Reviews with content warning for Rape - Medusa: A beautiful and profound retelling of Medusa’s story

"What [he] did to me that night long ago has formed only one small brick in the house of me. It is a huge house, which I've built and lived in and made beautiful, despite his worst intentions."

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kayceeisbookish's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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lyndsaydurbs's review against another edition

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emotional relaxing slow-paced

4.5

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Medusa by Jessie Burton was a fast read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Burton tells the story of Perseus and Medusa meeting, we are being told the life moments of both our characters as they form a bond from around a cave wall.

Medusa has her reasons to hide from Perseus, she has snakes for hair and hasn’t been treated well by others at all. Perseus tells part of his own traumatic tales as well, the perils that his mother faces while waiting for his return.

Over the course of a few days, Perseus and Medusa share more of themselves until Perseus’ mission comes to light and Medusa reveals who she is.

I enjoyed what Burton did with this story. Being told from Medusa’s perspective we relive some of the horrible moments of her life and the treatment of her by both the Gods and her fellow townspeople before she became a Gorgon. As someone that knows the greek myths surrounding Perseus and his quests, I was curious what Burton may change. I personally enjoyed the ending but I also know it will not be for everyone. I really enjoyed Burton’s writing style though and loved the way the story flowed together!

“I’d handed myself over to the will of other people. I felt that I had to be beautiful in their eyes, otherwise I would no longer be myself”

“I was not going to let him destroy me for who I was, or who he thought I was, for his own ends”

Content Warnings

hilarylouise's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-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

3.5

I found the audio on this difficult to navigate at times, particularly during conversations, as often there was no indication of a switch of speaker, either through the text or the audio.

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shannonvonpesach's review against another edition

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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? Yes

3.5

First of: LOVE the art. The paintings/drawings were very beautiful.
Second: in the beginning I thought it was written for younger kids. Like telling a story about a lonesome girl. Later it turned in a YA.

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medini_l's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

k_lupin's review against another edition

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emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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