Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

5 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

garnethalo's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

While I wanted to give it a 4.75, I realized I only didn't want to give it 5 because I couldn't place blame. Unlike in Stone Blind, where I could blame Athene or Perseus, I could blame no one in A Thousand Ships. And even then the book tried to place the blame, on Helen, on Paris, Aphrodite, Eris, Thetis, Zeus. But no one can take sole blame. And this books makes you face the sorrow of the women. Without a clear cut villian. It filled it's purpose beautifully and forced the reader to stare at the victims of war, with no one at fault.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Animal death, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

It a story about the women affected by the Trojan war. Both Greeks, Trojans, and women nearby Troy. Greek tragedy even sadder when you consider the women. You have been warned.

miss_sunshine's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Mental illness, Abortion, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

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

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

alexisgarcia's review

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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was amazing. I absolutely adore greek retellings and this women based greek retelling was beautiful. It reads in chronological order with some chapters involving the writing process of the book from a perspective of a man and letters from Penelope. It was beautifully written and so enlightening. I would 100% recommend anyone to read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism