Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

39 reviews

hannahyorkey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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, Gore, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape and Kidnapping

pixelited's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

Overall I enjoyed this book and thought it offered some interesting perspectives and insights into characters I only knew through mythology. I wasn’t entirely familiar with the story, so hearing it told this way was fascinating to me and without knowing the extent of everyone’s fates, I was interested to see what happened to the characters.

However, I did sometimes find myself lost in whose perspective we were seeing through. I listened to the audiobook and while I eventually got accustomed to the different narrator’s voices, they sounded similar at some points which confused me. It also took me a while to get invested into the story, as I felt that the beginning started off slow and perhaps not as interesting as it could have been. Furthermore,

I thought that it was strange that Cassandra’s perspective was written, especially after she was killed. It just seemed a bit inconsequential, and while her perspective gave us insight into Troy—I wonder if the same couldn’t have been accomplished by perhaps using Helene’s perspective instead?

I also felt a deep frustration with Elektra as a character, finding that her stubbornness was somewhat unfounded and that in turn how she treats others,

specifically by essentially using and throwing away Georgios and pressuring her brother to murder their mother despite his hesitations

, made her very unlikeable.

I did, however, enjoy the ending of the novel with the quick perspective shifts between Elektra and Clytemnestra. I thought that was a good way to keep the energy of the moment, while making sure the reader understood how both were experiencing the moment.

Overall, a reasonably good and easy read. It was interesting but simply had some aspects that I didn’t enjoy or didn’t make sense to me. I would still recommend it as a read if you enjoy Greek mythology!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape

maritzelle's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

La importancia de la salud mental eda? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Murder, and War

Minor: Sexual assault

bellsdixon's review against another edition

adventurous informative sad tense fast-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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

emilie_anine's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.0

Even months after reading it, I still don’t understand what purpose any of the characters served.

The most interesting character, in my opinion, died somewhat pointlessly and it just felt like it didn’t make sense for her to have been in the book at all

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Slavery

lesemaus2303's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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 death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ccee's review

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Saint’s prose is readable in that she can compose a sentence, yet her imagery relies heavily on ancient turns of phrase that we’ve seen rehashed again and again throughout these retellings. Cassandra and Clytemnestra had depth, yet Elektra, a stunningly tragic figure, lay flat.

Her take on Pylades and Orestes as sworn brothers made me cringe a little, their relationship felt stiff and platonic, and Elektra’s instant attraction to Pylades felt so far out of the realm of the canon of the Tragedians that it blindsided me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gore, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Animal death and Abandonment

lnolen01's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Misogyny and Toxic relationship

bectothebooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Blood, and Gaslighting

Minor: Incest and Pregnancy

junglejelly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

Offering different perspectives of these greek tragedies, Elektra is very well written.

I absolutely adored the complexity of each character, especially exploring how differently one person can be seen by others (e.g. Agamemnon by Elektra and Clytemnestra).

I was captivated by the start. The flow of the book was perfect, not focusing too much on one plot point for too long. The buid up to the climax was great, even though I knew what would happen, a testament to Saiht's writing.

A great read, I just can't put my finger on what didn't make it perfect i.e. 5 stars. However, I can't wait to read what Saint brings out next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child death and Cannibalism

Minor: Slavery and Suicidal thoughts