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michaela_s's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Rape
melindajune92's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Alcohol
milliewhattt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Child death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Incest, and Rape
aislinncp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
piratesandprophecy's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
i seriously don’t even know where to start? as with every greek mythology retelling i’ve read, i have a lot of fond and conflicting thoughts about ariadne. i find these retellings really difficult to rate a lot of the time, because i always throughly enjoy them but it’s hard to fit stories like this one into just ‘this star rating or that one’.
i’m glad that this book felt like circe in the sense that it didn’t just follow a portion of ariadne and phaedra’s lives, but the majority of them instead. the minotaur really only took up the first 25% of this book, and i liked the way their stories were expanded upon. getting to hear their stories and see their perspectives rather than the men around them was refreshing and i LOVED the notes of feminism in this book, but it was a very faithful retelling overall. not much reimagining was done, if that’s the kind of myth retelling that you like then this one probably won’t be your favourite. it’s a faithful retelling from a new perspective, but not much of the content of the myths was altered in any way, which i honestly kind of liked about it. there were so many moments i underlined that hit so hard on some of the fears and struggles of womanhood, especially in a setting where women are fairly helpless to the whims and vices of the men around them and often fall victim to the vengeance of the gods for crimes and slights committed by men, or to the deprivatities of said gods and men. i loved that aspect of it— the fact that it brought to to light how unjust it is that these women have to suffer so much as pawns in the games of those who hold more power than they do.
in terms of writing, i’ve seen jennifer saint’s prose compared a lot to madeline miller’s. while there are definitely some similarities between their writing styles i feel like madeline miller’s is just… more?? more lush, more descriptive, etc. saint’s prose was HIGHLY enjoyable and i have absolutely nothing against it, some kickass quotes and very memorable and impactful passages lay ensconced in this little tome and her and the way she uses words is breathtaking in its own way, but i think i still prefer madeline miller’s writing in the end. something about her style just hits different for me.
one of the things i found most interesting in ariadne is the relationship between she and dionysus, and dionysus’ character in general honestly. i loved that she depicted him as sort of a being caught halfway between the man he could have been and the god he truly is— how there were moments of a very human tenderness and depth of feeling from him, and then that olympian coldness and vanity would shine through and break the illusion. it kind of lulled you for a while and then you remember ‘oh shit, this guy is still a very powerful, very dangerous and fickle god’. i also loved the stark contrast between ariadne and phaedra. their perspectives never seemed to blur together at all because they’re such distinct characters. their dynamic as sisters was complex and difficult because of how opposite they were, and i loved both of them for different reasons. their characterization was one of the greatest strengths of this book in my opinion.
Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, and Abandonment
tashtasher's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Classism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, and Misogyny
avery_madison's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Suicide and Abandonment
Moderate: Grief, War, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Child death, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Animal death
maddiebusick's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Animal death, Gore, Murder, Violence, Misogyny, Abandonment, Blood, and Suicide
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Trafficking, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, and Incest
alicia_m_andrews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Grief, Animal death, and Abandonment
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Violence, Death, Sexism, Gore, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Incest, and Physical abuse
bimbo_andthe_bookworm's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
It was pretty slow at times but I did really enjoy it. Lots of self-reflection and story-telling but thats what you get with greek mythology.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Animal death, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Death, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Grief, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcoholism