Reviews tagging 'War'

Hijas de Esparta by Claire Heywood

41 reviews

lanid's review against another edition

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

mothman19's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Infertility, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Abandonment

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

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

3.5

a greatly informative book with freshly interesting new perspectives. i really enjoyed reading about helen and klytemnestra, especially their childhoods, and the life at court for a woman and (house)wife as well.
still, i thought the characters were pretty... vanilla? like especially the men. you hear stories about the men's rage and bitterness, about the sexism and misogyny, but the men in this book were kind of ... alright i guess?
they were abusive sometimes and assholes of course, but when it came down to it, all they did was scream, mostly. and menelaos was like a puppy idk
i also thought the book was too slow and long in the wrong places. helen's and klytemnestra's childhoods were interesting, but you could keep it shorter. for the first half of the book not a lot really happened. i had wished for more infos and stories beyond the trojan war, explore the lives after, but it just cut off there, after the war had ended.

really addictive writing tho, would still definitely recommend. an informative, lyrical gem—with flaws:)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, and Medical trauma

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Death of parent

abfabulous17's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Minor: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, and Suicide

charity1313's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.25

A retelling of the Trojan War is going to inevitable be graphic and tense. Very interesting perspective and well written but some of the time/character jumps felt...awkward. Helen didn't seem as well developed and well rounded as Clytemnestra. I realize this is written to skew our sympathies away from Helen and toward Clytemnestra but I think there is room to explore both, which does happen eventually but just not to the same extent. 

As much as I knew about this story beforehand the versions I've read and heard were obviously somewhat sanitized as they left out the details of child sacrifice and poor Prince  Hector's fate. Both descriptions haunted me a bit. She did a great job writing them but it was a bit triggering for this combat veteran.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

shellybelly's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, and War

Moderate: Rape

redheadorganist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Rape, Murder, and War

indyjg's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

A Greek mythology retelling of the Trojan War from the perspective of Klytemnestra and her sister, Helen. It was unique reading about the Trojan war from their perspective and their motivations/reactions to certain events.

I felt particularly sympathetic towards Klytemnestra after Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter under the guise of a wedding to Achilles.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and War

x_maddiex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, and War

eggyleggy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

4.0

it sure was a nice read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and War

Moderate: Rape