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A review by marippe
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I'm kinda disappointed by this. I learned a bit about Ariadne in Circe and I went into this excited, seeing how a sister could love a brother that everyone hated and called a monster. It discussed how her mother and her would lovingly call him Asterion, before he was named by Minos as the Minotaur. Ariadne describes her feelings for her brother to be overwhelmed by pity, but I feel that was really boring and underwhelming. The conflict of Ariadne is betraying her family, specifically Minos and the Minotaur, so if she had a stronger love for her brother it would be a lot more interesting.
How Ariadne "fell in love" with Theseus felt very underwhelming. You are allowing your brother to be murdered, fearing banishment from your parents, for a prince you spoke to once? It felt very naïve and harmed the "feminist" narrative that was intended to be set. If her relationship with the Minotaur was stronger, her betrayal would have been more interesting.
With the feminist narrative, I did enjoy the core sisterhood between Phaedra and Ariadne, although I didn't really believe in it. Anything else didn't really sit with me. It's still a book run by men with Ariadne and Phaedra mostly watching. The book didn't bring anything too original for me, I feel like I could read the original story of the Minotaur and still gain the same thing.
I did like the writing style as a whole, some parts felt very drawn out but I did like some metaphors. I particularly liked when the Minotaur is born. However, my BIGGEST pet peeve was Ariadne (and Phaedra) addressing Minos and Pasiphaë by name in their narration. It removes the intimate part of their relationship. If that's what the author was intending, there's other ways to show that other than just referring to them by name. It really annoyed me.
I also didn't understand why it's dual pov if the story is called Ariadne?
How Ariadne "fell in love" with Theseus felt very underwhelming. You are allowing your brother to be murdered, fearing banishment from your parents, for a prince you spoke to once? It felt very naïve and harmed the "feminist" narrative that was intended to be set. If her relationship with the Minotaur was stronger, her betrayal would have been more interesting.
With the feminist narrative, I did enjoy the core sisterhood between Phaedra and Ariadne, although I didn't really believe in it. Anything else didn't really sit with me. It's still a book run by men with Ariadne and Phaedra mostly watching. The book didn't bring anything too original for me, I feel like I could read the original story of the Minotaur and still gain the same thing.
I did like the writing style as a whole, some parts felt very drawn out but I did like some metaphors. I particularly liked when the Minotaur is born. However, my BIGGEST pet peeve was Ariadne (and Phaedra) addressing Minos and Pasiphaë by name in their narration. It removes the intimate part of their relationship. If that's what the author was intending, there's other ways to show that other than just referring to them by name. It really annoyed me.
I also didn't understand why it's dual pov if the story is called Ariadne?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Child death, Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
Zoophilia