Reviews tagging 'War'

Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes

38 reviews

cozy_gh0st's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, War, Rape, Sexual violence, Gore, Murder, and Blood

withlivjones's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

A really insightful and witty book about some of the most misunderstood women in Classical mythology. The level of detail in the analysis is insane and the amount of sources Haynes includes, from ancient writings to contemporary receptions, is so wide. And yet the tone is just about conversational enough for the book not to be preachy. I did find it a little dense in places and there were a few slightly unnecessary tangents, but overall I really enjoyed it and any book that describes Jason as “oily” is an automatic slay for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Child death, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, Slavery, Rape, War, and Xenophobia

sunday_evening's review against another edition

funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Overall I really liked this!!!!! I learned so much. Euripidies is my main bitch. There were sometimes I thought Haynes went on a tangent for a bit too long, especially in Phaedra’s chapter. I don’t feel like I learned as much about her as the others. But for the most part I found the tangents and anecdotes informative and interesting!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Violence, War, and Suicide

Minor: Incest

ajoyr's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Rape, and War

sydapel's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

I really appreciated the in depth look at many different women in Greek myths, examining not just their portrayals in plays of the time, but their complex histories and trauma. Even with the most "evil" of them, Hayes gently reminds us of the context of their decisions and challenges our notions of their characters. There's also a reminder of the subtle power plays they employed, which I appreciated in contrast the to abject suffering. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, Rape, Infidelity, War, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Grief, Pregnancy, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment

zmikhael's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, and Suicide

mandkips's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Murder, Child death, and Death

Minor: War

madetofly's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, War, Infidelity, Rape, Murder, and Violence

berrybiaful's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative medium-paced

4.25

4.25/5

I really enjoyed this! I do exercise a bit of caution when delving into reads such as this one, in case the feminist takes were of the white feminist brand, but that wasn't the case here. 

Natalie Haynes brilliantly dissects the myths in which these women were apart of and offers new perspectives of their characters. I especially enjoyed the chapters on Helen and Penelope. 

However, I did feel as if she would digress in a few places and leave me forgetting what the main point was or how a certain tale related to the women she was talking about. 

This was a good book to start of my 2023 reading year!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Violence, Incest, and War

Minor: Sexual violence and Rape

moonytoast's review against another edition

4.25

RTC….. until then, support the HarperCollins Union strike!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Incest, Sexual violence, Rape, Infidelity, War, Violence, Suicide, and Murder