Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Hijas de Esparta by Claire Heywood

48 reviews

courtneykatzmeyer'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infidelity and Miscarriage

salty1038's review against another edition

emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

Really loved this book as it blended Greek Myth and feminism, one of the few books ever to make me cry. Can really relate to the multi-dimensional characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Misogyny and Rape

Minor: Miscarriage

sarahyllescas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

I just LOVED the deep and real insight into the struggles of women in this time period! You can absolutely tell the author put in so much research to make this book feel real. The emotions and struggles of the sisters were relatable, raw, saddening, and difficult. It was never boring!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: War

Minor: Sexism

alyssa_b_dub's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

everyotherpageorso's review against another edition

sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I honestly enjoyed most of the novel, but it seemed like all middle and no end. The book itself isn’t so much of a retelling as it is a prequel, which was disappointing. It included two of my pet peeves, as well, being 1.) casting Helen as perpetually self-involved and 2.) the dreaded miscommunication trope. To be fair, I feel as though Heywood does a great job expressing her struggles but she faces almost no consequences and therefore never really grows (in my opinion). Klytemnestra was the strongest character by far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape, Violence, and Pregnancy

mmatti300's review against another edition

adventurous sad fast-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

3.0

This book honestly was a little disappointing. While I really enjoyed having klytemnestras perspective, the rest of the book felt very dry and exactly the same as every other Trojan war retelling. Maybe I feel this way simply because I have read quite a few, including the YA series Nobody’s Princess and Nobody’s prize that we’re similarly from Helens perspective. The writing style was also rather lackluster though there were a few stellar descriptions that fully encapsulated the vitriol and disgusting actions of the men. Since this is a debut, I can only hope that the strength of descriptions that Heywood showed glimmers of will be clearer in future books. A good book, interesting additions of Klytemnestra but overall more cookie cutter than I would have liked. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Blood

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

rileepickle's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

3.25

I really enjoyed this novel, especially towards the end. I think the biggest issue I had with it was that it shifted from focusing on Klytemnestra to focusing on Helen in the latter parts of the novel. I found Klytemnestra's story much more interesting than Helen's, although Helen's was intriguing as well. I didn't like the way this novel ended, and had more questions about some of the plot points that weren't answered. Overall though, a fun and emotional read with lots of jarring scenes and important themes. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

lian's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicide, Violence, and Abortion