Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

89 reviews

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

nila's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Murder, Misogyny, and Blood

Moderate: Slavery, Rape, Genocide, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Ableism and Adult/minor relationship

shontellereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Excellent in every way. Natalie Haynes took a difficult concept of essentially short stories and weaves them into one. She does not stray from the gore and ruthless of Greek history, but her beautiful prose makes the hit easier.
My favourites were Penelope with her dry wit and Clytemnestra with her cunning vengeance. 
I laughed, I cried and wished for more for the women in history. Absolutely beautiful.
Now onto her backlog of books 😁

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, War, Blood, Murder, Rape, and Sexual violence

amybonbamy's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Murder, Rape, Slavery, Violence, and War

abeeeeee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Slavery, Trafficking, 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

hannahhansa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, Child death, Murder, and Death

Minor: Infidelity, Animal death, Blood, and Gore

catkop's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Child death

racheltheduke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

She isn't a footnote. She's a person.

Natalie Haynes weaves a beautiful and emotional tale of women left behind in the mythos of the Trojan War. 
When Homer asks the muses to sing to him for inspiration for his next epic poem, Calliope tells him the stories of these women.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence

kiandrareadsbooks's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Minor: Animal death