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oakotoks's review
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder and Rape
karanextweek's review against another edition
slow-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? Yes
1.5
As the saying goes, “if this book has 1,000 haters, I’m one. If this book has one hater, it’s me. If this book has zero haters, I’m dead.”
I haven’t had a negative visceral reaction to a book like this since I read Where the Crawdads Sing. For much different reasons, but my hate for both runs deep.
I hate the narrative voice (or should I say voices). And the constantly shifting POV. And the dozens of extremely unlovable, irritating characters. It made it so hard to invest in or care for any single character. It’s also marketed as a retelling of Medusa but she barely felt like a peripheral character?Medusa’s death was boring, brief, and I hate that we just moved on. This book was very much “insert trama>pursue revenge” and kinda casually skips past all the r*pe.
Also, what ever happened to the giants? What was the point of all that?
I know many of the characters are introduced to explain this one little thing that another character did that snowballed into a slightly larger part of the plot but good grief.
There were some clever parts and the writing (probably) isn’t bad! I just couldn’t get past my dislike to enjoy it. Not my style.
I haven’t had a negative visceral reaction to a book like this since I read Where the Crawdads Sing. For much different reasons, but my hate for both runs deep.
I hate the narrative voice (or should I say voices). And the constantly shifting POV. And the dozens of extremely unlovable, irritating characters. It made it so hard to invest in or care for any single character. It’s also marketed as a retelling of Medusa but she barely felt like a peripheral character?
Also, what ever happened to the giants? What was the point of all that?
I know many of the characters are introduced to explain this one little thing that another character did that snowballed into a slightly larger part of the plot but good grief.
There were some clever parts and the writing (probably) isn’t bad! I just couldn’t get past my dislike to enjoy it. Not my style.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Violence
Minor: Murder, Slavery, and War
emilye's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
fast-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? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Rape
sfryman96's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Rape
redandread_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, and Rape
garnethalo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'll never look at Perseus the same. With the switching veiwpoints, I understood Medusa, the gods, and Perseus better. And I definitely have favorites. A wonderful, captivating read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Blood and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Violence
Medusa's story from before she was cursed. If you know Greek mythology, you know why. Also, Greek stories are usually a tragedy!secre's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
If Stone Blind had been described as a tale of the ancient Greek Gods and how Perseus ended up on a quest to fetch Medusa's head, maybe it would have been a four star read. Maybe. But it wasn't. It was described as Medusa's story, so I was anticipating something like Circe by Madeline Miller, a novel that told Medusa's story through her own eyes and focused on the portrayal of her. Or like A Thousand Ships by this same author, a novel that directly focused on the unheard female voices of the Trojan war and brought them to life. And oh boy, was I disappointed.
I'd say about 25% of this novel actually has Medusa as a semi-main character and even then, there's a lot of attention on her sisters. The rest of the novel is made up of petty Godly squabbles and fights and Perseus's quest across the land to bring back the head of a Gorgon. It... wasn't what I signed up for. It also frankly didn't interest me that much. I was genuinely interested in the childhood and life of Medusa, I was kind of interested in some of the God side plots although they really needed to be minimised... I just did not care about Perseus. Come on. The story of the boy who beheads the sleeping monster was not the important one here, particularly when he's shallow, selfish and cruel to boot.
What I wanted and what I got here were two very different things. Medusa was essentially relegated to a bit player in her own damn story and that's a crying shame, particularly when I know how well the author can portray the unsung voices. This could have been excellent, it should have been excellent; Haynes certainly has the writing talent and spark to pull it off. But instead of allowing Medusa to stand on the stage alone, she is overshadowed by Gods and men and petty arguments. And I really, really struggled to engage with it because of that.
Don't get me wrong. I'll read the author again. I adored A Thousand Ships. But this... this was a disappointment and it was nowhere near interesting enough to hold my attention.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my free review copy of this title.
I'd say about 25% of this novel actually has Medusa as a semi-main character and even then, there's a lot of attention on her sisters. The rest of the novel is made up of petty Godly squabbles and fights and Perseus's quest across the land to bring back the head of a Gorgon. It... wasn't what I signed up for. It also frankly didn't interest me that much. I was genuinely interested in the childhood and life of Medusa, I was kind of interested in some of the God side plots although they really needed to be minimised... I just did not care about Perseus. Come on. The story of the boy who beheads the sleeping monster was not the important one here, particularly when he's shallow, selfish and cruel to boot.
What I wanted and what I got here were two very different things. Medusa was essentially relegated to a bit player in her own damn story and that's a crying shame, particularly when I know how well the author can portray the unsung voices. This could have been excellent, it should have been excellent; Haynes certainly has the writing talent and spark to pull it off. But instead of allowing Medusa to stand on the stage alone, she is overshadowed by Gods and men and petty arguments. And I really, really struggled to engage with it because of that.
Don't get me wrong. I'll read the author again. I adored A Thousand Ships. But this... this was a disappointment and it was nowhere near interesting enough to hold my attention.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my free review copy of this title.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder
nak34's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Sexual harassment, Torture, Death, and Sexual assault
Moderate: War, Grief, Sexism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death
cnannery19's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Rape, Murder, Grief, War, Confinement, Death, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Suicide
stellahadz's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
"Who decides what is a monster?"
Aside from the final chapter, I wouldn't call this book a retelling so much as a reframing; the character of Medusa is given space to be a fully fleshed-out character as opposed to simply a monster. Haynes turns the idea of a "hero" on its head through the character of Perseus, who is portrayed as impulsive, bratty, and incompetent instead of brave and adventurous. The tone of the story is elegant and wise but not overly serious - as much as I enjoyed Madeline Miller's books, I found that they lacked levity. I appreciated that there was some humor in Stone Blind. It helps the book feel more modern, reinforcing the idea that its themes and topics are still relevant. I liked the multiple POVs and getting to see how the different aspects of the story tied together through different characters.
Overall a super enjoyable read. I'm often skeptical of Greek mythology retellings, but this one definitely exceeded my expectations and I'm very interested in reading more of Haynes's work.
Aside from the final chapter, I wouldn't call this book a retelling so much as a reframing; the character of Medusa is given space to be a fully fleshed-out character as opposed to simply a monster. Haynes turns the idea of a "hero" on its head through the character of Perseus, who is portrayed as impulsive, bratty, and incompetent instead of brave and adventurous. The tone of the story is elegant and wise but not overly serious - as much as I enjoyed Madeline Miller's books, I found that they lacked levity. I appreciated that there was some humor in Stone Blind. It helps the book feel more modern, reinforcing the idea that its themes and topics are still relevant. I liked the multiple POVs and getting to see how the different aspects of the story tied together through different characters.
Overall a super enjoyable read. I'm often skeptical of Greek mythology retellings, but this one definitely exceeded my expectations and I'm very interested in reading more of Haynes's work.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Rape, Violence, Death, and Misogyny
Minor: Animal death and Infidelity