A review by camsara99
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

dark emotional informative reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

A Thousand Ships focuses on the women who played a role in the legendary Trojan War, and all of the heroic and tragic roles they played before, during, and long after. 

This book is one of the most beautifully written I have read in a long time. The prose itself completely sucked me in, not to mention the incredibly well-constructed story. Natalie Haynes did a phenomenal justice to all of these characters who always seem to come second to their male counterparts, if not just ignored completely. 

I particularly loved the chapters about Cassandra. Haynes wrote her with such care and intelligence, while still keeping the youth of the character clear. I was happy to see in the afterword that this character was her favourite as well.

I also strongly recommend listening to the audiobook for this. It is narrated by the author so you hear everything exactly as it was intended, and the performance is phenomenal. I can’t wait to read more from Natalie Haynes going forward.
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