Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Athena's Child by Hannah Lynn

5 reviews

nclausel25's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Rape, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Confinement and Grief

luna_is_superior's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-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

This medusa retelling has my heart, the injustice the fear the mercy. Definitely a must read!!!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Alcohol, Infidelity, Death, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Physical abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

stories's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Loved this. Short chapters, engaging “sub”-plots and enjoyable twists in a retelling of the Medusa story, well grounded on original canon and context. Particular kudos for keeping me guessing all the way through as to how it would end. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Misogyny, Rape, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt

momma_needs_to_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.5

This is a strong story of early feminism. When people think of Medusa, they don’t think of anything other than a snake-haired monster that turns men to stone. This retelling shines a whole new light on her. Most adaptations of the story of Medusa have her as this terrifying, horrible, monster and villain. In this adaptation, it shows up why and how that came to be.

The writing was amazing, all the emotions could be felt through the words and I felt really connected to Medusa.

I enjoyed the point of view of Perseus and, before that, his mother’s too. It added to the story and legend of Medusa and her eventual death.

This book is full of emotions which I didn’t expect. It’s also a great reminder of how, even in ancient mythology, men in great power can ruin a woman’s life and the woman is the only one that suffers.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexism, Murder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death, and Confinement

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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

3.5

I guess this is already published by the author herself back in 2020 but now it’s being republished by Sourcebooks Landmark; which is how I got an eARC with a publishing date of September 26 🎉

I’m curious what the differences are between the self published and now traditionally published versions especially because the TRAD book is 192 pages while Lynn’s self published work is 252 😳

Anyways, on to my review of Athena’s Child-Immediately pulled in! That prologue, chills 😍 I was so excited to finally read a Medusa retelling and that we are finally getting a story where Medusa is not a monster born but a “monster” who was made, victimized by the actions of others.

We get POVs from Medusa and Perseus. The first half is mainly Medusa, focusing on her early life and how she became a Gorgon. Then in the second half we get Perseus’ back story and his “heroic” journey. I wish we would’ve gotten more from Medusa though, this novel certainly is quick, to the point, and interesting but it doesn’t add anything new to the Medusa story which I found disappointing.

I enjoyed the first half much more than the second half because I didn’t care about Perseus and wanted to get back to Medusa. The writing style is okay, it’s simple and makes for a quick read but does more telling than showing. I do wonder if the novel is better in the self published version as it’s about 50ish pages more than this version.

Some time jumps could be jarring at times with no warning, the book is split into two parts but the time jump occurs 2-3 chapters into part 2. Seemed like it could’ve been organized a bit smoother. I thought this would be 4.5-5 stars easily but towards the end I just got disappointed in how the story ended up.

Overall not a bad read and one I’d still recommend for Greek mythology lovers, for a quick and easy read! I’m interested to check out the other 2 books in Lynn’s series and hope I’ll enjoy them more.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Death, Grief, Blood, Miscarriage, Confinement, and Death of parent

Minor: Pregnancy