Reviews

Athena's Child by Hannah Lynn

cami_cosmelli's review against another edition

3.0

Si è ripreso verso la fine, ma ho provato poca empatia verso Medusa e odiato le sue sorelle. Le trasformazioni sono descritte un po' troppo in fretta e qualche passaggio non mi è stato molto chiaro. Ho notato almeno due errori "anacronistici", come il cuore che va a mille, che non so se imputare all'autrice o a una cattiva traduzione.

maddiereadswords's review against another edition

1.5

Honestly, if this book weren't so short I probably would have DNFed it. The writing was just absolutely not working for me. There were so many random time skips, and POV switches that it was sometimes difficult to tell when and where I was in the story, and the narration was so far removed from the characters that they all ended up feeling really flat. My biggest problem with it, though, is the ending. It was so abrupt and there's sort of a summary of what happens after, but I wish there was more exploration of the aftermath of Perseus's choice. The epilogue sets up such an interesting conversation about toxic masculinity and the role it plays in myth-making, but this book is totally uninterested in having it, so it all just ends up feeling pointlessly brutal and even more tragic than the source material. Don't get me wrong, I am all for a feminist reframing of the Medusa story, but this was just so not it for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

cupcake29's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad 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? No

5.0

rosajeanie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

everdene's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed this story. The wording is a bit modern for a Greek myth and I found the ending really abrupt. What happened to the mom and grandfather?

cami_tralerighe's review against another edition

2.0

Le premesse per un ottima storia c'erano tutte, dalla ripresa di un personaggio mitologico solitamente raccontato come "il cattivo" all'adozione di un punto di vista diverso da quello canonico.
Peccato che l'esecuzione sia stata a malapena mediocre: personaggi completamente piatti, worldbuilding praticamente inesistente, uno stile di scrittura talmente elementare che non invoglia nemmeno un po' a continuare.. Insomma tentativo bocciato, peccato per l'idea sprecata...

17efravel's review

4.0

This was a pretty straightforward retelling of Medusa's myth. It was pretty faithful to the original myth while also bringing some feminist themes.


Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!

ladypalma's review against another edition

2.0

"Tutta un'altra storia" recita il sottotitolo del libro, ma - per fortuna - la storia non è così tanto stravolta. Questo reletting si inserisce nella moda di offrire retelling di personaggi mitologici, scegliendone uno niente affatto banale e che sicuramente intriga: Medusa. L'intento del libro è di unire le diverse tradizioni che si hanno di Medusa (mostro marino o sacerdotessa di Atena?), inserendo delle piccole aggiunte, in fondo lecite, a quello che conosciamo.
L'idea di fondo non mi è dispiaciuta, così come ho trovato carino il finale... Purtroppo tutta la narrazione è condotta, a mio parere, malissimo. I personaggi risultano piatti, i molti momenti di pathos ridotti troppo sbrigativamente, e da un punto di vista narrativo ho trovato irritante a un certo punto lo stacco improvviso su Perseo e il focus sulla sua vita. È, in sostanza, un romanzo che, pur avendo qualche buon spunto, mi è letteralmente scivolato addosso.
Mi riservo, tuttavia, di leggere presto il nuovo della stessa autrice per farmi un'idea più completa.

theycallmebookish's review

3.0

3.5

Most Medusa stories always portray her as this monster but very few really touch on her backstory, this book did and I loved it for that. You get to know Medusa the girl and woman, before all the stories of her being a monster were started. She has been so villainized like most women in history that having a story like this about her is a breath of fresh air and is correcting some of the wrongs done to women historical figures in stories. The one draw back for me is that I do wish it was longer. Felt a bit more like a novella.

georgialouise1997's review against another edition

1.0

DNF. incredibly difficult to get through. Enjoyed the beginning but towards the middle I lost total interest.