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A review by amyvl93
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A nice surprise to start my Women's Prize reading early! I was really excited to read Stone Blind as I always tend to enjoy a Greek mythology retelling, despite not knowing that much about the original stories.
One critique of Stone Blind that I do agree with is that, despite its subheading, Medusa is very much a secondary character in this novel. We spend more time with the various Gods of Mount Olympus and Perseus than we probably do with her. This is a shame, as the attention that Haynes places in her writing of her characters is really excellent and it would have been great to spend more time with Medusa herself.
Despite this, this is a compelling re-telling of various myths, including the birth and rise of Athene, the rescue of Andromeda and, of course, Perseus and the Gorgon. There's a layer of humour that Haynes weaves throughout her retellings, as well as featuring really moving writing at times - particularly in Zeus' rape of Metis and in Athene's punishment of Medusa.
This is an enjoyable read - I did find the numerous perspectives did get a little too much at times and, as I mentioned, it would have been nice to have spent more time with the titular character of this novel but it was a fun time, and I love the cover.
One critique of Stone Blind that I do agree with is that, despite its subheading, Medusa is very much a secondary character in this novel. We spend more time with the various Gods of Mount Olympus and Perseus than we probably do with her. This is a shame, as the attention that Haynes places in her writing of her characters is really excellent and it would have been great to spend more time with Medusa herself.
Despite this, this is a compelling re-telling of various myths, including the birth and rise of Athene, the rescue of Andromeda and, of course, Perseus and the Gorgon. There's a layer of humour that Haynes weaves throughout her retellings, as well as featuring really moving writing at times - particularly in Zeus' rape of Metis and in Athene's punishment of Medusa.
This is an enjoyable read - I did find the numerous perspectives did get a little too much at times and, as I mentioned, it would have been nice to have spent more time with the titular character of this novel but it was a fun time, and I love the cover.