Scan barcode
_puberty2's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
1.0
i was deeply disappointed with how the author handled her sapphic characters and the more sensitive topics she decided to include. with all of the major conflicts being driven by the rape, abuse, and death of the lesbian character — melantho — and pretty much every other woman in the book, i expected the ending to include some kind of meaningful resolution to their suffering that would give greater purpose to that narrative choice. instead, it was treated purely as a plot device, as was the lesbian character as a whole. i grew attached to her very quickly as i could relate to a lot of her internal conflicts and her guilt, but without her trauma she would have very little individuality from leto. introducing a male love interest (mathias) to an established sapphic relationship is already a cardinal sin but melantho just kind of accepts it when leto is effectively cheating?? with minimal resistance?? especially since it completely undercuts her consistent distain towards him and his affection for leto throughout the rest of the book. i understand that mel feels unworthy of leto’s love, but failing to resolve that internal conflict with an expression of unwavering loyalty made it seem like their relationship wasn’t real enough to involve monogamy. leto questioning her “choosing” melantho over mathias (even though he was Always going to have to die) honestly solidifies that for me. the fact that the last thing to happen before mel ends up dead is fade-to-black sex that’s framed as a “parting gift” for mathias before they end the curse was salt in the wound. adding in the detail that the caveat to needing 12 princes was one prince who chooses really just felt like a way to make mathias the heroic, selfless one despite the fact that he was already the 12th and him accepting his death made no difference for mel’s centuries of tireless work and the thousands of girls who died in the meantime. similarly, her attempt to explain melantho’s acceptance of mathias (despite her consistent rejection otherwise) using his sister’s death was another severely underdeveloped attempt to make you sympathize with him and his “sacrifice”. overall, i think choosing to create a sapphic novel with a foundation of women’s suffering then prioritizing the feelings and image of the singular male main character is very telling to the author’s priorities. this isn’t even getting into the complete non-effort put into making this the “odyssey retelling” it was advertised to be (despite the author never having ever read the book) and complete lack of research into the setting and time period.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicide
Minor: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Slavery
lisa_m's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
This book was very interesting to read. I finished it in a single day and I wasn't bored for a second.
I've read about people saying the author did not research this book well because she did not read the Odyssey. Still I think this was a good story in its own right. I probably would have liked it more if she built her own world instead of using Greek mythology as a setting but still.
I think the thing that I liked most about it is how much is she committed to the ending.It would have been easy to give it a happy ending, and many other authors probably would have done that too, but that would have taken away from the story. The whole plot is based on the Prince having to die so him not magically coming back was a good thing in my opinion. While reading the ending, I thought that he may turn into a sea-creature like them but i'm glad he didn't.
The thing I did not like was the cheating aspect of the relationships between the characters. If it had been better defined as either polyamory or something else I would have perhaps understood it more. But because of the jealousy involved it still felt more like cheating, which is a big no for me. I was positively surprised that this was a sapphic story, since I did not know that before starting the book. Originally I was convinced Leto would just fall in love with the prince which would put make it harder to kill him so I liked that twist to the story.
I did feel like some aspects of the story were underdeveloped or just not explained well enough. But especially for a debut novel I am very surprised by how well written this book was.
I've read about people saying the author did not research this book well because she did not read the Odyssey. Still I think this was a good story in its own right. I probably would have liked it more if she built her own world instead of using Greek mythology as a setting but still.
I think the thing that I liked most about it is how much is she committed to the ending.
I did feel like some aspects of the story were underdeveloped or just not explained well enough. But especially for a debut novel I am very surprised by how well written this book was.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
pau0704's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
This book is like dumpster on fire. Very entertaining to watch at first because of the chaos, then it's just meh.
Fist of all there's absolutely nothing about Greek mythology on this book, just the false advertising claiming it to be a retelling of the Odyssey (which is absolutely not). I came across it after I read song of Achilles and was looking for something similar, I may add, nothing similar to it.
Overall, the book makes no sense, the plot makes no sense, the "curse" makes no sense, the solution makes no sense. It's very frustrating to see the whole thing developing under no foundations for anything.
Also, the main character's very infuriating, she's an assh*le to both secondary characters, idk if the author was trying to make her morally grey, but God, I hated her and how she used the two people who cared about her because she could control her hormones. Ver very bad LGBTQ representation (or bi representation). Felt like I wasted my time reading this, also, the book is not hard to read but took me so long to get through it.
Fist of all there's absolutely nothing about Greek mythology on this book, just the false advertising claiming it to be a retelling of the Odyssey (which is absolutely not). I came across it after I read song of Achilles and was looking for something similar, I may add, nothing similar to it.
Overall, the book makes no sense, the plot makes no sense, the "curse" makes no sense, the solution makes no sense. It's very frustrating to see the whole thing developing under no foundations for anything.
Also, the main character's very infuriating, she's an assh*le to both secondary characters, idk if the author was trying to make her morally grey, but God, I hated her and how she used the two people who cared about her because she could control her hormones. Ver very bad LGBTQ representation (or bi representation). Felt like I wasted my time reading this, also, the book is not hard to read but took me so long to get through it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Murder
kailajay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
This book was gifted to me, based on my Goodreads books, and my gifter hit the nail on the head. I love retellings of mythology, and have a particular affinity for the retelling of mythologies that undo the white cis-het versions, and tell new (and sometimes old) stories from a more modern, intersectional lens.
This was definitely that. A often glossed over part of Odysseus' story, the hanging of the 12 maids, is retold and reexamined. Hundreds of years later, a young girl called Leto- the daughter of an Oracle- finds herself one of the 12 girls chosen as sacrifice to keep Poseidon's fury at bay. The story follows her death and rebirth, meeting Melantho(her eventual outing as one of the original 12 maids is less exciting if you a) read into the things she says or b) know of the Odyssey already) and discovering how, and why, she isn't dead yet.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the story was appealing- like I said, I love retellings- and the impact that the demand of retribution has and the acknowledgement that winning doesn't always mean surviving runs throughout the book.
This was definitely that. A often glossed over part of Odysseus' story, the hanging of the 12 maids, is retold and reexamined. Hundreds of years later, a young girl called Leto- the daughter of an Oracle- finds herself one of the 12 girls chosen as sacrifice to keep Poseidon's fury at bay. The story follows her death and rebirth, meeting Melantho
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the story was appealing- like I said, I love retellings- and the impact that the demand of retribution has and the acknowledgement that winning doesn't always mean surviving runs throughout the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide, and Blood
julia1205's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, and Murder
bookishwondergoth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Listen, I hate to be dragging down this author’s Goodreads rating any further than it already is. It seems like the majority of 1 star reviews on here are review bombs without having read the book. I, on the other hand, have read the book, and there was so much wrong with it I don’t really know where to start.
1) Suspension of disbelief. There were so many instances where I was required, as a reader, to simply accept that something ridiculous had happened. Protagonist Leto makes a series of increasingly nonsensical decisions and then is never questioned or suspected by anyone around her. How did 2 women with no sailing experience crew a Grecian boat to Ithaca without raising eyebrows? How can a small city manage to sacrifice 12 girls every year for centuries without having significant impact on that town’s population?
2) Poorly researched. Apparently this book is set in Ancient Greece, but only the occasional name of an item of clothing or references to the Greek Gods and Odysseus tells you this.
3) Poorly executed. Why does one of the characters fall in love with the person who killed them? Why does everyone fall in love so quickly? All these things needed far more nuance and greater explanation.
4) Pacing. All over the place. The opening and ending are the best parts of this book. Everything else is a meandering, boring mess.
5) Cheating bisexual trope. This book is marketed as a sapphic book, but one of the characters is bi and in a love triangle with a man who she doesn’t tell her girlfriend about. I hate it here. I gave her the benefit of the doubt when it was all just still flirting, but nope, things didn’t stop there. This trope needs to die or at the very least directly addressed if you’re going to keep it in.
The beginning of the book was brutal and I really liked how things were resolved at the end of the book. I will at least give the book credit there where it’s due.
Overall, not the book for me. I read it as part of the Illumicrate March readalong and finished it only because I was enjoying the lively discussion so much. If you like juvenilely-written stories loosely inspired by Greek myths and packed full of YA tropes like love triangles, angry girls and rash choices, this is the book for you.
1) Suspension of disbelief. There were so many instances where I was required, as a reader, to simply accept that something ridiculous had happened. Protagonist Leto makes a series of increasingly nonsensical decisions and then is never questioned or suspected by anyone around her. How did 2 women with no sailing experience crew a Grecian boat to Ithaca without raising eyebrows? How can a small city manage to sacrifice 12 girls every year for centuries without having significant impact on that town’s population?
2) Poorly researched. Apparently this book is set in Ancient Greece, but only the occasional name of an item of clothing or references to the Greek Gods and Odysseus tells you this.
3) Poorly executed. Why does one of the characters fall in love with the person who killed them? Why does everyone fall in love so quickly? All these things needed far more nuance and greater explanation.
4) Pacing. All over the place. The opening and ending are the best parts of this book. Everything else is a meandering, boring mess.
5) Cheating bisexual trope. This book is marketed as a sapphic book, but one of the characters is bi and in a love triangle with a man who she doesn’t tell her girlfriend about. I hate it here. I gave her the benefit of the doubt when it was all just still flirting, but nope, things didn’t stop there. This trope needs to die or at the very least directly addressed if you’re going to keep it in.
The beginning of the book was brutal and I really liked how things were resolved at the end of the book. I will at least give the book credit there where it’s due.
Overall, not the book for me. I read it as part of the Illumicrate March readalong and finished it only because I was enjoying the lively discussion so much. If you like juvenilely-written stories loosely inspired by Greek myths and packed full of YA tropes like love triangles, angry girls and rash choices, this is the book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Rape, and Sexual assault
hanne_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Gods, what a slog. Had one early moment with properly horrific use of familiar imagery (the feet, what else?), and then… kinda fell apart. This could’ve been sweet and lush, but tried to do too much with too little and was narratively all over the place. It’s a reimagining of how the Odys— okay, it’s not really doing that rigorously but it’s an intensely personal exploration of— nope, it’s one of those “monarchic inheritance acts like a reality show competition” books— but don’t worry, this YA love triangle’s *bisexual* and even drifting toward polyam— oh wait, now we’re doing the senselessly tragic nature of capital-F Fate— whoops, have two sudden twists… and it’s over. Exhausting.
I think the author needed to pick one or two things to really commit to: the worldbuilding as an extension of The Odyssey, the consistency of the magic and plot elements she wanted to include, Leto and Melantho’s first-person voices (which started out refreshing and distinct but soon blended together), the three protagonists’ relationships, or the political/governing elements. Instead, the story rushes past each in turn in service of the others, and the only reliably well-developed element is actually… the violence? If you for some reason want to read a lot of detail about people, mostly children, being disturbingly murdered and assaulted, this is the book for you.
I think the author needed to pick one or two things to really commit to: the worldbuilding as an extension of The Odyssey, the consistency of the magic and plot elements she wanted to include, Leto and Melantho’s first-person voices (which started out refreshing and distinct but soon blended together), the three protagonists’ relationships, or the political/governing elements. Instead, the story rushes past each in turn in service of the others, and the only reliably well-developed element is actually… the violence? If you for some reason want to read a lot of detail about people, mostly children, being disturbingly murdered and assaulted, this is the book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism