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whatsshwereading 's review for:
Ariadne
by Jennifer Saint
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I should know by now that any book that claims to be " the brilliant feminist debut book that everyone is talking about " even before it hits the shelves, will be anything but a brilliant feminist debut.
I love Greek myths. Always have. I love feminist retellings of myths even more. Madeline Miller's Circe was a revelation. So when I saw that Jennifer Saint decided to give a voice to Ariadne ( who's little more than a footnote in the original tales ), I was intrigued; skeptical but intrigued. How do you flesh out an entire novel around a young woman who's role in the story of Theseus and Minotaur was but a flash in the pan? Turns out, you cannot. Or at least Saint, could not.
This book, is chapters, upon chapters of Ariadne feeling sorry for herself. For her mother. For her sister Phaedra. Then some for herself. And the chapters where Ariadne and Phaedra are not busy feeling sorry for Ariadne, they are busy hating on Theseus. Why not just call the book The Theseus Hate Club and be done with it? ( I am not taking Theseus' side here. I am sure, like rest of them heroes, he was vainglorious and insufferable but for a "feminist" novel about Ariadne, the book places a lot of emphasis on how despicable Theseus was and not enough on Ariadne's rise to? Umm, I don't even know. Myths are obscure there )
Then there was the entire timeline of the Heroes. I was quite taken aback when Perseus is introduced. I am no expert, but I am certain that he was much before Hercules' time? Hercules who's Theseus' mentor? The last couple of chapters made no sense, none whatsoever.
All I read in this book was a recounting of Greek myths from the time of Theseus and that it was the lot of women to suffer. See, here's the thing I like about Greek myths - women are no damsels in distresses. Some of them were shown to be power hungry, vengeful, crafty, sly, promiscuous; but Saint, in taking all this away from Pasipae and Phaedra turns them into stereotypes the classics are so fond of - women at mercies of men and Gods. Women who suffer because society is cruel. And that to me was the worst offence of this book.
Ariadne is no Circe. Thank you, next?
I love Greek myths. Always have. I love feminist retellings of myths even more. Madeline Miller's Circe was a revelation. So when I saw that Jennifer Saint decided to give a voice to Ariadne ( who's little more than a footnote in the original tales ), I was intrigued; skeptical but intrigued. How do you flesh out an entire novel around a young woman who's role in the story of Theseus and Minotaur was but a flash in the pan? Turns out, you cannot. Or at least Saint, could not.
This book, is chapters, upon chapters of Ariadne feeling sorry for herself. For her mother. For her sister Phaedra. Then some for herself. And the chapters where Ariadne and Phaedra are not busy feeling sorry for Ariadne, they are busy hating on Theseus. Why not just call the book The Theseus Hate Club and be done with it? ( I am not taking Theseus' side here. I am sure, like rest of them heroes, he was vainglorious and insufferable but for a "feminist" novel about Ariadne, the book places a lot of emphasis on how despicable Theseus was and not enough on Ariadne's rise to? Umm, I don't even know. Myths are obscure there )
Then there was the entire timeline of the Heroes. I was quite taken aback when Perseus is introduced. I am no expert, but I am certain that he was much before Hercules' time? Hercules who's Theseus' mentor? The last couple of chapters made no sense, none whatsoever.
All I read in this book was a recounting of Greek myths from the time of Theseus and that it was the lot of women to suffer. See, here's the thing I like about Greek myths - women are no damsels in distresses. Some of them were shown to be power hungry, vengeful, crafty, sly, promiscuous; but Saint, in taking all this away from Pasipae and Phaedra turns them into stereotypes the classics are so fond of - women at mercies of men and Gods. Women who suffer because society is cruel. And that to me was the worst offence of this book.
Ariadne is no Circe. Thank you, next?