Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

41 reviews

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Child death, Violence, Confinement, War, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Trafficking, Slavery, Rape, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Animal death, Pregnancy, Incest, and Torture

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, and Torture

dummehure's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

As always an amazing take of a story of greek mythology that has been told countless times. What I appreciate most about Madeline Miller's retellings is the freedom she gives herself to fill in the gabs and create a story that feels real and thought out from beginning to end. 
What I especially loved about this one, aside from the authors note at the end, was the language. She has such a beautiful writing style that completely contracts the horrific content of the story and she uses that contrast to shock the readers. 
I will be rereading this book whenever I get the opportunity in the future. 
Again, thank you for this masterpiece!!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Death

rebeccajost's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Infidelity, Grief, Genocide, Death of parent, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death, Violence, War, Sexism, Slavery, Physical abuse, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Pregnancy, Rape, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, and Sexual assault

marareading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

This book is a beautiful retelling of the Trojan war from the women's perspective.  It is a very unique retelling, and I love that the author took the time to write a book that left out all the stories we don't normally get in history. This is one of the few books where I recommend reading the afterword. It is short, and packed with information about how and why this book exists. 

I did love this book. given that the women weren't actively fighting the battles, it means that the stories are more disjointed, so it almost feels like short stories put together.  It all does come together in the end. It is beautifully written. You can feel the wrath, pain, and intensity through these stories. 

If you love retellings, this is a must read for a new take on a traditional story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

ashleycmms's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and War

thegr1mreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Slavery, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Grief, Animal cruelty, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Animal death

bandysbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a retelling of the Trojan War, but from the perspective of the women. I really enjoyed hearing each of their stories and what happened to them as the men were at war. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, War, Grief, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Slavery

hmatt's review against another edition

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...

---

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

---

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

gertrudethemoonstone's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Murder, Grief, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Minor: Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Incest, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts