Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

108 reviews

grace_cr1's review

adventurous emotional informative sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Body horror, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, War, Animal death, and Sexual assault

hammie_32's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

Tried to cheat the system to give this more than 5 stars. I have unfortunately high standards for books to enjoy, and so often my experience is ruined by an ending falling flat. I set the book down about 3 months ago, 10% away from the end, because I couldn't bear to read the rest of it knowing what was coming. My reaction was diluted coming back to it, and i still cried through the last 3 chapters. A devastatingly beautiful queer fiction that I immediately want to restart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, Homophobia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Transphobia

anmane's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

The book was well written in terms of language and pacing, but the subject matter - by this I mean the war, not the romance - was hard for me to stomach. The focus is on the male characters, as it is in the source material, and how women, children or indeed all humans are treated is not sugarcoated. Also, because of the subject matter, there is a lot of violence, gore and cruelty. I also hated Achilles as a character, which made the motivation of Patroclus' actions hard to understand. Will not read again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Torture, Trafficking, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Pregnancy

soap2's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Gore, Blood, Grief, Body horror, War, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Medical content, Child abuse, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

thesongofgrace's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful relaxing sad 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

5.0

I never cry at books or movies. This made me shed a few tears, which is a substantial achievement. But more than that, I will forever be in awe at how Madeline Miller writes. It's beautiful and detailed and endlessly creative. I have seen so many authors attempt to write like Miller, but they fall so short and end up sounding pretentious or unnecessary flowery.

This books is definitely a roller coast, in my opinion. I don't know how I will recover.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, and War

whitesuede's review

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

Rushed ending and awkward denouement aside, this is a strong showing for a debut novel. Sparsely written but no less emotionally striking in its phrasing, this is a fascinating take on a familiar story, even as it follows the same path as the Greek tale it’s based on. Weep for Achilles and his youth, but celebrate his story. This is a story well-told.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Body horror

savshanae's review

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I hate it. I’m also giving it a 5 ⭐️ review. 
Everyone was right, it will break you. But not even for the reasons I expected! I don’t want to spoil the whole thing, but I literally threw the book after reading the final paragraph. I hate it and it was also one of the best books I’ve ever read. Proceed with extreme caution.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Body horror, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, War, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Gore, Genocide, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Ableism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Biphobia, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

you expect Achilles to die, but Patroclus dies first because Achilles is a vain twat and then his effing son (who is a MONSTER) kills the only consistent positive female character in the whole story. Not to mention Achilles mother HATES Patroclus until the war is over and both boys are dead. We also never hear about the Trojan horse which is super disappointing.

sherilees's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Violence, Medical trauma, Death, Rape, Body horror, Grief, Gore, Animal death, Slavery, and Blood

happy_dayz's review

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, War, Murder, Sexual assault, and Gore

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Body horror, Sexism, Slavery, Child abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Body shaming, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, and Classism

niamphoone's review

adventurous emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Pregnancy, Genocide, Gore, Death, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Grief, and Medical content

Minor: Sexism, Self harm, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence