Reviews with content warning for Violence - Ariadne

This is an amazing retelling, that gives weight to a story I knew surprisingly little about. Ariadne's is such a tragic story which, let's face it, is pretty typical of women in Greek myth. Having only read a handful of this genre it was nice to pick up a story that wasn't centred on Troy (though I've loved all those I've read), and I really enjoyed Saint's focus on one particular woman in her stories.

The settings in this book are utterly beautiful, and I was so quickly drawn in by the beautiful writing. I felt constant tension in the presence of the Minotaur (another female tragedy; I was totally oblivious to his origins), even if that was the only part of the story whose ending I already knew. Ariadne's emotions are laid totally bear for the reader; as she is betrayed, saved (by coincidence or design I was never quite sure) and struggles to trust her safety, I was totally caught up in that with her.

Dionysus was a really interesting character to follow, his motives were so ambiguous throughout that he fascinated me. I loved Phaedra's entire story, which again I knew absolutely nothing about. The end feels sort of inevitable, what with the current of sadness that runs through the book, but it hit me really hard in how sudden and unnecessary it felt (oh look, yet more tragedy). Jennifer Saint is definitely going onto my must-read list.

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eilys's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.25

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functional_fox's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-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

4.5

Gorgeous feminist retelling, emphasizes the plight of women in Greek mythos. At times dialogue was wordy but otherwise descriptions flowed effortlessly. Saint does a good job at creating a deep sense of unease in readers as one discovers betrayals alongside the characters.

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reellyfish's review

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adventurous emotional 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

If you liked Circe by Madeline Miller then you may enjoy this. Definitely wouldn’t rate it as highly as Circe but still enjoyable if you’re into greek mythology.

Dionysus is one of my favorite gods so the book gets bonus points for that.

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cassidyjennings's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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readingtothesea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

3.5

Very thought provoking. The book deals with the pov of women in Greek mythology. Especially them having to suffer under men‘s actions. It tells Ariadnes myth, but from her perspective since usually she is only mentioned briefly for helping Theseus.

But tbh, you probably have to like and know something about Greek mythology to enjoy the book, since there are some „side quests“ of different myths, that are mentioned. For example, Ariadne mentions Medusa‘s tale, but to understand the impact that it has (especially for the feminist tone), you should have heard of her story before.
The feminist tone is rather subtle, not as prominent as it could be, if you ask me. It either works via the stories of women in Greek mythology that she mentions, as prior mentioned, or via thoughts that Ariadne has or unfair things that happen to her or other women in the story.

Although, I found both Ariadne’s and Phaedra‘s deaths rather random. They should have been more impactful. The strong and stubborn Phaedra suddenly taking her life, just because she had been rejected? She has gotten over more in her life. I do understand, that it wasn’t only the one sided love but more things that add up to that, but still, it doesn’t match her character, if you ask me. Ariadne‘a death had the potential to have an impact, if it would have been described and interpreted more. For example it being an image: Her dying, to safe the other women (Maenaden), to prevent the consequences of men’s emotional and egoistic actions. Especially since she had criticized prior, that women are the ones that have to suffer. But this chance wasn’t used, instead the ending was rather abrupt. Also, the way of her death, wasn’t logical, rather dumb. She knew about Medusa‘s head on the shield, she spoke about it multiple times, but still, she looked at it? Instead of just looking away or closing her eyes? I‘m just saying, it could have been a chance to give her death an impact, if the reader would have been given time to think about it, but the book ended immediately.
The ending just doesn’t match the rest of the story.

I still enjoyed reading it, since I‘m a sucker for feminist greek mythology retellings. It is a good read, but there are a few things that could be better.
Also, I loved the writing style.

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vivivi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Wow okay um. So that was...an Ending. I don't know the story of Ariadne, so I came into this with a blank slate. It was an interesting journey.

I like how the role of women in the Greek myths was addressed throughout. Kind of hard not to see it, considering it's from their perspective. It managed to poke at how women had the short end of the stick while still breathing life into all the characters.

Their mistakes, hopes, and despair are shown in full colour. There was no shying away from it in this telling of their story.

If you're here for a happy ending between a god and a mortal, this is not for you. But if you don't mind a bit of tragedy as you would expect from a Greek myth, then this is great! Everybody dies in the end! I can't fault it for being what it is, even though I usually avoid sad endings.

I love Ariadne dumping Dionysus at the end. Didn't think I'd say that at the start, but seeing their relationship go in the direction that it did gave me a change of heart.

And his arrogance caused the deaths of so many babies, and the breaking of so many women... Ariadne's final conclusion of how once again, it was the women who suffered... Dionysius's actions proved it all.

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bestienicoley's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

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