hello_lovely13 's review for:

Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
3.5
adventurous reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
The writing style was poetic without being flowery, though there were multiple instances of info-dumping about other myths, which is lazy storytelling. I liked Atalanta as a main character and up until about the halfway point this was a 4 star read. However, this book did something that always gives me the ick: unnecessary romance.
Meleager and Atalanta's relationship felt like that, though she admits that she never loved him. It just felt so unnecessary. Meleager could have remained her platonic companion throughout the Argonauts journey, she returns home from the quest successful, though without her name well-known, Artemis abandons her for that reason, and then the third act of the book occurs (I personally didn't mind too much about her relationship with Hippomenes, and I like the circular moment where she is able to return to Artemis's side, even as a lion).
The middle part of the book dragged a little bit, though I did really enjoy and felt triumphant along with Atalanta when she defeated Peleus in wrestling. I also enjoyed the time spent on Lemnos (the island of women). It just went down in enjoyment once
Atalanta and Meleager started sleeping together
. I was anticipating the arrival of Medea, but I was a little disappointed because I felt their interactions could have felt more substantial. Part of why I think the middle dragged a bit is because Atalanta is right, this quest was more Medea's victory than anyone else's, so there was a sense of victory and satisfaction lacking (which may be intentional, but it still made the reading experience a bit less enjoyable even if it was orchestrating a point). When the Argonauts' quest ended with 100 pages to go, I definitely felt like "Well, now what?", but I like the direction it chose (
not the baby part, though, even if it was in accordance with myth
) because it refreshed things and focused more on Atalanta than the events that were occurring around her. I would definitely recommend and reread this.
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