Reviews with content warning for War - Stone Blind

Reviews tagging 'War'

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

50 reviews

sierraashley's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

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

5.0

Very well done. Love the satire. I was giggling as I'd read, especially when they were making fun of Perseus. Medusa is one of my favorite characters ever and didn't deserve what happened to her and I'm glad someone finally told her story.

Content Warnings

nak34's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

cnannery19's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

Content Warnings

catarina_pego's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

itshrewsbury's review

Go to review page

3.0

Content Warnings

atamano's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

2.75

Content Warnings

booksjessreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.5

I was somewhat disappointed with this book and I really had higher expectations from this novel. There were things that did work well, but for the most part, I don't think the format worked for what Haynes was trying to achieve.

I will start with what I enjoyed about the book first. The portrayal of Perseus as a self-righteous and stuck-up 16 year old was my favourite thing. I liked how Haynes had depreciated him in the story and really emphasised how much of a coward he was, despite being praised as a hero. However, there were several chapters where Haynes breaks the 'fourth wall' and writes in second person to the reader, instilling her fury in you that Perseus has always been painted in this way. Listening to the audio of this, this was quite jarring, although I appreciated her intentions of the chapters anyway.

When we got a perspective of Medusa, I also appreciated her point of view.

I even quite liked the separate perspective of her head after it had been decapitated.

However, I really thought that for a book about Medusa, which even on the cover says 'Medusa's story', I didn't really feel like we got much from Medusa herself. We had perspectives from so many Gods, who largely seemed one-dimensional, and it detracted away from the story. Whilst I liked having multiple perspectives to tell the story, there were far too many God's, statues and creatures involved in telling the story. It would have been more effective had there been less. Further to this, there were so many points of view and their background or purpose to the story was never really explored. I appreciate Haynes is a classicist, but she could have been more explicit with her character's purpose and background.

Perhaps this is just me, as I don't read lots of mythology books, but I felt a lot of the conversations in this book were really basic or childish. And it only ever worked well when we got conversation from Perseus, as it helped build Haynes' portrayal of him. One example that really stuck with me was

Medusa's conversation with Poseidon before he rapes her. I know Medusa is 16 as well, but the conversation felt drawn out and unnecessary in parts, especially painting Medusa, who I know was largely sheltered from the world, as completely oblivious and naive. It just didn't work for me.

I can appreciate why people have enjoyed this book, but I just felt as though this book did not deliver to the standards that it was marketed by. I do enjoy Medusa's story generally so I stuck with it, but there was certain elements that just did not work for me.

Content Warnings

mgiegerl's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

lzad's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Medusa was abandoned by her parents, to be raised by her "monstrous" but loving sisters. The Olympians gods are paranoid, narcissistic, raging ego maniacs. Perseus is a teenage thug. Wonderfully rich characters, events are both petty and horrific. Utterly compelling. Beautifully written.

Content Warnings

zakura317's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

More...