Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

6 reviews

margaret_k30's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Gore, Sexism, Misogyny, Death, Suicide, Slavery, Violence, War, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Rape, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Vomit, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

alexiconic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I have loved mythology since I was a young, young child. Greek myths hold a special place in my heart and in particular the stories surrounding the Trojan War and its outfall, such that even my high school courses in Ancient Greek were a joy. I adore mythological retellings, but they are sometimes hard to perfect. So, I was apprehensive: I assumed I would love this book, be entertained, but definitely not blown away.

Natalie Haynes has perfected the art of proving me wrong. At every turn, this book positively surprised me. I don't know how much of my admiration and love for her work is due to me being familiar with the stories she is telling - I would love to experience them for the first time like this - and thus not being as overwhelmed with the various storylines, plots, and characters. But I don't really care. I thought this was a piece of pure brilliance, that takes familiar narratives and approaches them afresh, somehow without losing the essence of earlier renditions. Her imaginings of Athene, Penelope, Cassandra, Odysseus, and Calliope in particular blew me away.

A Thousand Ships weaves the stories of mortal and immortal women alike into one book, that covers both the Trojan War, its aftermath, and its origins. It is stunning and I truly cannot recommend it enough.

Oh, and would absolutely recommend the audiobook read by the author!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, War, Xenophobia, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Violence

rebeccajost's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

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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

scoutabout28's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Murder

Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

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

ehmannky's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Animal death, Violence, Slavery, Xenophobia, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Grief, and Genocide

Moderate: Suicide and Blood