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emmsbookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence
coffeekitaab's review against another edition
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? Yes
3.5
This was a pretty heavy read...
I haven't read Greek mythology since school and have always wanted to read more as an adult. This has been the first opportunity I had in a long time and I found I was still as interested and had never come across the story of Theseus, Phaedra and Hippolytus.
Trigger warnings should be checked.
I really enjoyed the story being told from the perspective of the female characters, and the author did well to commit to the different narratives. I do feel it was weak for a novel that is set out as a "feminist retelling". The characters are helpless before the dominating males and, even the goddesses seem subjected to their violence and treachery. I felt uncomfortable at how explicit the description of male harassment, violence etc was so trigger warnings flagged here.
My only other gripe is at times there was an assumption that the reader was well versed on the different myths which left the writing hanging to your the reader's imagination. Of course that does not work unless you know the tales, so I lost myself in these moments and found it a bit frustrating. This was a 3.5* for me.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I haven't read Greek mythology since school and have always wanted to read more as an adult. This has been the first opportunity I had in a long time and I found I was still as interested and had never come across the story of Theseus, Phaedra and Hippolytus.
Trigger warnings should be checked.
I really enjoyed the story being told from the perspective of the female characters, and the author did well to commit to the different narratives. I do feel it was weak for a novel that is set out as a "feminist retelling". The characters are helpless before the dominating males and, even the goddesses seem subjected to their violence and treachery. I felt uncomfortable at how explicit the description of male harassment, violence etc was so trigger warnings flagged here.
My only other gripe is at times there was an assumption that the reader was well versed on the different myths which left the writing hanging to your the reader's imagination. Of course that does not work unless you know the tales, so I lost myself in these moments and found it a bit frustrating. This was a 3.5* for me.
Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Child death, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Animal death, Blood, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent
scenic92's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Violence
thereadingmum's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
4.0
Mythological retellings are one of my favourite genres and this one did not disappoint.
This is the story of Phaedra, daughter of King Minos, sister of Ariadne and the Minotaur, wife of Theseus.
I didn't know the traditional story, and I didn't look it up while reading the book. I feel this helped me to enjoy the book more. However, it is important to know that this story does not end well. The atmosphere of impending tragedy is there right from the start and not everyone likes that. I personally don't, but with myths, there is a lot of it so it's to be expected. I mean humans are always either being abused and killed by gods. It seems to be our way to lay blame on most of our tragedies.
Anyhoo, here's what I liked about this version of the story. I liked the multiple view points of mostly all women, and one old man. It definitely sets the stage for how the women are treated in ancient Greece, which is similar to most of ancient history up to about 100 years ago or less, depending on where you live. I liked that while Phaedra seems very naive, she does have a depth of strength. I liked how Medea's story bolsters the ending. I also liked Theseus devotion to his son, which is not in the original myth.
What I didn't like: in The Heroines as well as Stone Blind, which I read recently, there is an extreme vilification of men. Yes, I get that women had a hard time and mostly because of men, but for every single male in this story, apart from one guard, to be a complete a-hole, is a bit much.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you enjoy tragic Greek myths.
This is the story of Phaedra, daughter of King Minos, sister of Ariadne and the Minotaur, wife of Theseus.
I didn't know the traditional story, and I didn't look it up while reading the book. I feel this helped me to enjoy the book more. However, it is important to know that this story does not end well. The atmosphere of impending tragedy is there right from the start and not everyone likes that. I personally don't, but with myths, there is a lot of it so it's to be expected. I mean humans are always either being abused and killed by gods. It seems to be our way to lay blame on most of our tragedies.
Anyhoo, here's what I liked about this version of the story. I liked the multiple view points of mostly all women, and one old man. It definitely sets the stage for how the women are treated in ancient Greece, which is similar to most of ancient history up to about 100 years ago or less, depending on where you live. I liked that while Phaedra seems very naive, she does have a depth of strength. I liked how Medea's story bolsters the ending. I also liked Theseus devotion to his son, which is not in the original myth.
What I didn't like: in The Heroines as well as Stone Blind, which I read recently, there is an extreme vilification of men. Yes, I get that women had a hard time and mostly because of men, but for every single male in this story, apart from one guard, to be a complete a-hole, is a bit much.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you enjoy tragic Greek myths.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Violence, and Suicide
alexisgarcia's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i did really like the storytelling and overall writing. however, i felt like there were some characters that were never really flushed out, some weird dialogue, and it overall just felt a little unrefined i guess. the ending was really good though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Violence, War, and Body horror
shannonsheedlo's review
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Rape
wherethewildreadsare's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Wow, this is a FANTASTIC audio! I loved all the different perspective, especially The Night Chorus chapters! The multiple voices overlapping one another, PHENOMENAL! Gave the coolest sound when listening to it. I felt all the feels.
As far as the story goes, I don't know too much about all the different people in Greek Mythology so I went into this with a pretty fresh POV. I enjoyed it. There's a lot more challenging content than I would've liked but looking at it objectively, that's understandable for the time period of ancient Greece. Women were not respected....men did do whatever they wanted & didn't have to answer for it (hmm...wonder what has changed?). With that being said, I don't fault the story or the author for the content. But because of the way the women were treated, it did frustrate me to no end & at times, made it challenging for me to listen to.
My recommendation to anyone would be to listen via audio! The narration/cast was fantastic!
As far as the story goes, I don't know too much about all the different people in Greek Mythology so I went into this with a pretty fresh POV. I enjoyed it. There's a lot more challenging content than I would've liked but looking at it objectively, that's understandable for the time period of ancient Greece. Women were not respected....men did do whatever they wanted & didn't have to answer for it (hmm...wonder what has changed?). With that being said, I don't fault the story or the author for the content. But because of the way the women were treated, it did frustrate me to no end & at times, made it challenging for me to listen to.
My recommendation to anyone would be to listen via audio! The narration/cast was fantastic!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Death, and Rape
Moderate: Murder, Violence, and Rape
Minor: Death
inkdrinkeranonymous's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
Phaedra by Laura Shepperson was a very good book. It affected me deeply and was well-written.
This book offered a fresh perspective to Phaedra’s story I hadn’t read before. Perhaps I had a different experience because the audiobook had separate people voicing separate perspectives, but I felt each different point of view added to the story. This book also kept my attention and I finished it quickly. After I finished the book, it left me staring at the wall, just reflecting on what I had just read.
If you are looking for a book with a more somber tone than Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, then this is the book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Death, Pregnancy, Grief, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Violence
kari_f's review
3.0
“Justice is sometimes a mistreated woman. What should happen isn’t always what does happen.”
Sometimes there is so much injustice in a novel that I have to read in short spurts to keep myself from getting upset and worked up about it. Especially when that injustice mirrors the real world, whether in the past or present.
This is exactly that kind of book. Over and over and over, women are brutalized and mistreated and ignored and silenced. They are objects to own rather than humans with autonomy and value. They exist only to serve cruel men. So while I get the point of the message, decrying this sort of mentality, I’ll admit this was a really hard book to read.
I enjoyed the different perspectives and points of view throughout the book, especially seeing how twisted the accounts become with all of the court gossip and political spinning. The world building left a bit to be desired, and for readers that are new to Greek mythology, I think this would hinder some of their understanding of place and character.
Overall I felt that the plights of females were compelling, and the events tragic, but I didn’t enjoy the book enough to revisit it in the future.
“If they are the heroes, does that make us the heroines? We keep going, we persevere, we ask for nothing, and we get even less. Where are our stories?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence
house_of_hannah's review
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Thank you so much to Alcove Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.
I actually did not realize this is considered an adult book until after I finished it. Based on the writing this 100% comes off as YA. Re-reading the description of the book, I definitely see why this would be considered adult, but I feel that the description gives false expectations for the book. Saying that Phaedra, "sparks an overdue reckoning" is misleading, as the very opposite happens...and then the book ends.
I was really looking forward to reading a story from Phaedra's POV, but instead we must also read the POV's of a multitude of other characters. Out of 56 chapters in this book, only 17 are Phaedra. There are characters that really added nothing to the story, and I found myself bored while waiting for it to return to Phaedra's point-of-view.
Speaking of the cast of the characters, everyone comes off as quite one-dimensional. We are only ever shown one aspect of their personality, so everytime that character pops up that is the only thing ever discussed about them. For Phaedra it's painting, Hippolytus is riding horses, Theseus is democracy, Medea her children, etc. We never really explore deeper as to who these characters are.
Unfortunately, I also found the plot to be lacking. Once Phaedra is in Athens she rarely leaves her rooms, so huge amounts of time pass by without anything happening. A good majority of the book is simply conversations that Phaedra has with a few characters in her bedroom. As the book revolves around one event, there isn't anything else that happens that is really of any interest.
Which brings me to the main topic of this story: rape. The description of this book makes it seem like the oppressed women are going to be heard, and perhaps get some justice, but that doesn't happen. Almost every page of this book talks about the brutalization of women. Every man is a rapist, and every woman has been raped. I was expecting some sort of uprising, or mass court hearing where women were going to tell their stories, be heard, and gain back some power for themselves. Yet Phaedra is the only one to speak. The other women remain nameless voices in the night.
With how this book ends I honestly do not understand the purpose of it. I get that this is a Greek tragedy, but with minimal plot and no character growth I am struggling to care. We simply stayed surface level on a topic that should have been delved into so much deeper. There were sparks in the beginning that led me to believe we would be heading for some serious and well needed discussions, but it just never happened.
Here are those quotes:
"It was not until ten summers later, when Theseus was to come to Crete, seeking power beyond what we could give him, that I was to learn the truth: that any man can throw words up into the air, and it is women who must pay when those words land."
"I know that history will judge me, but history is written by men."
Such promise ! Overall this is an unsatisfying story that really should have gone all in if it was going to deal with such a serious topic. I was looking for Phaedra's perspective in a feminist retelling, but instead got multiple perspectives on how large and annoying a table was.
I actually did not realize this is considered an adult book until after I finished it. Based on the writing this 100% comes off as YA. Re-reading the description of the book, I definitely see why this would be considered adult, but I feel that the description gives false expectations for the book. Saying that Phaedra, "sparks an overdue reckoning" is misleading, as the very opposite happens...and then the book ends.
I was really looking forward to reading a story from Phaedra's POV, but instead we must also read the POV's of a multitude of other characters. Out of 56 chapters in this book, only 17 are Phaedra. There are characters that really added nothing to the story, and I found myself bored while waiting for it to return to Phaedra's point-of-view.
Speaking of the cast of the characters, everyone comes off as quite one-dimensional. We are only ever shown one aspect of their personality, so everytime that character pops up that is the only thing ever discussed about them. For Phaedra it's painting, Hippolytus is riding horses, Theseus is democracy, Medea her children, etc. We never really explore deeper as to who these characters are.
Unfortunately, I also found the plot to be lacking. Once Phaedra is in Athens she rarely leaves her rooms, so huge amounts of time pass by without anything happening. A good majority of the book is simply conversations that Phaedra has with a few characters in her bedroom. As the book revolves around one event, there isn't anything else that happens that is really of any interest.
Which brings me to the main topic of this story: rape. The description of this book makes it seem like the oppressed women are going to be heard, and perhaps get some justice, but that doesn't happen. Almost every page of this book talks about the brutalization of women. Every man is a rapist, and every woman has been raped. I was expecting some sort of uprising, or mass court hearing where women were going to tell their stories, be heard, and gain back some power for themselves. Yet Phaedra is the only one to speak. The other women remain nameless voices in the night.
With how this book ends I honestly do not understand the purpose of it. I get that this is a Greek tragedy, but with minimal plot and no character growth I am struggling to care. We simply stayed surface level on a topic that should have been delved into so much deeper. There were sparks in the beginning that led me to believe we would be heading for some serious and well needed discussions, but it just never happened.
Here are those quotes:
"It was not until ten summers later, when Theseus was to come to Crete, seeking power beyond what we could give him, that I was to learn the truth: that any man can throw words up into the air, and it is women who must pay when those words land."
"I know that history will judge me, but history is written by men."
Such promise ! Overall this is an unsatisfying story that really should have gone all in if it was going to deal with such a serious topic. I was looking for Phaedra's perspective in a feminist retelling, but instead got multiple perspectives on how large and annoying a table was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Child death, Violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Grief, Incest, and Confinement
Minor: Xenophobia, Slavery, Abortion, War, Vomit, and Pedophilia