Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It was just too short for the relationship to be believable.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An offshoot so understandable to be short but was very fast and a whirlwind to read. But I do like calypso being smart enough in her home to avoid dying with some sneakiness!
While I really enjoyed the characters in this little novella, I wish the story would’ve taken its time to progress a little bit. I could’ve seen a lot more buildup of the growing affection between the two main characters and a little more urgency over the conflict of the story as well. It seemed to resolve itself a bit too quickly for my liking, but not a bad story overall.
You do NOT need to read this story in order to understand everything that takes place in the main series, but it’s a cute little extra for fans of the series. If it wasn’t free from the library, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up though.
You do NOT need to read this story in order to understand everything that takes place in the main series, but it’s a cute little extra for fans of the series. If it wasn’t free from the library, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up though.
Even condensed to 80-something pages, it’s such a great little read.
I love that Katee Robert dives into Greek pantheon stories deeply, illuminating the characters with thorough understanding. Medusa is one of the three Gorgons (Gorgon meaning ‘protector’) who could turn men into stone with just one look. While her sisters were immortal, Medusa wasn’t, which is why tasked by Athena, Perseus cut off her head and gifted it to the Goddess as a weapon to decorate her shield.
Before her untimely demise, Medusa was a beautiful woman, who dedicated her life to Athena, swearing chastity as her priestess, which didn’t protect her from Poseidon’s sexual advances. He rapes her, and Athena punishes her for being raped, giving her snakes for hair, making her into a target for people who wanted to use her head as a weapon. So it’s double betrayal that Athena ends up giving the very shield to Perseus that seals Medusa’s fate. A popular theme in feminist literature because all Gods know she deserved better.
Now in Katee Robert’s world Perseus ends up becoming the new Zeus, so let’s hope nothing bad happens!
Making Calypso into a seductive con artist who fools Odysseus out of his money is genius. According to Homer, Calypso traps Odysseus on her island for seven years, trying to make him her immortal husband, raping him every day, refusing to let him go back to his wife, Penelope, he cries over every day… Homer is certainly a bro, especially mentioning that Zeus demands Calypso lets the poor guy go and she calls him a hypocrite to his face. There are other accounts, telling this story as her following Poseidon’s orders after the hero blinds the God’s favorite son Polyphemus.
Can I forget to mention the acts of lesbianism in this book? Nope. Oh, they’re there, with no stereotypical language (cough scissoring cough) and described like the author is bisexual and definitely looked at a vulva before. What a thrill! The contract-killer-turned-lover was done before (or after), so there’s little to say about that trope, the moral reservations are highlighted and the crisis of faith Medusa has in her master is addressed. Nailing this transition from “it is what it is” to “actually, fuck this” in under 100 pages must have been an extremely edited, iterative process. Very well done!
I love that Katee Robert dives into Greek pantheon stories deeply, illuminating the characters with thorough understanding. Medusa is one of the three Gorgons (Gorgon meaning ‘protector’) who could turn men into stone with just one look. While her sisters were immortal, Medusa wasn’t, which is why tasked by Athena, Perseus cut off her head and gifted it to the Goddess as a weapon to decorate her shield.
Before her untimely demise, Medusa was a beautiful woman, who dedicated her life to Athena, swearing chastity as her priestess, which didn’t protect her from Poseidon’s sexual advances. He rapes her, and Athena punishes her for being raped, giving her snakes for hair, making her into a target for people who wanted to use her head as a weapon. So it’s double betrayal that Athena ends up giving the very shield to Perseus that seals Medusa’s fate. A popular theme in feminist literature because all Gods know she deserved better.
Now in Katee Robert’s world Perseus ends up becoming the new Zeus, so let’s hope nothing bad happens!
Making Calypso into a seductive con artist who fools Odysseus out of his money is genius. According to Homer, Calypso traps Odysseus on her island for seven years, trying to make him her immortal husband, raping him every day, refusing to let him go back to his wife, Penelope, he cries over every day… Homer is certainly a bro, especially mentioning that Zeus demands Calypso lets the poor guy go and she calls him a hypocrite to his face. There are other accounts, telling this story as her following Poseidon’s orders after the hero blinds the God’s favorite son Polyphemus.
Can I forget to mention the acts of lesbianism in this book? Nope. Oh, they’re there, with no stereotypical language (cough scissoring cough) and described like the author is bisexual and definitely looked at a vulva before. What a thrill! The contract-killer-turned-lover was done before (or after), so there’s little to say about that trope, the moral reservations are highlighted and the crisis of faith Medusa has in her master is addressed. Nailing this transition from “it is what it is” to “actually, fuck this” in under 100 pages must have been an extremely edited, iterative process. Very well done!
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a fun time. Love a good little mindless read, good smut too. What a short little story
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
I have read novellas with insta love before, but nothing quite as fast as this. One minute, she's being ordered to kill Calypso and the next their girlfriends, pledging to move to the underworld to live together. It was like emotional whiplash. If this would maybe be a full novel it would be more understandable