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gillian_aftanas's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Suicide, Animal death, Confinement, Grief, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual content, Child death, Rape, Blood, and Sexual assault
Minor: Gore
arangele's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Abandonment, Death, Animal cruelty, and Confinement
sirenricobooks's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Child death, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Mental illness, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy and Death of parent
Minor: Cannibalism, Classism, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, and Body horror
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicide, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Body horror, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Child abuse, Misogyny, Grief, Infidelity, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence
dearheart's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Confinement, and Abandonment
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Blood, Violence, Suicide, Infidelity, and Body horror
Minor: Pregnancy, Animal death, and Vomit
biancafrancisco's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Buuuuut this one disappointed a bit. I enjoyed reading it, the writing is as pointed out in my cover "lyrical".
However, it does not do what it sets out to do.
Ariadne as a character lacks luster as she is very passive.
While she lives in Naxos with Dionysus she also shows no interest in the sister she left behind or on what her husband does on their island.
When the two sisters came to be reunited I thought the story's purpose might be revealed, that it would be about these two woman and their bond (once again pointing to the supposed feminist undercurrent of the book), but the only reason Phaedra went to Naxos was to further her plot and they seemed to add nothing to each other.
Through the book there is an emphasis on the gods being careless and cruel and innocent humans, particularly woman, suffering for it. This attempt at criticizing the treatment of woman in classical myth falls short as the plot of the book goes by. You would think Ariadne would go against this and, even if the ending had to be as in the myth, she would be shown fighting her fate.
At the beggining of the book Ariadne
speaks of seizing her destiny for herself, but we see her do nothing of the sort throughout the book. In her own words, after a decade of marriage, she says "I had been trusting and obedient. I had thought that was the right way to be". She ends up being disappointed by Dionysus also and it seems the only lesson to be learned is a weird dichotomy of men are bad and woman good mixed with a Madonna-whore complex where woman who reclaimed and used their power were seen as evil (Medea and Hera, for example) while passive woman like Ariadne were good.
I realize this is to be a tragedy, but why retell a story if not to shine a new light on it? The women end the story the way they began, Ariadne without purpose and Phaedra miserable and heavy with humiliation.
It is not a terrible book, it was enjoyable to read - it just didn't convey its own message. If you have started it searching for something akin to Madeleine Miller's Circe, you will not be totally satisfied.
Graphic: Suicide, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Violence, Blood, Mental illness, and Sexual violence
Minor: Confinement, Slavery, Death, Child death, Incest, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Murder, Misogyny, and Infidelity
maddiebusick's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Animal death, Gore, Murder, Violence, Misogyny, Abandonment, Blood, and Suicide
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, and Incest
cviii's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Abandonment, Body horror, and Confinement
Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
clairew97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Grief, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Gore, Infidelity, Suicide, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Confinement, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Vomit, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
theequestrianslibrary's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
To start, as I'm rewriting this review a second time because I accidentally deleted the first one, I was very happy to see a retelling of a Greek Myth that wasn't Persephone & Hades (though I do love that pairing immensely.) For about the first 1/3 of the book, I was unaware this WAS a retelling, but that may have simply been my own oversight, considering the names Theseus and the Minotaur were also mentioned. I digress.
After about 1/3 of the book, I did do a search to see if the main characters, Ariadne and Phaedra, were in fact real characters in these Greek myths. Because of this, I discovered they were and carried on with reading, though now I had some additional information such as pertaining to who ended up with who based on the legend.
The book's writing retains a "formal, prose-y" type of speech, especially when characters are talking. There weren't very many instances that I was confused by a word or a phrase, but did take note of how the characters spoke. The descriptions of scenes and setting was flowery, and as a more flowery writer myself, I tend to appreciate this type of description. However, there were instances in the book, mostly in the first 1/2 that involved numerous references back to past events in the characters' lives. While this is usually fine, it did get a point where it felt very repetitive and almost annoying. By annoying, I mean, "Yes, yes, we know this happened to them, we've been over this, [...]" etc. Etc.
The book also utilizes timeskips. For most of the book, you have no idea how long has actually passed between the very first chapter, to the very end of the book. You actually do not find out how much time has passed until the very last 5 or so chapters. Which, some of the ending chapters were extremely short, some having only two pages, while others earlier on were bordering having ten. While short chapters can be useful in short, choppy scenes, it felt rushed and like larger plot points were simply ran past, in a way that was very reminiscent of, "Oh, okay, we're already past that then." Admittedly, this may have affected my reaction to the end, as well as my brief research into the character' original identities.
When the book ended, I did not feel any overwhelming emotions. I was simply ready for the next one, unlike other books that can leave you in emotional disarray for days on end. I didn't dislike the book, but I would border it more to a 3.5 rather than a 3. The book, to me personally, feels like a one-off. You read it, mark it off your list, and then keep it on the shelf for its pretty cover. I would recommend it simply because it is a retelling of a myth not often touched upon, as it's a good one to simply sit down, read, and enjoy for what it is.
Graphic: Incest
Moderate: Genocide, Kidnapping, Violence, War, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abandonment
Abandonment, Abuse/Neglect, Alcohol Consumption, Animal Cruelty/Abuse/Tortue, Animal Death, Arranged Marriage, Asphyxia/Strangulation/Hanging, Pseudo-Banishment/Exile, Bestiality, Blood/Gore Descriptions, Childbirth, Dead Bodies/Body Parts, Death of a Parent, Death of a Sibling, Grief/Loss Depictions, Genocide, Psuedo-Incest (Stepmom/Stepson), Pregnancy (Wanted/Unwanted), Rape/Sexual Assault, Suicide (via Hanging), Suicidal Ideation, Starvation/Dehydration Depictions