Reviews tagging 'Torture'

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

21 reviews

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

courtsport's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

What happened to the wives of Greek heroes and the daughters of Trojan warriors? Did their lives and tragedies matter any less than the men's? Haynes breathes life into the untold stories of the women of the Trojan war, weaving an intircate tapestry of grief and resilience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Rape, Torture, Violence, and War

awebofstories's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Genocide, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and War

spacedancekitten's review

dark sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

1.0

I had had hoped this book we be more interesting but it was just hopeless and bleak all the way through. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Rape, Torture, Sexual harassment, and War

tashtasher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death and Alcohol

shoesel's review

challenging dark 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Violence and War

Minor: Rape

chrisarnold94's review

adventurous dark informative reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

annasbookreviews's review against another edition

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

xlivjones073's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

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

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

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Alcohol