Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

59 reviews

ofclumsywords's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

5.0

“A war does not ignore half the people whose lives it touches. So why do we?”

A story told by Calliope giving inspiration to a poet who is in need of something to write. 

Calliope makes it clear from the very beginning that the only inspiration she is giving the poet is of the women of Troy. Haynes added such passion to her performance of the audiobook that you feel everything each of the women feels. That alone makes this book so memorable. I am so glad this book exists and I can’t wait to discover more of what Haynes has written. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

miguelito_juanito's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

savage_book_review's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

The heroes of the Trojan War are legend... Achillies and Patroclus, Agamemnon, Odysseyus, Priam, Paris, Hector, Ajax... the list goes on. But aren't the women of the Trojan War just as heroic in their own way? Those that survived, only to be forced into slavery? Those that lost their husbands, brothers and sons and had to keep going regardless? This novel explores their stories and brings to life those overshadowed by 'the face that launched a thousand ships'.

First and foremost, the writing of this piece certainly is 'epic', matching the scale of the piece that was its inspiration. I love the continual shift in focus, from far removed with the Muse Calliope ranting about how the author of this epic poem doesn't want to listen to her, to the 'Greek chorus' moments of the Trojan women, sat on the shore awaiting their fates, to the stories of various women involved in the war, whether before, during or after. The stories don't come in chronological order, and yet the story ebbs and flows beautifully, with the timeline still becoming manifestly clear so you can not only discover what happens to everyone as a result of the war, but follow it back to work out exactly who put the wheels is motion to cause the war in the first place. 

If you've read even a few of the myriad of recent releases based around retelling Greek myths from the female perspective, you will probably be familiar with at least some of the characters and their stories. However, that shouldn't put you off - there are still plenty of other women in here to learn about. The book definitely fits into this bracket though; the various authors of these recent books (i.e. Madeline Miller, Jennifer Saint etc) do all seem to have a similar flair and style which really helps ground you in the stories, no matter who you're reading. Hayne's writing in this case is gentle and yet emotionally charged throughout, with moments of levity, and overall is just a really enjoyable journey to go on. 

I couldn't choose which story I liked the most - the author has told all of them in a wonderfully engaging way. That being said, I loved Penelope's increasingly exasperated letters to Odysseyus, telling him what stories the bards are telling about his ridiculous journey home. Likewise, the stories of the lesser known (to me) women were fascinating, and filled in a lot of gaps for me.

I listened to the audiobook of this, which the author herself narrated. She is obviously very confident behind a microphone and about the subject matter(she also has a radio programme about Greek myth which is available on Audible and a credit has been earmarked for this!), and yet there were moments where I wasn't wholly convinced by her performance. There are a couple of small slips that could perhaps have done with a touch more editing (or another take) to smooth over, and there are a couple of places where she runs on sentences in something of a rush. Overall she does an excellent job and it's a great listen, but a tiny part of me wonders whether another performer may have added a touch more life to the narration. But that's being very nitpicky.

Would highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

kmaffett's review

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

Moderate: Physical abuse and Trafficking

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Pregnancy

beethbarrett's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Slavery, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

annakh16's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

skan's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Interesting perspective on the Trojan War from the perspectives of the women affected by the war. Kind of wished that the narrator was different between the different perspectives, rather than the author reading all of the perspectives. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Violence, and War

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

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

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