Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

53 reviews

rd77's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

A very interesting read. The author was able to make you sympathize for each woman very quickly, and it was interesting to think about the impact of the war on women, since it’s not talked about nearly enough. The only thing I didn’t like was Penelope’s chapters- for anyone who has read The Odyssey, it’s a tired retelling of it, with little actual insight to Penelope’s side of the story until her last 2 chapters. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, War, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death, Slavery, and Sexual violence

hmatt's review

adventurous emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Wow. This book is structured in such a neat way and the stories are compelling and empathetic.

I think you probably need about as much knowledge of the Iliad as I have to appreciate these stories, though. There is some internal explaining, but most are told in a way that inserts the reader right into the scenes without a lot of context. I think this adds to the telling, overall, but I can see how it might discourage readers who don't have the Greek myth 101 primer handy. 

I'm a little wishy-washy on whether I enjoyed some of the more self-indulgent stories in the collection. I do think it was a smart choice to keep Calliope's and the Goddesses' chapters brief, though. They felt more shallow than the stories from the "actual" women, and Calliope's kind of just seemed too on-the-nose. But I'm not familiar enough with the customs of Greek literature to know if these sections were meant to echo existing conventions, so.

A note on the audiobook: it was certainly a choice for the author to also narrate. I actually think they did a great job, though a few times here and there I felt they were too emphatic. Mostly I took issue with some strange pronunciations of Greek names... and, again, I don't actually know enough about the topic to know if there is debate over these pronunciations. They were just different than what I have heard before. Also, in the Afterword, the author pronounces "quasi" really strangely...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Violence, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Grief, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Animal death

CWs not exhaustive

marianneiriss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Rape, War, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Child death, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Xenophobia, War, Torture, Slavery, Infidelity, and Cursing

Minor: Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Incest, Abandonment, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Suicide, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

orlagal's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol, Incest, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide

gladiolus17's review against another edition

You’ve got to know the legends in order to enjoy this book. There’s just a bunch of name-dropping without explanation and no world-building, since the book expects you to already know the world.

As well, I didn’t vibe with the amount of em dashes used in the piece. 

There were many clunky sentences and telling instead of showing. Here’s an example: “Realizing the danger she was in, she leapt from her bed, trying to undo her previous slowness.”

There’s a fire all around her! As well, the narrative brings the reader to the realization, so there’s no need to restate it with “realizing the danger.”

Finally, I did not understand the character’s motivations. Not sure if this is because I never read the legends, but I could not grasp why Aeneas would leave his wife and child in a burning town to go find his father. As well, the entire lack of concern Creusa had for her son as she leaves her house without looking for him in a literal besieged city baffles me.

There is some fantastic imagery aside from this, and I’m sure that fans of Greek legends will enjoy this, but I’m not enjoying this story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

rachelwierick's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, and War

talasterism's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Slavery, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape

sarahjo142's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and War

smoothjazzhands's review against another edition

informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, and Death