Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

125 reviews

shoohoob's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mbelle97's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

arieloley's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.5

The women affected by the Trojan war span so many ages, classes, statuses, and Haynes did an incredible job of including as many as possible. It was so refreshing to hear the classic story from a forgotten point of view, and made choosing allegiance to one or the other side a much more difficult task than it had ever seemed before. 

Some pieces of Haynes’ writing seemed juvenile, disappointing when considering her long career. This was only a slight hinderance, and most of the book was compelling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Vomit and Cannibalism

aenor's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Grief, Murder, and War

vouija's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad slow-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Murder, and War

dedicated_reader's review

4.0

Liked ✅

• Unique stories
• Women driven
• Multiple POV’s

Thoughts 💭

I don’t have a lot of experience with reading books with mythological retellings, I have heard of the war of Troy and my husband is currently obsessed with the EPIC: The Musical Soundtrack. 

Having a basic knowledge of the events of the Trojan war made reading A Thousand Ships a lot easier. The book holds many unique stories all from the perspectives of the women within that time. We get to read about how some women went from queens to slaves, how others managed for a decade or longer without their men, how mother’s mourned and lived with the loss of their children. These are stories of courage, determination, revenge and gratitude. 

The book does feature a character list. Every chapter features a new POV, giving readers a real time account of different experiences and perspectives. I enjoyed how intricate the story is, it is not always told chronologically. I found it sometimes difficult to remember each character's impact and at times struggled to keep track of the order of events, taking a lot of brain power. I do recommend anyone wanting to read this book to make notes, use the character list to your advantage and to allow time to give the book your undivided attention.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Physical abuse and Sexual assault

paperback_moon's review

adventurous dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

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

3.0

This book was written with quite beautiful language throughout. There was some variation in tone to reflect the different women’s voices in each chapter, which was also good.

It was a little difficult to differentiate between original mythological stories and characters and the author’s inventions, although perhaps a better educated reader would find this easier. There was also a lot of violent description throughout that at times felt unnecessary. 

Despite the violence, a lot of the book was very emotionally well-written and many of the characters were easy to empathise with. It is true that the effect of war on women and children is often considered in a single sentence, perhaps a death toll, rather than in personalised stories. This was therefore more emotive for women to read, I think. 

It was clear that the author’s intention here was to bring to light the experiences of women in Greek mythology, since these stories are often sidelined. Perhaps this was a new perspective at the time of writing, but to me it now feels a little overdone and unnecessary. Greek retellings are very popular at the moment, and I wasn’t sure if this book was truly trying to tell the stories of women, or just capitalising on the popularity of both feminism and Greek mythology. Because of this mix of perspectives too, there was regular switching between characters that did lend the story some confusion (especially with all the Greek names!). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Torture, Abortion, and Death of parent

Minor: Slavery, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

kris_tea516's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

This book is a modern epic. It follows the time just after the Trojan War and in parallel with “The Odyssey” but from the perspective of the women. This book tells the story of several women including Eris (goddess of discord & strife), Penthesilea (an Amazon queen), Thetis (mother of Achilles), Oenone (Paris’ wife), Penelope (Odysseus’s wife), and a few others. 

I wasn’t sure I was going to like the book at first. There were so many perspectives & I was worried I was going to get lost in all the characters but the author did the narration for the audiobook and did an amazing job. She added sigh’s, sarcasm, and passion where just reading the physical book I think I would have missed. 

Since this follows the aftermath of war, especially ancient world war, it deals with a lot of really hard realities that most definitely happened to the conquered people, particularly the women & children. It discusses the killing of children and the elderly, the enslavement and rape of women, the trauma of mothers losing their children and husbands (even a very traumatic scene where an infant is murdered). I know these things did (and likely still do) happen & it is good for us to face the realities of war & consider the cost but it is still very difficult to read. There were times I had to take a break to keep from breaking down. 

I will say, my favorite character is Penelope and her “letters” to Odysseus and her growing anger and irritation with him. Her sarcasm was excellent and I wanted cry out, “You tell him, Penelope!” 

If you enjoy Greek history and mythology, especially “The Iliad” &/or “The Odyssey,” I would highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

catievalentino's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

avesmaria's review

challenging dark reflective sad slow-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

4.0

A complicated, complex journey into the depths of powerlessness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and War

Minor: Sexual assault