to put down! I loved the writing style, and I really couldn't help but root for the main character. As a lover of Greek mythology I had some idea of how this story would unfold already, and this version of events didn't disappoint. The ending was a little more open than I'd have liked, but overall satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Homophobia, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Incest, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Alcohol, and Colonisation

backitupmoony's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Torture, and War

Moderate: Misogyny, Slavery, and Sexual harassment

celery's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

beanformation's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, and War

allyem_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

7.43 CAWPILE score 

I thought this was an excellent retelling of Clytemnestra’s story. I’m well versed in her myth—Aeschylus’s Oresteia was a particular focus of mine in school—so nothing in this book was technically new information to me, but I enjoyed how the author told it. The voice was very clear, vengeful and strong. Very “good for her” vibes. I mean, Clytemnestra is the original “good for her” character, really. Her motivations always made sense and she remained level-headed throughout the entire novel, which isn’t always the case in newer retellings. I’m surprised at the ending, though: it felt rather hopeful, which of course doesn’t really match the source material, but I’m not mad about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and War

missgarceau's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

professoremdash's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

A beautiful retelling of the story of Clytemnestra, Greek queen and sister of Helen. There are varying accounts of Clytemnestra’s story and this novel combines a number of them in interesting ways. It’s beautifully written and engaging, spanning nearly the entirety of her life. My only qualm is the ending and the fact that it doesn’t exactly cover all of what happened after the Trojan war, but the author justifies their choice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Torture, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

rustmaiden's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

• 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture, Vomit, and War

amanda_marie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I love a complicated female lead, who is imperfect in her strength. This book is one where you cannot root for anyone entirely, but find yourself doing so anyway, for as bad as some may be there are always those who are worse. It also made Greek mythology more accessible to someone who snoozed through the odyssey in high school. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, and War