Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Ariadne

This is an amazing retelling, that gives weight to a story I knew surprisingly little about. Ariadne's is such a tragic story which, let's face it, is pretty typical of women in Greek myth. Having only read a handful of this genre it was nice to pick up a story that wasn't centred on Troy (though I've loved all those I've read), and I really enjoyed Saint's focus on one particular woman in her stories.

The settings in this book are utterly beautiful, and I was so quickly drawn in by the beautiful writing. I felt constant tension in the presence of the Minotaur (another female tragedy; I was totally oblivious to his origins), even if that was the only part of the story whose ending I already knew. Ariadne's emotions are laid totally bear for the reader; as she is betrayed, saved (by coincidence or design I was never quite sure) and struggles to trust her safety, I was totally caught up in that with her.

Dionysus was a really interesting character to follow, his motives were so ambiguous throughout that he fascinated me. I loved Phaedra's entire story, which again I knew absolutely nothing about. The end feels sort of inevitable, what with the current of sadness that runs through the book, but it hit me really hard in how sudden and unnecessary it felt (oh look, yet more tragedy). Jennifer Saint is definitely going onto my must-read list.

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sjpate14's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative tense slow-paced

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

2.0

The bones of a good Greek retelling are here but this truly was not an enjoyable read as-is. There is very strong commentary on female strength which I loved but ultimately there is too much unneeded and/or chaotic unrelated stories (aka filler) that didn’t make sense which prevented it from becoming a favorite among the other retellings I’ve read. The chapters on Theseus’s backstory will literally put you to sleep and ending falls flat.

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sarahcottreau's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

"I danced for the end of everything I knew and the beginning of everything I did not"

Overall a great read but I definitely have mixed feelings.

I adore greek mythology and aside from Ariadne as the main focus of this book we get lots of little bits of the mythology sprinkled through which I enjoyed!

This is probably the most traditional re-telling that I have read and definitely the first that I have read outside my preferred genre of fantasy/romance. I also tend to stick to looser re-tellings with happily ever afters cause I need that. I knew this wasnt that going in so I was prepared , but it still got to me!

I found Ariadne's overall arc somewhat disappointing . She has so much promise to be a strong female character and it feels like she kinda gives that up entirely for the middle of the book and then brings it back at the end just in time to break our hearts .

Phaedra's arc is a bit more promising , but obviously ends in a similarly devastating way . I will say the author's portrayal of post-partum depression could not have been more well written and described . Obviously it's not referred to exactly as such given the setting, but Phaedra's internal struggles will be relatable for anyone who has gone through that .

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enmcurrie's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really really loved this book because I thought it was quite digestible, especially as someone who really doesn’t know a whole lot about Greek mythology (other than my minor knowledge from GCSE Latin). I absolutely adored the writing - I thought the narration was excellent and that it was the perfect balance of elaborate description while being relatively simple to understand and engage with.

I think Ariadne’s story is incredibly powerful and beautiful. The repeated motif throughout this book of how it is women who often pay the price for men’s actions was incredibly poignant and even though the story is set 3000 years ago, the obvious links the book has to the way modern society functions is astounding, and not what you expect when you read a book about mystical and mythological creatures and gods. Ariadne and Phaedra’s sisterly dynamic was done really well and their stories are devastating.

That being said, the book has many strengths but also a couple weaknesses. I thought plot wise that the first half of the book was much stronger than the second. I think my biggest issue was Ariadne’s character arc. I feel like the author could have gone on a more interesting path with her, as she’s a character that is initially incredibly naive when she runs away with Theseus and quickly learns of her mistakes. Ariadne ends up becoming quite a passive character and I wish she made a greater effort to enact change or be more complex as a character.

For example, she makes no effort to leave Naxos and maybe look for her sister or even enact revenge (which I think would have been much more powerful storytelling) Also, when she learns of Dionysus’s grotesque rituals she merely pretends they don’t exist and learns to live with it. I love her beautiful commitment to motherhood (especially in contrast with Phaedra’s post-partum depression) but her willingness to lead a domestic life and not leave Naxos at all after being left there to die by Theseus is quite underwhelming to me - I feel like she had potential to be a more fleshed out and powerful female icon in this book. I also heard that her marriage to Dionysus was actually quite happy (and I know the novel is fictional so I don’t mind deviations from sources) but her ending up falling out of love, turning to stone and becoming a star in the sky felt quite flat and anticlimactic to me - but hey maybe that’s the whole point?

Regardless, I really enjoyed this book and I think I’ll look further into reading more historical fiction on this time period since it is so fascinating. I definitely recommend.

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saurahsaurus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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