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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
I did not enjoy the story or the style. The protagonist was a dysphoric power fantasy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Pregnancy
This book was simultaneously one of the most brutal and beautiful stories I’ve ever read. It’s the Iliad retelling I never knew I was looking for. Maya Deane looks at the real historical context of the Trojan war cycle before it was diluted and rewritten by 3000 years of the patriarchy.
If you’re interested in this book I would recommend listening to Ancient History Fangirl’s interview with Maya Deane. She shed light on the research that went into this book, and it gave me the context to embrace all the ways she illustrates these characters and deities we thought we knew so well.
If you’re interested in this book I would recommend listening to Ancient History Fangirl’s interview with Maya Deane. She shed light on the research that went into this book, and it gave me the context to embrace all the ways she illustrates these characters and deities we thought we knew so well.
adventurous
hopeful
fast-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:
Complicated
I think this book had a lot of good ideas and the writing itself was good. I think it failed as a retelling though. If I had went into this book with just the idea it was inspired by the tale of Achilles I think I would have enjoyed it more then with how it was marketed as a retelling. Marketing isn’t up to the author though so I don’t blame her for that and I would love to pick up another book from her especially if it was a fantasy or historical fiction.
adventurous
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When Shel told me to read this book they said "there's a lot of images that you're going to hate but I want you to read anyway." So I'll attempt to present my reactions as much as possible, though I ultimately didn't find it as shocking or off-putting as that little preface primed me to. I was expecting some heavy body horror, which there isn't much of- apart from the inherent body horror of pregnancy I suppose.
The biggest thing that I liked about this book- the gods and their portrayals. The whole fact that they're hidden from and mostly act indirectly upon mortals and so the book starts out trying to portray a world without any magic or mythos behind it is kind of odd considering how quickly the gods start appearing and how they're really much more the main set of characters in the story than the mortals, with the exception of Achilles and Meryapi. Achilles has ties to humanity, but the people really driving the story are all divine, and things move faster and faster the more that those residual human connections are cut away.
The gods are so strange and menacing, and their appearances in the story convincingly knit together different mythologies from across the Mediterranean world- clearly Deane cares a lot about archaeology and the origin of myths. The lore and "magic system"- if I can use such a vulgar term here- of the world were really the highlights for me, with the cycle of sacrifice and rebirth, the different relationship that each of the gods has to humanity, and the way that magic is understood differently in the different cultures portrayed.
With all that said, what I enjoyed less from the book were the human-oriented parts of the plot and the relationship it has with its source material. It feels like Deane wanted to drastically reimagine the characters involved in and the way that everything really goes down, but at the same time wasn't willing to actually radically move away from the story of the Iliad in a way that keeps it from being recognizable as the same essential tale. What you get is that most of the Greek mythic figures become entirely different people, but they mostly make the same choices. The conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon is no longer about a conflict over who can lay claim to a slave woman, and Briseis who is here a trans Amazon man is presented as a figure with his own agency- but the crux of that conflict isn't actually changed from them taking slaves in war. It just feels more jarring when characters whose viewpoint is expressed in a more relatably "modern" way, with attitudes and dialogue that feels like it could come from someone living today, still act as ancient Greek warlords would. I have always been a fan of historical fiction where the world and characters are expressed as fundamentally distinct in their experience and culture- without overly apologizing for the inhumane ways people act. "The past is a foreign country." That balance felt off here.
I also felt like all the parts of the story that weren't about magic and the gods, and most of the human characters, were just not as developed. You don't get much of them, many are really just a few lines of dialogue, and they ultimately feel extraneous to the real events of import.
And hotgirl Achilles being insatiably horny for the beautiful, muscular-but-not-too-bulky, clever and sensitive Agamemnon is just too much for me. You're taking Chiron, a mythological figure I have fondness for, and making him into a sadistic homo- and transphobic abuser and then telling me I should find Agamemon likable instead? No! Go away!
The biggest thing that I liked about this book- the gods and their portrayals. The whole fact that they're hidden from and mostly act indirectly upon mortals and so the book starts out trying to portray a world without any magic or mythos behind it is kind of odd considering how quickly the gods start appearing and how they're really much more the main set of characters in the story than the mortals, with the exception of Achilles and Meryapi. Achilles has ties to humanity, but the people really driving the story are all divine, and things move faster and faster the more that those residual human connections are cut away.
The gods are so strange and menacing, and their appearances in the story convincingly knit together different mythologies from across the Mediterranean world- clearly Deane cares a lot about archaeology and the origin of myths. The lore and "magic system"- if I can use such a vulgar term here- of the world were really the highlights for me, with the cycle of sacrifice and rebirth, the different relationship that each of the gods has to humanity, and the way that magic is understood differently in the different cultures portrayed.
With all that said, what I enjoyed less from the book were the human-oriented parts of the plot and the relationship it has with its source material. It feels like Deane wanted to drastically reimagine the characters involved in and the way that everything really goes down, but at the same time wasn't willing to actually radically move away from the story of the Iliad in a way that keeps it from being recognizable as the same essential tale. What you get is that most of the Greek mythic figures become entirely different people, but they mostly make the same choices. The conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon is no longer about a conflict over who can lay claim to a slave woman, and Briseis who is here a trans Amazon man is presented as a figure with his own agency- but the crux of that conflict isn't actually changed from them taking slaves in war. It just feels more jarring when characters whose viewpoint is expressed in a more relatably "modern" way, with attitudes and dialogue that feels like it could come from someone living today, still act as ancient Greek warlords would. I have always been a fan of historical fiction where the world and characters are expressed as fundamentally distinct in their experience and culture- without overly apologizing for the inhumane ways people act. "The past is a foreign country." That balance felt off here.
I also felt like all the parts of the story that weren't about magic and the gods, and most of the human characters, were just not as developed. You don't get much of them, many are really just a few lines of dialogue, and they ultimately feel extraneous to the real events of import.
And hotgirl Achilles being insatiably horny for the beautiful, muscular-but-not-too-bulky, clever and sensitive Agamemnon is just too much for me. You're taking Chiron, a mythological figure I have fondness for, and making him into a sadistic homo- and transphobic abuser and then telling me I should find Agamemon likable instead? No! Go away!
Reads like a fan fiction... Unlikeable main character. Kinda boring.
The idea was there, the execution was shit. So many problematic moments and tropes. Especially jarring when a book centering around trans identity, turns out to be transphobic.
Issues with the changing of the mythology this story is based on: Why did the author use hard to identify names for known characters? And changed relationships?
Issues with the changing of the mythology this story is based on: Why did the author use hard to identify names for known characters? And changed relationships?
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I really wanted to love this book. The concept sounded great and the first quarter of the book was great but I feel like the author lost the thread about a third of the way through. I liked the more grounded portions in the beginning and the very fantastic ending was also good but the middle was a bit of a mess. The pacing was weird and I feel there were many missed opprotunies to explore some interesting ideas (trans solidarity or lack thereof in the face of class) which we're not taken and also missed some moments for levity. The gag with the horny dolphins was fun but then that language bit was immediately dropped once it fixed an issue with the plot. The middle was so heavy and confusing and mostly seemed to be a vehicle for the author to show some (seriously beautiful but also melodramatic and ultimately filler) prose. There just wasn't a good on ramp between the grounded beginning to the fantastical end. It was a rather abrupt shift. I stopped being able to connect with any of the characters because I was so confused by what was happening. Like other commenters have said, the author didn't seem to commit to having a reimaginging of the myth or having a new fantasy realm. The name choices are arbitrary and often unhelpful and many of the characters felt wooden. She just didn't commit enough either way for me.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated