A review by jdamae11
Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

adventurous emotional sad tense 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

3.5

genuinely enjoyed this but really just wish we would’ve spent much more time with Medusa / being in her perspective. The parts focusing in on her and her Gorgon sisters were my absolute favorite. I really appreciated one of the central questions posed in this novel which was “who gets to decide who the monsters are?” It seems pretty clear that those who have power and have gotten to run the narrative for too long are the true monsters, not thinking twice about the extreme (and often fatal) harm they cause to others less powerful than them. Even though we know how the myth goes it still was a heartbreaker when Medusa was killed genuinely needlessly by Perseus, especially with the way Haynes painted her and her sisters with such empathy and love, I genuinely was so sad for them and wished they had gotten better. Lastly I really loved the perspective of post death Medusa as the gorgoneion, because I too found Perseus to be pathetic and annoying and wanted him to die for his senseless killing of Medusa, so really enjoyed living in her COMPLETELY JUSTIFIED pissed off POV. 
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