Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Ariadne

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

51 reviews

elly29's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad 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

3.25

I might have thought this was also by Madeline Miller, who wrote Circe. Which is an impressive thing to say; this is Saint's debut novel, and already she is accomplished. I will look forward to Elektra when it comes out in April '22.

The themes were the same as Circe - the powerlessness of women in the Greek world, and how women always seem to pay for the crimes and indiscretions of men. Saint certainly emphasized that theme, through the telling of Ariadne's story (and a quarter of it was well and truly her sister Phaedra's story).

I was surprised at the portrayal of post-partum depression and depression Phaedra experienced. It seems rare in a YA/EA novel like this.

This is an interesting tale if you like Greek feminist retellings, the Minotaur stories where the Minotaur is still bad, or Dionysus. At times it comes across as misandrist, ie that all divine and mortal men will disappoint in some way (do women not disappoint?).

Content Warnings

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

This ended up being quite a bit different than I was expecting ! I adore Greek myths, but I was unfamiliar with Ariadne's, so I didn't know ahead of time how things were going to play out. I really thought the Minotaur was going to be a bigger part of the story, but it's only about the first quarter of the book, and is essentially the setup for the rest of the book.

In the end we follow Ariadne's and Phaedra's entire lives, and we even switch to Phaedra's point-of-view for a few chapters here and there. The dynamic between the sisters is intriguing, and as this is based on a Greek myth, it is tragic as well.

One of the main themes of this book is how frequently women are punished for the deeds of men. Several other myths are brought up, such as Medusa. It's quit sad to read about, but I think is an important aspect to analyze.

The sequence of events in this book really reminded me of Circe by Madeline Miller. However, I actually enjoyed this story more than Circe, as I felt there were less lulls in the plot. They are written in a similar manner though, so if you enjoyed Miller's books then I would definitely pick this one up.

Content Warnings

keeganrb's review against another edition

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emotional tense 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

oliverlang's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

eve_reads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

Overall Thoughts:
⁕ Saint didn’t push past the boundaries of the original myth of Theseus and the Minotaur until about halfway through. As someone familiar with the story, I was unmotivated to read until that point.

⁕ I never felt overly attached to or intrigued by Ariadne. She very much felt like a victim of circumstance as opposed to a heroine in charge of her own destiny. Her relationship with her sister was the only aspect of the novel that added complexity and depth to her storyline.

⁕ If you enjoy Madeline Miller’s Circe, this book is very similar in terms of prose and themes.

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Content Warnings

mollywill's review against another edition

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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? Yes

3.25

Content Warnings

ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.5

“Mortals,” he sighed. He rested his cheek against my hair. “They are often so stubborn, so determined not to see reason. Everyone should live as easily as we do on Naxos, instead of making these endless traps in which to ensnare themselves. They are the cause of their own suffering, and yet they will never see it. They will rage against the gods all day long and pray to them and plead for their mercy in the darkness of night. But they will never see how simply they could make their lives better for themselves.”

TITLE—Ariadne

AUTHOR—Jennifer Saint

PUBLISHED—2021—received as a free ARC from Flatiron Books

GENRE—historical fantasy; Greek myth retelling

SETTING—ancient, demi-mythological Greece

MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—love, feminism, the patriarchy, the gods, heroes, destiny, history, death, trust, storytelling, and who the storytellers are…

WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

STORY/PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️—The whole brand of feminism that automatically equates womanhood with motherhood is extremely exhausting and exclusionary and I would like for ciswoman authors to stopppp thissss k thx. Otherwise, it was great! 😅

“I would not let a man who knew the value of nothing make me doubt the value of myself.”

There was SO much I liked about this book:

1) Really vivid writing. This story had a gorgeous, raw, pagan edge to it. And all the constellation and night sky imagery and symbolism was very powerful.

2) A nuanced treatment of the identity and role of women in Greek mythology and world history and a highly imaginative retelling. I actually think that the majority of the problems I had with the story itself were the problems I usually have with Greek mythology, and why I don’t read a lot of Greek mythology (actually zero Greek mythology outside of Madeline Miller 😂), but I fully appreciated what Jennifer Saint did with this story. She certainly picked an interesting one to retell and her reimagining of it was quite excellent.

3) Complex main characters with distinct voices. I was actually really impressed by how well Saint crafted each of the two characters of Ariadne and Phaedra—how she made them both feel like complex, relatable individuals without turning either of them into tropes or stereotypes.

4) Beautiful imagery, setting, and scenic descriptions. What little there was of scenic and architectural descriptions were really really good I wish Saint had written a lot more of them!

5) A fierce, unapologetic feminist message (in spite of the issue I stated above) and zero redeeming male characters. (Lmao) “DiOnYsUs iS nOt LiKe OtHeR gOdS.” (lmao he is tho) Saint was clearly incredibly intentional with her choices regarding these aspects and I thought the result was very successful.

“And the gods feasted on and on, savoring every last wisp of smoke that rose from the altars that were fueled by despair like hers, so many agonized entreaties to the heavens for the suffering to stop. Mount Olympus should ring to the top of its golden pillars with the sound of human misery. But Dionysus had told me that the only noise that echoed in its halls was the self-satisfied chatter of the immortals.”

I mean this book was good. And I really wanted to like LOVE this book because there is a lot to love about this book but like… I’m really tired of this idea that women=mothers so. That just. Idk. Frkin the like last line of the epilogue is something about Ariadne “being there” for all women of the earth…. as they have babies. 😐 So. 🙃

(My only other complaint about this book is that the writing, though very beautiful, got a bit repetitive at times. There is a lot of introspection done by the characters and often they would continually think the same things over and over again… 😬) Also. There was no sex in this book? 😅 Like. Why did it feel like Saint went out of her way—like far out of her way—to barely even show kissing on the page? It felt SUPER intentional and I want to know why…. I have a theory but I think it’s a dumb theory so I’m curious what other readers thought…. 😅🙃

Honestly, whatever I thought or felt about the various themes or the handling of those themes in this book, it made me really think about all sorts of things, and I found myself digging really deep both in myself and also in conversations with other readers about this book and tbh, that’s one of the most important things for me in a reading experience so. This would definitely make an amazing bookclub book. 😂

In the end I would say that even though, imo, this book wasn’t perfect by any means—I take half a star for some flow issues and half a star for some philosophical issues—what this book gets right more than makes up for the few flaws. I definitely see myself revisiting this one again and again.

“I would be Medusa, if it came to it, I resolved. If the gods held me accountable one day for the sins of someone else, If they came for me to punish a man’s actions, I would not hide away like Pasiphae. I would wear that coronet of snakes, and the world would shrink from me instead.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

TW // graphic: postpartum depression, animal sacrifice, suicide (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)

Further Reading—

Circe, by Madeline Miller
The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller
The Witch’s Heart, by Genevieve Gornichec—TBR
Cassandra, by Christa Wolf—TBR
Pandora’s Jar, by Natalie Haynes—TBR

Favorite Quotes…

“…those divine colossi that strode the heavens and could snatch up our tiny triumphs and rub them into dust between their immortal fingers.”

“What I did not know was that I had hit upon a truth of womanhood: however blameless a life we led, the passions and the greed of men could bring us to ruin, and there was nothing we could do.”

“I only knew Medusa as a monster. I had not thought she had ever been anything else. The stories of Perseus did not allow for a Medusa with a story of her own.”

“…like the beauty of a spider’s web that must look so horrifying to the fly.”

“As fervently as men had desired her, now they feared her and fled in her path. She took her vengeance a hundred times over before Perseus took her head.”

“What the gods liked was ferocity, savagery, the snarl and the bite and the fear. Always, always the fear, the naked edge of it behind the smoke rising from the altars, the high note of it in the muttered prayers and praise we sent heavenward, the deep, primal taste of it when we raised the knife above the sacrificial offering.”

“I did not feel brave walking out of the room. How could it be courage when the alternative—to accept my fate without attempting to evade it—was so much worse?”

“The cold green of his eyes. Like the shock of the chill waters when the seafloor drops away unexpectedly beneath your feet and you realize that you have swum out far beyond your depth.”

“I didn’t know much of men; between Minos, the Minotaur, and now Cinyras, I hadn’t wanted to learn. Or so I thought, until I caught the gaze of a handsome hostage, and on the strength of that glance, let the fire he ignited within me burn down everything I knew.”

“And back then, I did not know how wings could melt and peel away from your body; how someone could plunge so unexpectedly from their soaring ascent to freedom and be swallowed by the ravenous waves below.”

“A terrible suspicion was swelling inside of me and I was beginning to wish I had taken Theseus’s club and smashed the creature’s skull to pieces myself, rather than waiting for him to do it for us.”

“Why mortals bloomed like flowers and crumbled to nothing? Why their absence left a gnawing ache, a hollow void that could never be filled? And how everything they once were, that spark within them, could be extinguished so completely yet the world did not collapse under the weight of so much pain and grief.”

“Dionysus was a god and gods did not suffer the indignities of grief. I knew well enough from all the stories that when a god mourned, someone else would suffer.”

“The gods do not know love, because they cannot imagine an end to anything they enjoy. Their passions do not burn brightly as a mortal’s passions do, because they can have whatever they desire for the rest of eternity. How could they cherish or treasure anything? Nothing to them is more than a passing amusement, and when they have done with it, there will be another and another and another, until the end of time itself. Their heroes do not know love because they only value what they can measure—the mountains they make of their enemies’ bones, the vast piles of treasure they win, and the immortal verses that are sung in their name. They see only fame and are blind to the rewards that only human life can offer, which they simply toss aside like trash. They are all fools.”

“Theseus emulated the worst of the immortals: their greed, their ruthlessness, and the endless selfish desires that would overturn the world, as though it were a trinket box, and plunder its contents for a passing whim because they believed it belonged to them anyway.”

"I know what it is to lose someone. But it taught me that every second can be precious, even in a god’s eternity. I do not want to waste any.” (Dionysus)

“We might only have a mortal lifetime, but it will belong to us and no one else.”

“Years had passed since I had seen such a ship. Maenads came to join our band of followers on rowing boats or rafts, the oars pulled by strong young women: young maidens seeking refuge from marriages to old and shriveled men; wives tired of the grinding nature of tending every day to every need but their own; clever and passionate women who scrubbed floors and tended fires and wove cloth and pounded soiled linen on the banks of the rivers while men played dice in the squares and talked at length of philosophy, drinking wine in the afternoon sun, and arranging the world to suit themselves. These women took to the wide blue sea in their rickety vessels, searching for something better, which they had heard they would find with us.”

“Your stranger could be a prince in rags—or even a god disguised as a humble mortal to test your kindness.”

“As if we hadn’t learned from living with our shattered mother and her monstrous spawn that all a woman can do in this world is take what she wants from it and crush those who would stand in her way before they break her into fragments like Pasiphae.”

“And the gods feasted on and on, savoring every last wisp of smoke that rose from the altars that were fueled by despair like hers, so many agonized entreaties to the heavens for the suffering to stop. Mount Olympus should ring to the top of its golden pillars with the sound of human misery. But Dionysus had told me that the only noise that echoed in its halls was the self-satisfied chatter of the immortals.”

“I am rooted to the spot. If I move, this is real. If I take a single step, it is a step into a future that has spiraled wildly off course and I have no hope to steer it back under my control.”

“The simple joy of our existence was destroyed, but I found that it was surprisingly easy to carry on as before.”

“Who was I… to judge another woman’s suffering?”

“The price we paid for the resentment, the lust and the greed of arrogant men was our pain, shining and bright like the blade of a newly honed knife. Dionysus had once seemed to me the best of them all, but I saw him now for what he was, no different from the mightiest of gods. Or the basest of men.”

Content Warnings

katiefronk's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-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

3.0

Content Warnings

apworden's review against another edition

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adventurous sad slow-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

2.5

Content Warnings

papercraftalex's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective tense 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

3.5

The writing in this book is great, but the plot's scope is too wide. There was no catharsis, no climax, it felt more like a collection of stories than one cohesive novel.

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