Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

65 reviews

idk_indigo's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This book took me a really long time to read. It wasn't bad, and I quite enjoyed it when I was able to read for stretches of time. The pacing was all over the place, the first 1/4 felt alright, then the 2nd 1/4 was so slow I thought I might never finish it, then the 3rd 1/4 picked up, then the last few chapters I sort of just checked out. I think the author took "show not tell" to the extreme but instead of showing us or telling us she did neither. I was very confused at times, but also I am partially chalking that up to the fact that, again, it took me a really long time to read. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal death

mirandahems's review against another edition

dark reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

most of the book is people telling stories to ariadne, you don’t see much of the action. i feel like i personally went through a terrible break up by the end of this. overall a good story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Sexism, Pregnancy, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Rape, Grief, and Misogyny

amyiris's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Child death

pkc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I’ve had this book a while and it didn’t disappoint in any way. The story was engaging, the prose was exquisite and the characters were so brilliantly realised. I thought the ending was mind blowing and when I initially finished, I couldn’t quite process what I’d just read. But a bit of reflection and I absolutely got it. Jennifer Saint needs all the pats on the back and accolades for this book! Can’t wait to read more of her work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, Misogyny, Cursing, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Suicide

colorcrystals's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Suicide, Misogyny, Animal death, Death, and Infidelity

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Child death, Rape, and Death of parent

ibjilln's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Body horror, Gore, Vomit, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Incest, Misogyny, Suicide, War, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Sexual assault

vistacanas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

"I would not let a man who knew the value of nothing make me doubt the value of myself."

In general, I'm not a huge fan of Greek mythology...mostly because of the rampant misogyny and bad behavior of men and their Gods—which is why Ariadne sat on my shelf unread until several days ago. I really, really liked it!  

Written from the perspective of two strong, but very different, sisters—Ariadne and Phaedra, daughters of King Minos of Crete and sisters of the half-man/half-bull Minotaur whose diet was comprised of human sacrifices—this book kept me turning the pages quickly from start to finish. Although it was still filled with the tragic behavior of men and gods, the women were the focal point. 

Although I admired and loved both of them, I related more to fiery Phaedra who went after what she wanted with passion...often without the benefit of adequate life experience or deep thought...and was justifiably pissed off at the men. Been there. 

I love learning history through books like this. Whether you're a fan of Greek mythology or not, it's a worthy read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Violence, Sexism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Classism, Death, Gore, and Cannibalism

Moderate: War, Abandonment, Blood, and Slavery

Minor: Incest

hannahbailey's review

challenging sad 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? Yes

2.0

I went into this excited to read a Greek myth feminist retelling that WASN'T about the Trojan war and instead focused on Ariadne, sister of the Minotaur and traitor to her family. After trudging through (barely) the clunky prose I was disappointed to discover this portrayal of Ariadne as passive and boring. I kept persisting with the hope that she would either become more interesting or begin her revenge arc, but she did neither. As I'd not read about this myth before I was interested to find out how it ended, and it seemed to be leading somewhere empowering (finally!) for Ariadne. Jokes on me, I was wrong again. The ending left me unsatisfied and a bit speechless tbh. I could go on but to spare you the pain, if you're struggling to get through this, it doesn't get better -- sorry 🤷‍♀️😔

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Self harm, Abandonment, Animal death, Suicide, Slavery, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcoholism

majakrmer's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Pregnancy, Death, Grief, Child death, and Rape

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Incest, and Animal death

Minor: War

nialiversuch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, War, Child death, Confinement, and Domestic abuse