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

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Medusa: A beautiful and profound retelling of Medusa’s story by Jessie Burton

62 reviews

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-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

4.0

A strong, feminist take on the Medusa myth, punctuated by some beautiful artwork. Where Medusa is usually made to be the monster, Burton looks at the ways that men shaped her story to be that way. She hits the nail on the head for the ways a lot of women are generally treated, especially through Medusa and Perseus forming a relationship. It was such an interesting way to weave the story, and I really enjoyed it!

For the most part, this is a pretty character driven story, focused on Medusa and her journey finding confidence once again. While I think there are some areas that could have been expanded a bit more, overall it's a satisfying retelling of Greek mythology. Especiallly if you enjoy different twists!

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ryan_rajp's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.75

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12dejamoo's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Gave me Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson vibes. I liked it a lot but I wanted slightly more. Some of the art was just stunning though

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adaora_ble's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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inkdrinkers's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I went into this with high hopes. I wanted to be able to say that a modern, feminist retelling of Medusa's myth did her justice - but this just fell flat for me.

My biggest issue is the word choice and structure of this retelling. There were far too many moments that Medusa or someone around her spoke like they were in modern times. The words and phrases threw me for a loop, and though the book ends in an ambiguous way to suggest Medusa is always existing as a story and feature head that isn't enough to justify the poorly written dialogue between two Greeks in the time of the gods.

My other issue, is unfortunately, with the character of Medusa. While some moments resonated with me as she finally decided to take back her power and embrace herself, it felt very hollow and left a bitter taste in my mouth. Almost every woman around Medusa is painted as jealous and angry of her beauty, and though her sisters are characterized as loving, they too have a shell-like quality to their personalities. Every character felt hollow, leaving poignant moments falling flat as I couldn't form a connection with anyone, not even the main character.

I think this book just disappointed me. It left the impression of armchair activism, feminism for the sake of saying you're feminist, and didn't turn the myth on its head like I felt like Medusa deserved.

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