Reviews with content warning for Rape - Ariadne: Princesa. Irmã de um monstro. Amante de deuses e heróis.

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Ariadne: Princesa. Irmã de um monstro. Amante de deuses e heróis. by Jennifer Saint

384 reviews

xaphriel's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

cozywithbrina's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

TW: R*pe, suicide, emotional abuse, child neglect, child m*rder, sacrifice, misogynie, abandonment, blood. (It's not gory, more often than not, it is mentioned.)

This is the epitome of female powerlessness, female sacrifice, female hate, misogynie and thus resulting in female rage.

I've felt that rage, reading about Ariadne and Phaedra's decisions. I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs when I heard them making stupid decisions after stupid decisions for men. I prepared myself for the certainly upcoming deceptions that would follow their blind trust in the wrong people.

I've felt that sorrow at how they were treated, how motherhood is not a magical experience for all and how it's wielded as a shield to protect a perfect perfect little life.

And I wanted to cry at their death, the ultimate sacrifice they made. For men. Again. Their love is beyond measure, and their pain is infinite.

I did not know how to rate that book. I wanted to give it 0, because it's made be bitter and angry and why was it so unfair -

But... mythology is as it is: unfair.

Men before gods are powerless. And Gods are but petty children playing with toys. I've felt such a vast array of emotions, I cannot not give it 4/5. The book will haunt me for a long time.

Content Warnings

avery_madison's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

angelkisses's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Inconsistent pacing, an overarching story that screams feminism 101, repetitive expository dialogue. The writing was enchanting and the descriptions were palpable, their power muted by the narrative they occupied. Part I was a bore and Part III was the novel at its best. The epilogue was interesting enough and Part IV interesting in the way that expectations of a specific character

(Dionysus)

were "subverted" but not so much that anyone who doesn't have a basic understanding of Greek mythology. There are better examples of 'mythological realism' out there, one being the very book it's being comped to in its description (Circe by Madeline Miller) where constant narrative questioning and tired repetitive exposition doesn't plague the story. I understand this is a debut story so I will not hold prejudice against the author -- they certainly have a talent for writing.

Content Warnings

biancafrancisco's review against another edition

3.0

reflective sad tense 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: No

I'm a simple woman, I see feminist greek retelling and I read

Buuuuut this one disappointed a bit. I enjoyed reading it, the writing is as pointed out in my cover "lyrical".
However, it does not do what it sets out to do.

Ariadne as a character lacks luster as she is very passive.

She has barely any role in defeating the Minotaur (Dedalous gives her the thread and Phaedra steals the weapon), with this characterization one wonders how she even had the conviction to betray her father (I guess the explanation is her falling in love immediately by looking at Theseus....istg).
While she lives in Naxos with Dionysus she also shows no interest in the sister she left behind or on what her husband does on their island.

She is lulled by her comfortable beliefs and leaves everything at that.

When the two sisters came to be reunited I thought the story's purpose might be revealed, that it would be about these two woman and their bond (once again pointing to the supposed feminist undercurrent of the book), but the only reason Phaedra went to Naxos was to further her plot and they seemed to add nothing to each other.

Through the book there is an emphasis on the gods being careless and cruel and innocent humans, particularly woman, suffering for it. This attempt at criticizing the treatment of woman in classical myth falls short as the plot of the book goes by. You would think Ariadne would go against this and, even if the ending had to be as in the myth, she would be shown fighting her fate.

Yet, she merely goes where she is pushed most of the time and both Phaedra's and her death feel pointless and void of meaning.

Phaedra's struggle with motherhood seems to also be looking to shed some feminist light, but the message gets lost along the way.

At the beggining of the book Ariadne
speaks of seizing her destiny for herself, but we see her do nothing of the sort throughout the book. In her own words, after a decade of marriage, she says "I had been trusting and obedient. I had thought that was the right way to be". She ends up being disappointed by Dionysus also and it seems the only lesson to be learned is a weird dichotomy of men are bad and woman good mixed with a Madonna-whore complex where woman who reclaimed and used their power were seen as evil (Medea and Hera, for example) while passive woman like Ariadne were good.

I realize this is to be a tragedy, but why retell a story if not to shine a new light on it? The women end the story the way they began, Ariadne without purpose and Phaedra miserable and heavy with humiliation.

It is not a terrible book, it was enjoyable to read - it just didn't convey its own message. If you have started it searching for something akin to Madeleine Miller's Circe, you will not be totally satisfied.

Content Warnings