adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Men really ain’t shit.

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It begins with many descriptions of backstory, almost all of which involve events of sexual and misogynistic violence. They're all from various myths I'm familiar with, but it was too much at once for me.

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adventurous dark sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

 Ariadne by Jennifer Saint 🍇
🌟🌟🌟✨

🍇 The plot: Ariadne and her sister Phaedra have grown up in the monstrous shadow of their brother the Minotaur, dogged by whispers and their mother's shame for bringing him into the world. When the prince and hero Theseus arrives and promises to end their torment, Ariadne is quick to fall for and help him. Everyone knows what Theseus does next - but not everyone knows what happens to Ariadne, or the winding path her fortune takes after she leaves Crete...

This was my penultimate holiday read, an ideal choice for when I was reading on Greek beaches! It's told somewhere between a normal contemporary novel and a Greek epic: light on characterisation and heavy on characters reporting their adventures in long monologues. This adds to the atmosphere of the book - it feels very of a piece with the epics it takes its inspiration from - but it wasn't my favourite style.

Also, I don't know why I was surprised by this considering what I know from reading Greek myths at uni, but this shit was depressing!! I loved Ariadne's reflections on what it means to be a woman in a world controlled by capricious gods, particularly the perspective she brought to the relationships between gods and humans, and it felt very organic within the narrative. But the story's faithfulness to the original myths meant that women rarely catch a break in this book - if anything, you feel the injustices more keenly because Ariadne is so aware of them! The reversal of fortunes in Phaedra's life and in Ariadne's relationship with Dionysus broke my heart, and I was left feeling quite deflated. I loved the feminist thinking here, but the lack of opportunities for the characters to really fight back left it on a slightly bitter note for me.

🍇 Read it if you love Greek myths and want a feminist perspective. Also if you hate Theseus because lemme tell you he does not come out of this well!!

🚫 Avoid it if you like psychological writing or want a feminist book that has more of a rebellious spirit/ optimistic outlook! 

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adventurous challenging emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

I really enjoyed this book. Once again, I read it as what it is, a mythology retelling and not as a feminist book/manifesto. Not everything needs a dominating feminist perspective, certainly not a book with an ancient woman protagonist. 
One of the most popular ancient Greek myths, that of Theseus and the Minotaur, retold through the eyes of Ariadne and Phaedra. A lovely retelling, nicely written, keeps you interested even if you are quite familiar with the original myth (like myself, being greek). 
I would have loved a few chapters through the eyes of Pashiphae, more Pasiphaei in any case, and I would have liked it a bit smaller, it was quite repetitive at places. 

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emotional sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

a good retelling but she doesn’t turn into a big spider in this one :/

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I love Greek feminism. This book is all about men using women and leaving them ruined and women paying for the crimes of men. 

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