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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
this book was absolutely thrilling to read. the agency ariadne has as a high priestess of crete, the journey she takes to eventually become her true self at the end of the book, and the love she shares with dionysus... it is all very inspiring. the inclusion of characters such as persephone, hermes, and hephaestus - lesser known, treated as insignificant compared to gods like zeus or hera - made this story so much richer. furthermore, the interpretation the minotaur as a costume or a presumed identity rather than a monstrous creature was quite unique.
This retelling is about Ariadne and how Dionysus came to be a god, it was entertaining and well written, it flowed very easily. I am glad it focused on Ariadne as much, and made her an interesting woman instead of a footnote in men's stories and gives her the spotlight. It gives an explanation of why she would betray her family when she had everything as the high priestess of Crete and how she got trapped in schemes with no way out.
I would have liked more insight from the characters to their thoughts and a bit more development on the page also I am not a fan of love at first sight, it ended up with a good dynamic but the beginning was a bit long for me, the good writing kept me reading and then I really loved how it went.
I would have liked more insight from the characters to their thoughts and a bit more development on the page also I am not a fan of love at first sight, it ended up with a good dynamic but the beginning was a bit long for me, the good writing kept me reading and then I really loved how it went.
fast-paced
Thank you to Victory Editing and NetGalley for this ARC. I'm a huge fan of any sort of Greek myth retelling and Ariadne is not a figure I've seen get a a huge amount of attention in the recent spate of novels that have been seeking to reframe various ancient stories from a female perspective. Dionysus is also a very neglected god in modern retellings, with few authors knowing how to handle an Olympian who embodies drunkenness, ecstasy, insanity and performance. So a novel that seeks to flesh out the relationship between these two characters and give Ariadne some agency back? Sign me up! However, I was ultimately a little disappointed. While I ultimately liked the portrayal of Dionysus and thought it captured the tension between his mortality and his godhead really well, the whole novel just felt a bit...bodice ripper-y to me (though the author was at pains to emphasise that Ariadne is not wearing anything that could be described as a bodice for 90% of this book). I know Dionysus is the god of orgies, so maybe I should have expected this, but it just felt like sex was being shoe-horned in at every possible opportunity and I felt like it really distracted from the wider plot, which I actually found to be a really interesting take on the Ariadne myth. I'm conscious that this is really a matter of personal taste, so if you've already read books like The Silence of the Girls and A Thousand Ships but you thought 'Hmmm, I like this but it needs more vine-themed bondage' then Ariadne Unravelled is definitely the book for you.
For a lover of greek mythology retellings, this book was welcomed onto my kindle and embraced with open arms. I’m constantly on the hunt for a book to fill the Madeline Miller shaped hole in my heart. I would not say this book hit the mark, but it didn’t fall flat either.
Ariadne Unraveled is a retelling of the story of Ariadne, the high priestess of Crete. I was excited for this retelling because Ariadne is often an overlooked side character, used and treated as a pawn to further the story of a man. This retelling did one thing very well: made my feminist soul sing. I was utterly impressed with Neil’s subtle empowerment of Ariadne without making it feel like a political stunt. I also appreciated the approach to gender and sexual roles. The fluidity and lack of boundaries when sexuality was discussed was a breath of fresh air.
In her author’s note, Neil explained the convoluted and contradicting nature of Dionysus and Ariadne’s story. She did a beautiful job of piecing together the various myths and tragedies found across history. The attention to detail is apparent.
I do wish the authors voice was stronger. The writing lacked humor or lyrical prose. The love story did not make me feel warm inside and overall lacked emotion.
This is a love story, but more importantly it is a story of redemption, empowerment, loyalty, and self discovery. I am excited to see more from this author; the blueprint for this book is brilliant. I hope that we see a stronger voice in her future stories.
* This book was given to me as an arc in exchange for an honest review *
Ariadne Unraveled is a retelling of the story of Ariadne, the high priestess of Crete. I was excited for this retelling because Ariadne is often an overlooked side character, used and treated as a pawn to further the story of a man. This retelling did one thing very well: made my feminist soul sing. I was utterly impressed with Neil’s subtle empowerment of Ariadne without making it feel like a political stunt. I also appreciated the approach to gender and sexual roles. The fluidity and lack of boundaries when sexuality was discussed was a breath of fresh air.
In her author’s note, Neil explained the convoluted and contradicting nature of Dionysus and Ariadne’s story. She did a beautiful job of piecing together the various myths and tragedies found across history. The attention to detail is apparent.
I do wish the authors voice was stronger. The writing lacked humor or lyrical prose. The love story did not make me feel warm inside and overall lacked emotion.
This is a love story, but more importantly it is a story of redemption, empowerment, loyalty, and self discovery. I am excited to see more from this author; the blueprint for this book is brilliant. I hope that we see a stronger voice in her future stories.
* This book was given to me as an arc in exchange for an honest review *
I love mythology retelling. Although, I read a little about Ariadne. I heard her more in other stories about her family, her mother Pasiphae and Minotaur, Circe, Madea, and his grandfather Helios. So, I found this very interesting story.
The story is told by Ariadne and Dionysus and started with their meeting before Theseus, son of Aegeus. Dionysus, the divine son of Zeus, wanted vengeance on Artemis, his half-sister, and Crete was a place for his plans.
Ariadne, the high priestess of Crete, took a husband for one to three years. She wed him, bedded him, and sacrificed him to the goddess (the rules on Crete were different). Her mother Pasiphae had done the same, but she had angered the goddess by keeping her husband, Minos.
This was a very romantic, beautifully written retelling of Ariadne, and I think a lot added to the typical one. I enjoyed it. Highly recommended to romance and mythology fans.
"He had promised to make her his queen in Athens, to never forget how she had saved him. The promise of a man was worthless."
Many thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for giving me the chance to read Ariadne Unraveled: A Mythic Retelling by Zenobia Neil in exchange for an honest review.
Published Date 07 Jul 2021.
The story is told by Ariadne and Dionysus and started with their meeting before Theseus, son of Aegeus. Dionysus, the divine son of Zeus, wanted vengeance on Artemis, his half-sister, and Crete was a place for his plans.
Ariadne, the high priestess of Crete, took a husband for one to three years. She wed him, bedded him, and sacrificed him to the goddess (the rules on Crete were different). Her mother Pasiphae had done the same, but she had angered the goddess by keeping her husband, Minos.
This was a very romantic, beautifully written retelling of Ariadne, and I think a lot added to the typical one. I enjoyed it. Highly recommended to romance and mythology fans.
"He had promised to make her his queen in Athens, to never forget how she had saved him. The promise of a man was worthless."
Many thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for giving me the chance to read Ariadne Unraveled: A Mythic Retelling by Zenobia Neil in exchange for an honest review.
Published Date 07 Jul 2021.
The premise for this book is really interesting - retelling the story of Ariadne and Dionysus. There is a lot of good and a lot of bad in this book. Overall, I was disappointed and would have given this two stars except for what I mention in the good below.
First the bad:
The book reads like a book aimed at middle school kids up until you get to the first sex scene where you are suddenly plunged into a soft porn romance novel. Like a lot of soft porn, the relationships are over the top and attraction is instantaneous and sometimes nonsensical. There is a lot of confusion between love and lust and yet some of the best writing is in the (very light) BDSM scenes. (Note, if light BDSM freaks you out, this is definitely not the book for you as there are a lot of people who want to be "punished" in this novel.) While the motivation of the characters was fairly shallow, that is not unlike the myths upon which the story is based. I would have preferred a real "story behind the story" with more depth to it, but the title clearly says it is a "mythic retelling" which implies that it won't be realistic. Ariadne seemed to be blind to the most obvious bad or good behavior of others....they had to hit her over the head before she noticed. Sadly, the book ended more like a Disney retelling of a fairy tale than a myth.
Now the good:
This book made me think about what it would have been like during the rise of Athens and also made me more curious about Minoan culture. The author is better at world building than dialogue, motivation, or relationships. I also loved what she did with the Minotaur...that was more the "story behind the story" than much of the rest. I can't fully fault any book that makes me think and go out and learn more not because I didn't believe what she was saying, but because she made the culture so interesting.
This book could have benefited from a stronger editor as there were good bones here. Sometimes the reactions to the characters seemed truly bizarre even given that some characters are gods who really don't care about humans. There was also at least one time where no one caught that the wrong word was used and neither the author nor editor noticed: "Ariadne, Phaedra, and Tios clamored on board, followed by the Athenian tributes." "To clamor" means to cry out. The word the author wanted was "clambered."
All in all, I don't think I'll be reading more from this author unless I see some indications from reviews that the writing/editing has improved, but I'm glad I didn't set aside this book as it renewed my interest in ancient Greek cultures.
First the bad:
The book reads like a book aimed at middle school kids up until you get to the first sex scene where you are suddenly plunged into a soft porn romance novel. Like a lot of soft porn, the relationships are over the top and attraction is instantaneous and sometimes nonsensical. There is a lot of confusion between love and lust and yet some of the best writing is in the (very light) BDSM scenes. (Note, if light BDSM freaks you out, this is definitely not the book for you as there are a lot of people who want to be "punished" in this novel.) While the motivation of the characters was fairly shallow, that is not unlike the myths upon which the story is based. I would have preferred a real "story behind the story" with more depth to it, but the title clearly says it is a "mythic retelling" which implies that it won't be realistic. Ariadne seemed to be blind to the most obvious bad or good behavior of others....they had to hit her over the head before she noticed. Sadly, the book ended more like a Disney retelling of a fairy tale than a myth.
Now the good:
This book made me think about what it would have been like during the rise of Athens and also made me more curious about Minoan culture. The author is better at world building than dialogue, motivation, or relationships. I also loved what she did with the Minotaur...that was more the "story behind the story" than much of the rest. I can't fully fault any book that makes me think and go out and learn more not because I didn't believe what she was saying, but because she made the culture so interesting.
This book could have benefited from a stronger editor as there were good bones here. Sometimes the reactions to the characters seemed truly bizarre even given that some characters are gods who really don't care about humans. There was also at least one time where no one caught that the wrong word was used and neither the author nor editor noticed: "Ariadne, Phaedra, and Tios clamored on board, followed by the Athenian tributes." "To clamor" means to cry out. The word the author wanted was "clambered."
All in all, I don't think I'll be reading more from this author unless I see some indications from reviews that the writing/editing has improved, but I'm glad I didn't set aside this book as it renewed my interest in ancient Greek cultures.
**2.5 stars**
Ariadne Unraveled is a retelling of the Ariadne and Dionysus myth. I was excited going into this book because I wasn’t too impressed with another book about Ariadne and wanted something more substantial.
In this story, Ariadne certainly has more agency, and I enjoyed the Minoan perspective of her tale. However, she and Dionysus share the spotlight, each pretty much getting equal “page time.” I was hoping to read just from Ariadne's POV and didn't want that much of a male perspective in this retelling. And not to say I didn’t like Dionysus, he was a well written character with a very interesting story. He's certainly different than the Dionysus I am used to reading about in Percy Jackson books, and I liked this version of him. Again, I wanted just to see him through Ariadne's eyes.
This book is absolutely full of lust and spice. Way more than I’m used to. To the point where it was hard to take the book seriously as a whole. And I just did not understand the point of Thalia’s character. I think the book would have been entirely much better without her in it. I didn’t understand her and Ariadne’s relationship one bit and was just super confused and weirded out. She's Ariadne's slave; her mistress never would have chosen to free her on Crete, though she had the power to do so. Their relationship was odd, taking away from Ariadne's and Dionysus', and I think spoiled the book for me. I like that Thalia was able to transform into a leopard, thanks to Dionysus, but that’s as far as my appreciation for her went. Some of the sex scenes were too over the top for me and spoiled the rest of the book because of how outlandish. The contrast between these spicy scenes and the rest of the book trying to have a more serious tone couldn't be reconciled.
I was also confused by Artemis in this story. Ariadne serves as her high priestess on Crete, or should I say she serves a goddess. Artemis morphs into Athena from Ariadne’s POV, yet for Dionysus, they are still two separate deities. I didn’t understand this and didn’t see any basis for this in myth. If the author kept Dionysus’ POV chapters out of this book, I think I would have liked it more; I wouldn’t have been so confused by these goddesses.
I liked that Ariadne was not just a background character in her story, at least not at first. Probably my favorite part of this book was when she was in the Underworld. I also liked the Minotaur; we learn he isn't a beast after all.
I wanted to like this book but just couldn’t.
Ariadne Unraveled is a retelling of the Ariadne and Dionysus myth. I was excited going into this book because I wasn’t too impressed with another book about Ariadne and wanted something more substantial.
In this story, Ariadne certainly has more agency, and I enjoyed the Minoan perspective of her tale. However, she and Dionysus share the spotlight, each pretty much getting equal “page time.” I was hoping to read just from Ariadne's POV and didn't want that much of a male perspective in this retelling. And not to say I didn’t like Dionysus, he was a well written character with a very interesting story. He's certainly different than the Dionysus I am used to reading about in Percy Jackson books, and I liked this version of him. Again, I wanted just to see him through Ariadne's eyes.
This book is absolutely full of lust and spice. Way more than I’m used to. To the point where it was hard to take the book seriously as a whole. And I just did not understand the point of Thalia’s character. I think the book would have been entirely much better without her in it. I didn’t understand her and Ariadne’s relationship one bit and was just super confused and weirded out. She's Ariadne's slave; her mistress never would have chosen to free her on Crete, though she had the power to do so. Their relationship was odd, taking away from Ariadne's and Dionysus', and I think spoiled the book for me. I like that Thalia was able to transform into a leopard, thanks to Dionysus, but that’s as far as my appreciation for her went. Some of the sex scenes were too over the top for me and spoiled the rest of the book because of how outlandish. The contrast between these spicy scenes and the rest of the book trying to have a more serious tone couldn't be reconciled.
I was also confused by Artemis in this story. Ariadne serves as her high priestess on Crete, or should I say she serves a goddess. Artemis morphs into Athena from Ariadne’s POV, yet for Dionysus, they are still two separate deities. I didn’t understand this and didn’t see any basis for this in myth. If the author kept Dionysus’ POV chapters out of this book, I think I would have liked it more; I wouldn’t have been so confused by these goddesses.
I liked that Ariadne was not just a background character in her story, at least not at first. Probably my favorite part of this book was when she was in the Underworld. I also liked the Minotaur; we learn he isn't a beast after all.
I wanted to like this book but just couldn’t.
I struggled on how to characterize this read. There were many things I loved, but there were a lot of things that made me cringe as well.
The things I loved:
- the lush re-imagining of Ariadne's origins.
- the multi-faceted aspects of Dionysus and the portrayals of his followers.
Things that made me cringe:
- the juxtaposition between middle grade dialogue and steamy sex scenes.
- the plot seemed aimless at times.
The things I loved:
- the lush re-imagining of Ariadne's origins.
- the multi-faceted aspects of Dionysus and the portrayals of his followers.
Things that made me cringe:
- the juxtaposition between middle grade dialogue and steamy sex scenes.
- the plot seemed aimless at times.
Greek and Roman mythology has been the inspiration for stories for millennia. Whether used to explain something or just as a means for entertainment, the stories created have provided content for books, movies, art and more. Some have survived the lapse of time while others have withered into obscurity. Enter author Zenobia Neil. Neil does for Ariadne what author Madeline Miller did for Circe. Ariadne is one of those characters who wasn't a major player herself but earned her claim to fame through her role in other myths, specifically that of Theseus and the Minotaur. While there is quite a bit of the story dedicated to the tale of Dionysus, Ariadne is front and center. Neil details Ariadne's life as the daughter of a King, a priestess to a goddess, and eventual consort to a god. The author doesn't shy away from the sensual and evocative side of the gods. She embraces sexuality as a necessity for the readers to understand the actions the characters take. Whether you know the story of Ariadne or not, this book is compelling in its retelling.