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khymihr's review
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Blood, Child death, Child abuse, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Death
shay43geek's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Confinement, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Child death, Blood, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Torture, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Animal death
kylosten's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Rape
moonytoast'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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Thank you to the team at Atria Books for sending me a physical ARC of this book!
My fellow queer Greek mythology and Frankenstein enjoyers.... DO I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU!!!!!!
Eilish Quin’s Medea follows the titular character from Greek myth from her childhood on the island of Kolchis, where she begins to learn the art of witchcraft, to the high seas alongside Jason and the Argonauts to the city of Corinth. The book seems to ask: Whose narratives are perceived as monstrous and whose are not? What do the monsters we fear—or hate—most say about us? When monsters can take mythic or mortal form, what do we define as monstrosity? Lush with its writing style and character interiority, Medea is an amazing addition to the growing body of feminist Greek myth retellings.
My fellow queer Greek mythology and Frankenstein enjoyers.... DO I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU!!!!!!
Eilish Quin’s Medea follows the titular character from Greek myth from her childhood on the island of Kolchis, where she begins to learn the art of witchcraft, to the high seas alongside Jason and the Argonauts to the city of Corinth. The book seems to ask: Whose narratives are perceived as monstrous and whose are not? What do the monsters we fear—or hate—most say about us? When monsters can take mythic or mortal form, what do we define as monstrosity? Lush with its writing style and character interiority, Medea is an amazing addition to the growing body of feminist Greek myth retellings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Body horror, and Grief
Minor: Sexual violence, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Vomit
savvyrosereads's review
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
[Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free copy!]
Rating: 5/5 stars
A feminist reimagining of the story of Medea, one of the most complex and reviled women of mythology.
In my freshman English class in college, I was assigned a Medea retelling (BY THE BOG OF CATS) and I absolutely devoured it and never looked back. The story of Medea is one of my absolute favorites—dark and devastating and captivating and thought-provoking. This version of Medea’s story was, consequently, one of my most-anticipated releases of the year, and it lived up to all of my expectations.
Eilish Quin handles Medea’s story with subtlety, nuance, and grace, spinning a tale of someone who is both a victim and a survivor of her own destiny. It is easy to envision Medea as cold, cruel, and heartless, but Eilish’s version—a woman who feels too much, cares too deeply, and loves more fully that she even realizes—is the portrait this complex figure (and we, as readers) truly deserves. I was also astounded at the deft handling of the character of Jason, another complicated figure in his own right. Medea’s journey to understand her husband and her realizations along the way gave me actual chills.
Finally, the Circe cameo was everything I ever wanted it to be, and very nearly made me cry.
If you enjoy mythology and retellings, please please read this one!
CW: Blood/death/violence; animal death
Rating: 5/5 stars
A feminist reimagining of the story of Medea, one of the most complex and reviled women of mythology.
In my freshman English class in college, I was assigned a Medea retelling (BY THE BOG OF CATS) and I absolutely devoured it and never looked back. The story of Medea is one of my absolute favorites—dark and devastating and captivating and thought-provoking. This version of Medea’s story was, consequently, one of my most-anticipated releases of the year, and it lived up to all of my expectations.
Eilish Quin handles Medea’s story with subtlety, nuance, and grace, spinning a tale of someone who is both a victim and a survivor of her own destiny. It is easy to envision Medea as cold, cruel, and heartless, but Eilish’s version—a woman who feels too much, cares too deeply, and loves more fully that she even realizes—is the portrait this complex figure (and we, as readers) truly deserves. I was also astounded at the deft handling of the character of Jason, another complicated figure in his own right. Medea’s journey to understand her husband and her realizations along the way gave me actual chills.
Finally, the Circe cameo was everything I ever wanted it to be, and very nearly made me cry.
If you enjoy mythology and retellings, please please read this one!
CW: Blood/death/violence; animal death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Child death, and Death
daniellereadslikealot_'s review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a book I was very excited about and I’m so happy it lived up to the hype in my head. I knew very little about Medea other than being the wife of Jason and a sorceress, but it was very easy to be swept away in her story. It’s a more sympathetic take on Medea from what I gather, but at the same time, I liked that she was written as a very complex woman. She made mistakes, she made bad decisions, but she wasn’t necessarily a bad person. I think any fan of Greek mythology retellings and reimaginings will enjoy this one. Since, as I said before, I didn’t know much about Medea, the story was very much a surprise for me and I liked that. I loved seeing her go from a young, anxious girl to a woman with cunning and resourcefulness. I highly recommend this one, but definitely check the content warnings at the bottom of my review. I cried several times.
TW: death, violence, murder, animal death, animal experiments, child abuse, child death
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Violence
gondorgirl's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Animal death, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Child death, Gaslighting, Violence, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Gore, Sexual content, Grief, and Emotional abuse
chaoticbookgremlin_'s review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with a digital ARC!
This book was just okay.
What started as what felt like a very interesting and compelling read quickly dwindled into disinterest and some feelings of apathy. A Greek mythology retelling? Depicting a feminist perspective on one of the most disliked women in these myths? With witches and sailors and a criticism on sexism? It sounded like something I'd really enjoy. However, many elements of this fell flat for me.
Right off the bat, the prose and method of storytelling reminded me a bit too much of Circe. It felt like the author was trying to write like Madeline Miller, and it was coming across as a bit... bland and messy. I found myself growing bored and feeling like this book was too long, which is concerning for something that's less than 300 pages. While I understand that this is a retelling of Medea's life, there were too many lulls or description on dull events and less impact delivered on the more emotional or developmental story beats.
Too many times, I think, was Phaethon and Chalciope described as "golden", "shining," or something that attributed them to the sun. Medea compared herself to her siblings entirely too much, which is perhaps linking to the development of her character, but just describing that once or twice would be enough to deliver that. The climax at the end was almost too rushed, with not a lot of buildup toward it - I found myself confused, and her relationship with Jason was not very clear by the end and I had no idea what the hell was going on.
It is far easier to focus on the negative rather than positive aspects of the book. I want to reiterate - I did not hate this book. Perhaps I am not familiar enough with the story of Medea to appreciate it enough - but I also was unfamiliar with the story of Circe or Achilles and Patroclus, and I adored those stories. The depictions of sexism and misogyny were done rather well, and I, as always, found myself getting angry at the patriarchy - which is easy to do.
3.5 stars. This book comes out February 13, 2024. Perhaps you will enjoy it more than I did.
This book was just okay.
What started as what felt like a very interesting and compelling read quickly dwindled into disinterest and some feelings of apathy. A Greek mythology retelling? Depicting a feminist perspective on one of the most disliked women in these myths? With witches and sailors and a criticism on sexism? It sounded like something I'd really enjoy. However, many elements of this fell flat for me.
Right off the bat, the prose and method of storytelling reminded me a bit too much of Circe. It felt like the author was trying to write like Madeline Miller, and it was coming across as a bit... bland and messy. I found myself growing bored and feeling like this book was too long, which is concerning for something that's less than 300 pages. While I understand that this is a retelling of Medea's life, there were too many lulls or description on dull events and less impact delivered on the more emotional or developmental story beats.
Too many times, I think, was Phaethon and Chalciope described as "golden", "shining," or something that attributed them to the sun. Medea compared herself to her siblings entirely too much, which is perhaps linking to the development of her character, but just describing that once or twice would be enough to deliver that. The climax at the end was almost too rushed, with not a lot of buildup toward it - I found myself confused, and her relationship with Jason was not very clear by the end and I had no idea what the hell was going on.
It is far easier to focus on the negative rather than positive aspects of the book. I want to reiterate - I did not hate this book. Perhaps I am not familiar enough with the story of Medea to appreciate it enough - but I also was unfamiliar with the story of Circe or Achilles and Patroclus, and I adored those stories. The depictions of sexism and misogyny were done rather well, and I, as always, found myself getting angry at the patriarchy - which is easy to do.
3.5 stars. This book comes out February 13, 2024. Perhaps you will enjoy it more than I did.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Child death, Animal death, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny
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