Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

18 reviews

flavroc's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, War, Murder, Trafficking, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Violence

Minor: Infidelity and Classism

martha_is_reading's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Death

Moderate: Physical abuse and Trafficking

Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, and Sexual violence

dr_bond's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, Violence, Trafficking, and Murder

galexy_brain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I found it incredibly realistic that the women in this novel didn't necessarily realize that some of their thoughts and belief patterns about themselves and about other women were because of the patriarchy they are under.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Classism, Death, Slavery, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, and War

Moderate: Grief, Trafficking, Blood, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Vomit, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Abortion, Cannibalism, and Infidelity

annasbookreviews's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Trafficking, Medical content, Self harm, Vomit, and Violence

solaris_zip's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

The book is quite slow, at least for me. The first half of the book is very entertaining, it make you want to read more and more. The last couple of chapters are a bit slower and i didn’t really fancy to read them. For example, I found Penelope’s chapters to be the most boring ones, especially at the end. The book is complex and it narrates the story of women during the Troy war (Greek/Troy women). It shows the two side of the coins, the privilege some of them had and/or how some of them got their privileges revoked. It’s a very good book, it screams female range and definitely worth a reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, Abandonment, Slavery, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Violence, and Murder

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

spooderman's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, War, Child death, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Alcohol

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I liked this! I picked it up because of a recommendation from a friend and she definitely knew me well. I already know and love the story of The Trojan War and The Odyssey and this retelling satisfied my <i>dissatisfation</i> regarding the misrepresentation and underrepresentation of women in the ancient Greek stories. This gives those figures on the outskirts a voice and more agency. 

My favourites would be Penthesilia, Cassandra, and Penelope (oh my God, I never thought of so much of The Odyssey from her perspective and I'm hooked!). I wish we'd had a chapter from Helen's perspective, it's conspicuous that we don't. 

I think having so many perspectives did stretch the narrative a bit too thin. I would have loved a few of these culled to give more space to the others to be deepened and more explored at length. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author, perhaps with a focus on ones with fewer PoVs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, Trafficking, Death, Violence, War, Child death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Classism, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, and Confinement

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Animal death

isakr's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Confinement, Domestic abuse, War, Murder, Rape, Child death, Grief, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Trafficking