Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

62 reviews

gertrudethemoonstone's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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orlagal's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5


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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

 
“When a war was ended, the men lost their lives. But the women lost everything else.”
Homer’s <i>Iliad</i> has inspired generations of epic tales: tales of war, rage, violence, and glory. But these tales have been told primarily by and about men. In <i>A Thousand Ships</i>, Haynes asks: What about the women? Many of their stories have been told, yes, but as footnotes or backstories for the “real” heroes: the men. But why should heroism be confined to the battlefield? The women of Troy lose everything, but must find the courage to continue. Penelope waits for her husband for 20 years, but uses her wit to escape her suitors and stay loyal and true to her husband. 

As a rule, I prefer my stories with happy endings. I went into this book knowing that I wouldn’t get one, and worried that that would ruin the story for me, but it didn’t. The stories were told so beautifully and the endings so inevitable that I loved each one of them (even as I cried for the lost). I’ve read a lot of really incredible mythology-inspired books this year, and this was definitely one of my favorites!

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lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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emotional

5.0


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sarahjo142's review against another edition

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

5.0

If you love books like Circe or Song of Achilles, you will love this books. The jumping between characters makes the book so easy and quick to read, and flows together flawlessly. The tales of these women are inspiring and sad and heartwarming and beautiful. 

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kiandrareadsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.5


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sarah984's review against another edition

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dark informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I liked the idea of this book, focusing on war’s effects on women and a sort of discussion on the meaning of heroism, but the execution just felt really weak to me. The muse character basically outright states the book’s theme at least three times, in case I somehow missed it, the overpopulation motif with Gaia is boring and ridiculous, and the tone of some parts is really weird (Penelope’s letters at times feel like a comedy sketch). The book also mostly focuses on noblewomen and goddesses which I feel is a missed opportunity in a book about women and war.

The chapter about the Amazons was interesting though and I found Cassandra’s point of view compelling, so three stars.

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ska1224's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? Yes

5.0


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oliverlang's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional relaxing sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I adored The Song of Achilles when I read it last year and this book picked up almost where that one left off, with a bit of an overlap and I loved every second of it. The two compliment eachother wonderfully despite being from different authors. I loved stepping back into that world.

Read this book.

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ehmannky's review against another edition

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

4.75

I love a good mythology retelling and this one is excellent. I thought I would find it jarring, jumping back and forth between so many different characters with so little time between them, but it works so well. And Haynes just renders each part of the war so heartbreaking. The strong points definitely revolve around the human women, with the parts about the goddesses being interesting and fun to read, but not nearly as compelling. I loved how the solemn nature of the book is broken with Penelope's wry humor in her letters to Odysseus. 

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