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adoto's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Saint did a great job combining two sometimes contradictory versions of the mythical Atalanta into one woman, but the pacing towards the end was off. Still, her interpretation of Atalanta's race for marriage was really good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Violence
Minor: Rape
novaa's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Rape, and Abandonment
mjadeh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
danimacuk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicide, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Incest, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Alcohol, and Classism
kcullinan's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
introvertsbookclub's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Atalanta feels like one of the more underrated myths, which makes this retelling of the Argonauts’ only female member even more exciting. As always, Saint focuses on the journey and interior life of the myth’s central heroine, but in this story she imbues her heroine’s perspective with disdain for the heros around her (their brutality, misogyny, selfishness and overall lack of heroism) and the double standards by which they are allowed to live and for which women are punished. The story repeatedly highlights ways in which women are punished, abused or overlooked, and navigates the difficulty of a woman choosing her own path under these circumstances.
However, by undermining the heroism of the Argonauts, their journey was a bit underwhelming to read. This is Saint’s first single perspective Greek myth retelling, and I think bringing in Medea’s perspective would have been the perfect way to liven up the book. Saint does a really good job working within the plot constraints of the existing myth, but the ending felt a little messy and needed some fine-tuning. I love her focus on female self-determination and I think this could have been taken even further with an alternate ending.I am always looking for stories where women reject traditional romance and the love interests in this novel where so boring they gave me another reason to wish that Atalanta could have found community in friendship and companionship rather than love.
The most interesting part of this novel is the way it explores powerful women and the reaction that men have to them. Sub strands of this that I wish had been taken further are the way some powerful women underplay their power to avoid male resentment and aggression, and the way other powerful women continue to blame less powerful women for their own vulnerability. The gendered power dynamics are just so thought-provoking throughout.
Overall, another Greek myth retelling from Saint that reminds me why I love this genre so much.
However, by undermining the heroism of the Argonauts, their journey was a bit underwhelming to read. This is Saint’s first single perspective Greek myth retelling, and I think bringing in Medea’s perspective would have been the perfect way to liven up the book. Saint does a really good job working within the plot constraints of the existing myth, but the ending felt a little messy and needed some fine-tuning. I love her focus on female self-determination and I think this could have been taken even further with an alternate ending.
The most interesting part of this novel is the way it explores powerful women and the reaction that men have to them. Sub strands of this that I wish had been taken further are the way some powerful women underplay their power to avoid male resentment and aggression, and the way other powerful women continue to blame less powerful women for their own vulnerability. The gendered power dynamics are just so thought-provoking throughout.
Overall, another Greek myth retelling from Saint that reminds me why I love this genre so much.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
booksandteatime's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment
velsbooknook's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
5.0
I don't know how to put into words how much I enjoyed this book. First of all it got me through a very rough week and I'm so thankful for it. This book made me forget I was reading I was just so immersed in this world.
The book starts with Atalanta being abandoned by her father, left in the woods to die. She got raised by a mother bear and her cubs and when she was old enough Artemis took her in. She later on becomes part of the famous Argonauts hoping to secure the Golden Fleece.
This story is one big journey. Travel-wise but also character-wise for Atalanta. I found her to be such a beautiful and well-rounded character. Following her finding new friends, love and most importantly herself. I haven't rooted that much for a character in quite some time.
I also enjoyed many of the side characters, especially Meleager. He and Atalanta had such a lovely dynamic and I loved their moments together.
I found every new location, every new person so interesting and I loved to learn more about the ancient Greek world.
I don't want to spoil to much of the story but I just want to say that end of the book really got me. Some very big decisions were made during the end and I loved them all. I did not think that this book would make me this emotional but it did. I had goosebumps all over my body and I couldn't have asked for a better ending. Saint's writing style is absolutely beautiful and I'll think about this book for a very long time.
If you like Greek mythology I think this will be a wonderful read for you. If you don't know much about Greek myth or aren't much into the genre I encourage you to pick it up nevertheless because this book is pure beauty and so worth reading!
The book starts with Atalanta being abandoned by her father, left in the woods to die. She got raised by a mother bear and her cubs and when she was old enough Artemis took her in. She later on becomes part of the famous Argonauts hoping to secure the Golden Fleece.
This story is one big journey. Travel-wise but also character-wise for Atalanta. I found her to be such a beautiful and well-rounded character. Following her finding new friends, love and most importantly herself. I haven't rooted that much for a character in quite some time.
I also enjoyed many of the side characters, especially Meleager. He and Atalanta had such a lovely dynamic and I loved their moments together.
I found every new location, every new person so interesting and I loved to learn more about the ancient Greek world.
I don't want to spoil to much of the story but I just want to say that end of the book really got me. Some very big decisions were made during the end and I loved them all. I did not think that this book would make me this emotional but it did. I had goosebumps all over my body and I couldn't have asked for a better ending. Saint's writing style is absolutely beautiful and I'll think about this book for a very long time.
If you like Greek mythology I think this will be a wonderful read for you. If you don't know much about Greek myth or aren't much into the genre I encourage you to pick it up nevertheless because this book is pure beauty and so worth reading!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, and Violence
amhud1030's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Thank you to Macmillan and Libro.fm.fm for the ALC of this book.
Another Greek mythology retelling with a female perspective from Jennifer Saint who does a great job deep diving and bringing us into the story that we’ve heard before in a new light.
Atalanta’s story is very interesting and unique. I enjoyed the story starting when she was an infant and following her through her life.
The pacing seem to bounce back-and-forth between medium and slow paced.
This was a really great story with your typical vengeful, gods and goddesses involved with lots of twists some I was not expecting as I did not know about Atalanta previously.
The narrator was excellent!
If you enjoy Jennifer Saints, previous books and Greek mythology, and then you’ll love this story.
Another Greek mythology retelling with a female perspective from Jennifer Saint who does a great job deep diving and bringing us into the story that we’ve heard before in a new light.
Atalanta’s story is very interesting and unique. I enjoyed the story starting when she was an infant and following her through her life.
The pacing seem to bounce back-and-forth between medium and slow paced.
This was a really great story with your typical vengeful, gods and goddesses involved with lots of twists some I was not expecting as I did not know about Atalanta previously.
The narrator was excellent!
If you enjoy Jennifer Saints, previous books and Greek mythology, and then you’ll love this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Rape, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
bryonyindecisivereader's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was so excited to venture into another Jennifer Saint retelling. I continue to be amazed by her ability to find a few lines about women in male-heavy stories and how she can create whole books about them. She also always manages to find women who I’ve not really heard about, which makes the myth deep-dive you want to do afterwards near impossible.
Although it did turn out I had a small recollection of an Atalanta poem from when I’d been at University in this instance, I didn’t put two and two together until the end which meant I was still guessing which direction her story would go. I was just really excited to read a story which featured Artemis too, who I often feel, if portrayed, is often portrayed quite passively? so it was interesting to see her take a more active, kind of aggressive role in this - kind of more like a typical goddess, I guess.
I loved Atalanta’s character. She was brave and unapologetically powerful, and most men actually didn’t mind that. I enjoyed seeing such a strong female presence in such a typically male setting.
I think the take on motherhood was really interesting. I also enjoyed the friendships Atalanta explores throughout the book as they create a sense of loyalty that she repeatedly shows as the story progresses.
I flew through this book (I read it in two days) - it was so easy to read, but I also did not want to put it down.
Once again, Jennifer Saint manages to create a story that celebrates female strength and bravery in a myth that had before forgotten its women.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence