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seyoban's reviews
201 reviews
The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Despite its title and the general intention of this book, I’d go as far as saying that it leans towards being anti-feminist. We have Briseis as a narrator and we’re told of the horrors that women experience at the hands of men during war, but that’s about as deep as the feminism goes. Otherwise, the book places a large focus on the narrative of the men and the very sparse plot that we’re given is centred around the conflicts between the male characters.
We’re introduced to Helen who could perhaps have been the MOST interesting perspective to explore considering she was at the centre of the Trojan war and was almost universally hated and vilified as a result, but she only makes occasional appearances which don’t particularly move things along. There are friendships between the women but other than maybe Ritsa, Briseis seems to find them annoying/uncomfortable/weird in some way and so they’re not the most heartwarming examples of female friendship.
What made me lose all patience with it was the fatphobia relating to Maire - at one point she was literally referred to as a “lump”, Briseis wondered how on earth she’d been selected as a slave (because I suppose fat women weren’t even good enough for that?) and Briseis marvelled at the fact that Maire had befriended Helle, who was described as “slim, strong, firm, graceful, glowing with health”. These were presented as traits which made Maire and Helle completely different from one another, discounting the fact that their friendship could perhaps have been built on the basis of personality? There’s a throwaway sentence where Briseis acknowledges that she has come to view Maire through the perspective of the men and at no point is there a challenge to this - again, for a novel supposedly championing women, I find it a tough pill to swallow that the only female narrator views her fellow women from the perspective of their abusive captors.
This book has not done these women the justice they deserve. 1.5 stars purely on the basis that it wasn’t awful enough to DNF.
We’re introduced to Helen who could perhaps have been the MOST interesting perspective to explore considering she was at the centre of the Trojan war and was almost universally hated and vilified as a result, but she only makes occasional appearances which don’t particularly move things along. There are friendships between the women but other than maybe Ritsa, Briseis seems to find them annoying/uncomfortable/weird in some way and so they’re not the most heartwarming examples of female friendship.
What made me lose all patience with it was the fatphobia relating to Maire - at one point she was literally referred to as a “lump”, Briseis wondered how on earth she’d been selected as a slave (because I suppose fat women weren’t even good enough for that?) and Briseis marvelled at the fact that Maire had befriended Helle, who was described as “slim, strong, firm, graceful, glowing with health”. These were presented as traits which made Maire and Helle completely different from one another, discounting the fact that their friendship could perhaps have been built on the basis of personality? There’s a throwaway sentence where Briseis acknowledges that she has come to view Maire through the perspective of the men and at no point is there a challenge to this - again, for a novel supposedly championing women, I find it a tough pill to swallow that the only female narrator views her fellow women from the perspective of their abusive captors.
This book has not done these women the justice they deserve. 1.5 stars purely on the basis that it wasn’t awful enough to DNF.
Cat Lady by Dawn O'Porter
Did not finish book. Stopped at 76%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 76%.
I picked this up because I needed something lighthearted to read after a few heavy books I’d just finished. Despite what the marketing, description and many reviews of this book told me, it was not lighthearted and the misery of it all got too much to bear. I’m not sure if there was humour that was lost on me, but it wasn’t anywhere near funny enough to make up for how depressing I found it all. Made it to about the 75% mark and I had to call it quits.
A Very Lively Murder by Katy Watson
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
A great follow up to The Three Dahlias and thankfully, a much less guessable ending (at least for me)! I love the three main characters and it was so comforting to come back to them, particularly as their different perspectives were all equally as interesting in this book, which I didn’t find in the first one.
Similar to the first book and its handling of racism against Kit, there were sooo many hard-hitting themes that weren’t quite done justice - misogyny, ageism, r**e culture & MeToo, and police corruption to name a few. It’s not the novel to explore all of these in full but it feels like they’re being skirted around too much.
But it was an entertaining read with fun characters and lots of twists and turns - everything I like in a quick murder mystery!
Similar to the first book and its handling of racism against Kit, there were sooo many hard-hitting themes that weren’t quite done justice - misogyny, ageism, r**e culture & MeToo, and police corruption to name a few. It’s not the novel to explore all of these in full but it feels like they’re being skirted around too much.
But it was an entertaining read with fun characters and lots of twists and turns - everything I like in a quick murder mystery!
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I appreciate how effectively this book explored the brutality of war and the very visceral descriptions were uncomfortable to read. The discomfort felt almost refreshing compared to some of the poetic, flowery descriptions that you can come across in other Greek retellings and it was interesting that the final page pretty much directly stated that this was Barker’s intention with the book.
The dialogue took me right out of it though. The modern Yorkshire twang of the speech was so jarring and not a stylistic choice that worked for me, but I can kinda see how it could appeal to others in bringing some realism to the characters. With Barker herself being from Yorkshire, I can also understand why she took her approach - after all, why should all characters in historical fiction be represented through only more formal English without any regional dialects included? But yeah, I feel like I would have preferred more immersive dialogue.
I didn’t find the characters particularly likeable but I don’t have an issue with that and felt it was good writing - I don’t really expect people who have been through 10 deeply traumatic years of warfare to be likeable yknow.
So overall not my favourite but good enough that I’ll be picking up the sequel soon
The dialogue took me right out of it though. The modern Yorkshire twang of the speech was so jarring and not a stylistic choice that worked for me, but I can kinda see how it could appeal to others in bringing some realism to the characters. With Barker herself being from Yorkshire, I can also understand why she took her approach - after all, why should all characters in historical fiction be represented through only more formal English without any regional dialects included? But yeah, I feel like I would have preferred more immersive dialogue.
I didn’t find the characters particularly likeable but I don’t have an issue with that and felt it was good writing - I don’t really expect people who have been through 10 deeply traumatic years of warfare to be likeable yknow.
So overall not my favourite but good enough that I’ll be picking up the sequel soon
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a book that I immediately wanted to pick up and re-read after finishing because I loved the characters so much and didn’t want to put them away. If it weren’t for the complete emotional upheaval of the ending I probably would’ve, but I need time to recover first.
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster. I wasn’t familiar with Ariadne’s or Phaedra’s stories prior to reading and so was completely unprepared for the numerous emotional upheavals in store for me. I couldn’t put it down from just wanting to know what on earth could possibly happen next, and each twist and turn still took me by surprise.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Jennifer Saint’s writing style in this book - with Ariadne being her first novel, I’m not sure if her later books improve on this point as I haven’t got round to reading them yet. My pet peeves are unrealistic dialogue or patterns of dialogue that are the same between different characters, which I found in this book. I found some of the metaphors a bit clunky. The feminist themes were veryyyy heavy-handed in how they were presented - I couldn’t agree more with the messaging but it’s a personal preference for there to be more subtlety with how such subjects are handled.
I’m glad I read it but it won’t be one I’ll be returning to. I still intend to check out more of Saint’s work tho.
I wasn’t a huge fan of Jennifer Saint’s writing style in this book - with Ariadne being her first novel, I’m not sure if her later books improve on this point as I haven’t got round to reading them yet. My pet peeves are unrealistic dialogue or patterns of dialogue that are the same between different characters, which I found in this book. I found some of the metaphors a bit clunky. The feminist themes were veryyyy heavy-handed in how they were presented - I couldn’t agree more with the messaging but it’s a personal preference for there to be more subtlety with how such subjects are handled.
I’m glad I read it but it won’t be one I’ll be returning to. I still intend to check out more of Saint’s work tho.
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
dark
mysterious
tense
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? No
4.5
For most of the book, I was thinking that I’d be rating this as a solid 4, but literally the last 3 pages bumped it up to a 4.5. Quite possibly my favourite ending to a book ever??
This is like 500 Days of Summer but much darker and with an added dollop of misogyny. I got so much secondhand embarrassment from Phillip’s descent into madness but in the best way - this is such a well-written story. It felt like there was a consistent mockery being made of Phillip, particularly with the frequent references to how women lack reason and are driven by emotion in comparison to men. It was pitiful to be witness to his arrogance when as the reader, we’re able to see him in the same light as all those around him - young and completely naïve.
I would have loved some additional insight or clarity into Rachel’s actual motivations and emotional process, but also kinda like the uncertainty too.
Amazing book.
This is like 500 Days of Summer but much darker and with an added dollop of misogyny. I got so much secondhand embarrassment from Phillip’s descent into madness but in the best way - this is such a well-written story. It felt like there was a consistent mockery being made of Phillip, particularly with the frequent references to how women lack reason and are driven by emotion in comparison to men. It was pitiful to be witness to his arrogance when as the reader, we’re able to see him in the same light as all those around him - young and completely naïve.
I would have loved some additional insight or clarity into Rachel’s actual motivations and emotional process, but also kinda like the uncertainty too.
Amazing book.
Galatea by Madeline Miller
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75