Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

50 reviews

roxie_read_that's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Murder, and Pregnancy

linw21's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I was very annoyed with Ariadne but I found it really nice to see all the myths I know being woven together. It got very good over the second half, but the first half was just a bit boring

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Abandonment, Grief, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Blood, Infidelity, Animal death, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Gaslighting, Death, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Violence and Incest

elly29's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad 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

3.25

I might have thought this was also by Madeline Miller, who wrote Circe. Which is an impressive thing to say; this is Saint's debut novel, and already she is accomplished. I will look forward to Elektra when it comes out in April '22.

The themes were the same as Circe - the powerlessness of women in the Greek world, and how women always seem to pay for the crimes and indiscretions of men. Saint certainly emphasized that theme, through the telling of Ariadne's story (and a quarter of it was well and truly her sister Phaedra's story).

I was surprised at the portrayal of post-partum depression and depression Phaedra experienced. It seems rare in a YA/EA novel like this.

This is an interesting tale if you like Greek feminist retellings, the Minotaur stories where the Minotaur is still bad, or Dionysus. At times it comes across as misandrist, ie that all divine and mortal men will disappoint in some way (do women not disappoint?).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Gaslighting, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-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

4.0

Theseus may be one of the most famous heroes of Greek mythology, but this retelling shows us Ariadne’s side of the story. 

Before reading Ariadne, I only knew of the titular character for her role in Theseus’ escape from the labyrinth. I was surprised by both the rest of Ariadne’s story and my ignorance of it; the twists and turns—especially Ariadne’s eventual marriage—make for a dramatic story.

The Olympians are usually so cruel and capricious, both so much more and so much less than human. So it was interesting to see Dionysus, the god of wine and madness, no less, acting so compassionately to human women. And, though I was not surprised, his betrayal and the violence he used in pursuit of more power was a disappointment.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending):

Not happy at all. Even though the ending is tragic, it feels inevitable, which tempers the sadness somewhat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, War, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Self harm, Violence, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Sexual violence

emmhardt's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.5

I got very annoyed at the middle of the book because it felt like it was going to go nowhere but instead it did so much more like make me SAD

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

main character dies

katiedykema's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Honestly a bit disappointing. 

The book started off strong, but it became an issue when one of the most important plot points was over in the first 100 pages. After that, the pacing slowed down A LOT. It became boring after the ordeal with the Labyrinth, and eventually I was only reading to finish it. 
Another issue I had was with the dialogue. It mainly served to info-dump and was usually written in a way in which no one ever speaks ; many characters told stories in the same way an author would typically describe them on a page, which is not how people talk or tell stories. 
Lastly, the characters were very flat. Relationships between characters happened extremely fast and without the reader getting to know the character first. This made the ending way less impactful because I had no attachment to them. 

If you’re looking for something similar to the books of Madeline Miller, this one works fine. It wasn’t my favorite (I felt like it was trying TOO hard to be Madeline Miller and then fell flat) but it does a good job of recounting the myth it set out to explain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Sexism

apworden's review against another edition

adventurous sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Child death

papercraftalex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The writing in this book is great, but the plot's scope is too wide. There was no catharsis, no climax, it felt more like a collection of stories than one cohesive novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Violence

ashleycmms's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Death, Child death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicide, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and Sexism

Minor: Vomit and Rape

blissofalife's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

I loved how bluntly and regularly it was stated that the women in Greek mythology are the ones who pay the price for the “heroism” of men. It doesn’t shy away from the injustice of it, and dies its best to find a kind of union in that suffering.

It felt like a feminist read, though not one that was trying to be empowering.

I wasn’t fully satisfied with the ending, but I suppose that’s the way mythology goes most of the time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Misogyny, and Child abuse

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting