Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

33 reviews

annakh16's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

I‘m a bit torn on how to rate this. Ultimately, I found this story easy to get through and I enjoyed learning from it. 

Poseidon was disgusting, and both Athena and Perseus were utterly annoying - that’s a compliment to the writer, though it did make some of the scenes a bit hard to bear. 

However, in general, the writing felt a bit bare and flat to me - I feel like especially the very emotional scenes could have done with more elaboration.

I also think that the ending felt rushed and quite abrupt.  Perseus‘ story felt somewhat unresolved.

like what about that grandfather he was meant to kill? It was quite important to the story. I‘m not saying it needed a full scene, but at least some mention of his future would’ve been nice.

And Athena‘s story was resolved too quickly for my taste.

Overall, I would recommend this to someone interested in mythology, as I do like the new perspective on Medusa & think she’s a bit underrepresented in the retellings. It’s not my favourite retelling though, and I prefer „A Thousand Ships“ from Haynes. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, Violence, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement and Grief

There‘s an attempted human ritual sacrifice towards the end of the book. Wasn’t quite sure what category that would go into.

jaynovara's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Stalking

pythonesque's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement and Misogyny

lizzieg22's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Confinement, Violence, and Murder

savshanae's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-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

4.5

I really loved this book! I loved the twist in the stories, and of course I came for Medusa, which did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend this book looking for a quick read about Greek mythology with a feminist twist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

sohva's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

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

3.75

The book was fun and witty, but jumped from place to place, story to story too much. It didn't really feel like the different plotlines truly formed something that felt truly complete. The book was better when I just read it as a collection of anecdotes from the Greek myths.

Athene's ending came a bit out of nowhere too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, and Violence

hfleur's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Confinement and Physical abuse

citybookspgh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Feminist retelling of classic Medusa myth. So good. Audiobook is read by the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Incest, Rape, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Heartbreaking

sas_ram's review against another edition

3.75

So describe this story in a few words: victim-blaiming, multiple timelines/perspectivs that take away from Medusa, less focuse on Medusa than expected (it's just as much Athenas story as Medusa's), not that mythologically correct ending, makes the gods look almost human, Athena is egoistic as hell, you literally get to know more about Athenas character than Medusas, there are some parts that are much better in how it's written than most of the story. In general in just lacks depth.
It is a good read but definitly not one of the best retellings out there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

notthatcosta's review

adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I've never been a Classics girlie but I found this book utterly compelling and charming. Although it took about 60 pages to really grab me, it didn't let go after that.

I didn't know I was longing for a woman-centric take of mythology and one that challenges the notion of monstrosity and evil women, but I was so utterly captivated by Natalie Haynes' fresh and witty take on well-trodden ground.

Of course, many parts are deeply sad, but it's filled with humour, pathos and intention, so I can't really resent it. Also, most of the plot is pretty established...being based on Greek myths and all that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment