bookishbrighton 's review for:

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

4.0

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When I first opened this book and saw a 2 page character list I was ✨stressed✨ I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with it, but I decided to just ignore it (lol) along with the names of characters as chapter titles and it actually paid off because I followed the story perfectly well, becoming familiar with the characters as the story progressed like you would with any other book.

Stone Blind is a brilliant retelling of several Greek myths, expertly laid out to show how they all either lead to or were a result of Medusa. 

Haynes has done a phenomenal job of giving the characters modern day touches to their personalities, making it a much easier and more ‘relatable’ read, without it feeling cringey or try-hard. She’s not modernised anything else though - the settings are all as they would have been in the original stories so it didn’t take away from the mythology vibes. She really struck a perfect balance. 

I’m so grateful this was picked as our book club read as I’d never really had much interest in this genre, but I’m now definitely planning to check out more; I think it’s fantastic these retellings are being written in such a way to make Greek mythology more accessible!