Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

80 reviews

bookdragonkatie's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Infidelity, Rape, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Incest

likhatera's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-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

5.0

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨. 
𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺, 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘺𝘦𝘴. 
𝘉𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦; 𝘠𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘦𝘴.”
— 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘳

In this epic retelling of the Greek myth, rage becomes the fascinatingly complex woman that is Clytemnestra, sister of the beguiling Helen, daughter of Leda, wife of Agamemnon. In an ocean of female rage and ambition, the fierce princess of Sparta grows up to become the powerful, feared queen of Mycenae. Her story is not an easy one to digest, as it takes us through utterly dark tragedies full of betrayal and violence that make her the queen she eventually becomes. I think what’s unforgettable about her is exactly what drew the author to her story in the first place: she is a woman who refuses to know her place and, because of this, is hated and vilified by the men around her. It is inevitable that the book raises important questions on our perceptions and judgments of women’s pain, power and sexuality. 

The bloodshed is disturbingly epic, as expected in any retelling of Greek mythology; however, what I found interesting is the way Casati uses the raw and twisted details to reveal a morally ambiguous heroine that is capable of both love and ruthlessness. She is written with a vulnerability that opens us up to the experiences of a woman simply trying to survive the brutalities she undergoes at the hands of manipulative, violent men. A flawed character motivated by the need to make right all the wrongdoings done to her. She pulls herself out of the horrible things she has had to live through and, because of that, we have no choice but to wholly empathise with the vengeance that consumes her. 

For the better part of this year, anger is something I’ve tried to embrace as part of the human experience. Rather than shying away from the emotions that come with it, I’ve tried to acknowledge and honour, not suppress and shrink like we are conditioned to do. Female rage always seems to be intellectually entertained as a concept, but very rarely recognised or respected IRL, which is why it’s so exciting to read in fiction in the first place.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

sarah_speaks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and War

nicoles_reading_corner's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, and Death of parent

wyrmbergsabrina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Death of parent

emerentina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and War

topodibiblioteca'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Incest, Infidelity, Torture, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Death of parent

inkwellimps's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement, Slavery, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, and War

garnethalo's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

In Jennifer Saint's Elektra, I understood the daughter. Now in Costanza Casati's book, I understand the mother, Clytemnestra. A wonderful read that had me turning the next page with both anticipation and wariness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

A Greek myth retold. Surrounding the Trojan war. It is a Greek tragedy! Comes with the usual Greek tragedy warnings.

sarabook's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Death of parent