A review by ourxstorybegins
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

3.75

I have mixed feelings on this one. It took me some time to get through and was definitely pretty dense. This was a retelling of the story of the family of the Minotaur, but from the perspective of the two younger sisters, Ariadne and Phaedra. It took place over the course of about fifteen years, from the introduction of Theseus into their lives all the way to when Ariadne was turned to stone by Perseus. 

My main struggle is that this book was advertised by a lot of folks as a “feminist retelling” and....I don’t really know where that comes from, other than the fact that it gives us a chance to see the perspective and motivations of these two women. 

Some Highlights: 
  • I absolutely loved Phaedra. I was hooked from the moment I started to get to read her perspective. I could empathize with her situation a lot more than Ariadne’s
  • I think the characterization of Dionysus as someone stuck between the feelings that come with being mortal and the expectations that come with being a god was really interesting. I liked watching Ariadne struggle with seeing him change from being basically human to being just as bad as the other gods.
  • I really liked the epilogue. I obviously won’t get too detailed in that, but I thought if it had to end the way it did, the epilogue was a nice touch.

The main struggle with this is that, at the end of the day, everything about these two women were done at the hands of men. Their deaths were both a result of them finally taking an active role in their stories. I think the author wanted to stay true to the mythology, and that’s great, but it just led to a painful demise for both of these women who the author had me rooting for throughout the book.
 
ESCAPES RATING: 
Enjoyment - 6 | Start - 7 | Characters - 8 | Atmosphere - 5 | Plot - 6 | End - 6 | Style - 7
 
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