Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

73 reviews

kfergy's review against another edition

dark relaxing 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

Enjoyable read - definitely a good fit for those familiar with Greek mythology and always wanted a bit more context to the parables. Good reflection upon traditional femininity and independence, though the ending doesn't necessarily leave you inspired (it's not supposed to) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child death, Blood, Infidelity, Gore, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicide, Animal cruelty, War, and Pregnancy

aliyahoff's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Sexism, Suicide, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape

Moderate: Alcohol and Mental illness

Minor: Miscarriage, Infidelity, Blood, War, and Murder

kalliopekat's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I have loved the Greek stories my entire life. As a woman who is currently examing the place of women in history, a Greek tale from a woman's point of view that was sitting on a shelf in my library intrigued me enough to check it out and I was not disappointed in my choice. 
Still a young girl, Ariadne watches what happens to her mother and wonders if she, too, will one day become a victim in a game between the gods and men. She is a lucid narrator who leaves the reader sympathic to not only her own story, but the stories of many other women in the book, from the first page to the last. This tale of courage, love, motherhood, heartbreak, and the ever-fickle gods is just what the Greek stories were lacking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Blood, Child death, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Animal death

Minor: War and Rape

icy_queen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Blood, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Confinement, Death, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape

saskiajva's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-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

3.0

Definitely read content warnings for this! This book was odd. I felt like it spent a lot of time detailing unimportant things and then sailed through important bits i  wish had been more detailed, so it’s hard to say if not much happens or if a lot happened. Ariadne is a timid, fretful character which was frustrating and hard to like or relate to at times. The ending is one of the darkest things I’ve ever read, but isn’t given too much detail so it loses some punch there which is not a bad thing. I wanted to love this book, but it isn’t my thing. But I can see why others like it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Child death, Murder, Sexism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Rape, Infidelity, War, and Suicidal thoughts

colorcrystals's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Suicide, Misogyny, Animal death, Death, and Infidelity

Minor: Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Child death, Rape, and Death of parent

lisamsalgado's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Suicide

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Grief

agnela's review against another edition

sad tense 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? No

2.75

I wanted to dnf this so hard! There was a time in my life where I would have loved this, but now I want to read about powerful characters, about joy and life and becoming better. But this story just told you a story about wronged women and men who messed it up for them. I understand it's ancient Greek culture thing, but damn, we, now, can tell those same stories in a better way, we can imagine these characters taking different choices, even if they end up in the same places. We can give them healing and humanity. Plus we can give them a better ending, because now we know there are more endings and more tellings of their stories. It's so not feminist at all. Ariadne makes a few decisions in her whole life, and that's how the story moves. I think she has made maybe 3 or 4 choices, and the plot then just deals with it. 
The book had a gorgeous cover. The translation had some wobbling with genders and adjectives, although the prose was pretty. But the characters needed so much more polishing and building. 
It's not a feminist story if you tell tragic life of a woman from her own perspective. It's not a feminist story to say men use women's labour and have them to point it out themselves. It just means it's female centric, told from a females perspective. 
It got better to the end, maybe last 30%, where both women have a bit more agency and clear motivations rather than being naive horny girls or trying to survive. I loved Pheadra's point of view, you can at least tell the girls had different interests and passions. I was rooting for Pheadra to get more involved with ruling the kingdom, but I guess all those lessons and experiences tought her nothing. It's funny how both sister's stories involve being horny, Ariadne starts and Pheadra ends with it. No yes I know Pheadra just wanted to run away, but I don't really believe it. She had already visited Ariadne and Naxos where women could run away, and she didn't even love her children much, which I love by the way. Being a woman and being able to have a baby doesn't mean you want to, will be a good mom, or have to. Not to mention the trauma they experienced in their own home might have heavily contributed to how Pheadra felt about motherhood. 
Overall I'm really disappointed. I saw this writer had a book about my beloved Hera and i will not be reading that because I know there will be only suffering and agony for my goddess, and I do not deserve to read about it and neither she deserves it to be write about her.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Sexual assault, Death, Mental illness, Animal death, Violence, Sexual violence, Blood, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Pregnancy, War, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

rtorrey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Incest, Death, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

ibjilln'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Body horror, Gore, Vomit, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Incest, Misogyny, Suicide, War, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Sexual assault