Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

6 reviews

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nehaanna's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.75

The retelling of female mythological characters is a delicate execution. This novel seeks to excavate the life and thoughts of one of the most ruthless women in Greek mythology, the wife of the ruthless king Agamemnon. This novel undertakes the retelling of Clytmnestra’s life from childhood to middle age as she rules in the absence of her husband during the famed Trojan War. This book is very similar to other feminist retelling of myths such as the novel Kaiyeki. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Homophobia, Incest, Sexism, and Alcohol

dreamitallaway's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, and War

Content topical of those in greek mythology

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

heatherjchin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I selected this as one of my Book of the Month selections.
"Clytemnestra" follows Clytemnestra, arguably the most infamous villainess of the ancient world. She unknowingly marries a tyrant who commits multiple evil acts against her, the worst being murdering their child in an effort to appease the gods. When presented with the choice, Clytemnestra can decide to accept her fate, or exact revenge on all of those who have wronged her. In her own cunning way, she chooses to play the long game, and take the power she deserves.
Clytemnestra is definitely an evil character, but once you begin to read her story, you cannot but help to feel badly for her. Everyone treated her horribly, and seemingly every time she got a sliver of good in her life, it was tainted and taken away.
This story absolutely blew me away, especially because it is a debut. I am not a huge fan of Greek retellings, but this one I could not put down. Clytemnestra is such a complex and morally gray character, and I loved seeing her evolution. This villain origin story will make you empathize with her and be up in arms with her.
The writing was beautiful, but very approachable. The author wrote this in a way that even if you know nothing about Greek history, you can enjoy and follow this story easily.
I look forward to reading more from Costanza Casati in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail