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turtleycool's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed the story, but Ariadne wasn‘t written as a particularly compelling character. I would have preferred to learn more about Phaedra. The manner of complaining and whinging about unfairness was kind of annoying too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Incest, and Suicide
franticfreya's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Blood
Moderate: Pregnancy, Body horror, Alcohol, and Death
Minor: Child death, Grief, and Rape
in_the_woods___'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Rape, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Child death
stormeno's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Death, Sexual harassment, Child death, Sexual content, Abandonment, Gore, and Suicide
Minor: Incest, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
maanbloem's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
A commom criticism of this book relates to the story the main female characters, that those are feminist which is an unfair criticism to the author's writing. The mythological stories were never feminist in the first place and the author, Jennifer Saint, could not make the storyline more feminist while still staying true to the original. I think the feminist perspective of how women are punished for the wrongdoings of men was done very well, especially considering characters like Pasiphae, of course Ariadne but also the ending and the destructiveness of unhappy powerful men.
The only reason this isn't a complete 5 out of 5 stars is that the middle part, about her time on Naxos, reminds me so much of Circe (which is my absolutely favourite book in the world) and felt too similar, but of course not the fault of the author, because that is the nature of the story. The writing style was wonderful and also the POV of Phaedra was unteresting, since I didn't know her story
The only reason this isn't a complete 5 out of 5 stars is that the middle part, about her time on Naxos, reminds me so much of Circe (which is my absolutely favourite book in the world) and felt too similar, but of course not the fault of the author, because that is the nature of the story. The writing style was wonderful and also the POV of Phaedra was unteresting, since I didn't know her story
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Child death, and War
Moderate: Alcohol
emilywemily6's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I really enjoyed this book! I listened to the audiobook and I thought it was really good. This story is a simple retelling of some women of Greek mythology, and I kept having to stop myself mid book so I wouldn’t go check Wikipedia for what happened to these characters before I read it in this book. It was intriguing and had some strong themes throughout; it definitely had a moral to the story and gave me some things to think about, but it was a little shallow in its storytelling. Like others have mentioned, it didn’t show much, only told you straight out what happened. But I enjoyed listening to it and want to dive back into Greek mythologies and retellings!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Alcohol, Gore, Suicide, Child death, Blood, Grief, Animal cruelty, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Miscarriage and Cursing
elizlizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
It was better than other retellings I've read but honestly I'm giving up on the genre after this. I wish more authors took into account what societies at the time were like, instead of portraying characters with contemporary values and sensibilities.
This retelling, as Circe, was so busy trying to portray the titular woman as someone who can't do or think evil to the point it distorted any semblance of character development for anyone. Phaedra was the only mildly interesting one, but otherwise I was bored for 60% of this. Worse is, if you're trying to be an "empowering" retelling, by removing Ariadne from all knowledge or complicity of ill doings you're rendering her powerless to truly make decisions.
This retelling, as Circe, was so busy trying to portray the titular woman as someone who can't do or think evil to the point it distorted any semblance of character development for anyone. Phaedra was the only mildly interesting one, but otherwise I was bored for 60% of this. Worse is, if you're trying to be an "empowering" retelling, by removing Ariadne from all knowledge or complicity of ill doings you're rendering her powerless to truly make decisions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Child death
ann99's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Child death
amsswim's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
3.75
I really did enjoy this book though. There seems to be a lot of confusion in some of the reviews that this book does not know what it is trying to accomplish, but I think the big themes are simple. 1) Men are capable of, and often commit, great terrors on the world and individuals whether they realize it or not. 2) Being near Greek Gods and their games is a dangerous idea.
I am a fan of mythological retellings, so this hit the spot for me. This did not live up to Circe in my eyes, but I cannot fault it on not being my favorite book lol. It did have a similar vibe to Circe though in my opinion. If you like mythological retellings and/or stories of women trying to survive and thrive, I recommend.
I am a fan of mythological retellings, so this hit the spot for me. This did not live up to Circe in my eyes, but I cannot fault it on not being my favorite book lol. It did have a similar vibe to Circe though in my opinion. If you like mythological retellings and/or stories of women trying to survive and thrive, I recommend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Violence, Blood, Child death, Grief, and Suicide
reailtin's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Child death