I completely agree with you! There were more interesting versions of Ariadne's myth in the established canon and I wish the author went a different way. It was two stars for me. Considering this is advertised as a "retelling" I wish the author did a little more to make the story her own.
I wasn’t a fan of Circe, but did manage to finish it. This one I ended up DNFing and definitely agree with how I really didn’t feel any sort of connection with Ariadne. Great review!
I completely agree with you about not feeling connected to any of the main characters. Although I kept wishing that this was Pasiphae's story when I was reading the first half of the book. I wish we could have explored her character more.
I totally agree, this was just OK. I read this when it first came out and honestly I think I forgot all about it until I saw this video. I love Greek mythology but I think I might be done with retellings at this point - except for anything Madeleine Miller writes of course!
Totally agree. The prose itself and the overall Greek mythology vibe were definitely there but it didn't go deep enough to really give you a chance or desire to fully connect with Ariadne or Phaedra. Not bad by any means but not what I had been hoping for.
I just read this and it was a devastating and brutal read for me. I loved it so much, but I will find it difficult to read again, though I will want to.
I found it to speak not only to the way gods toy with women and punish them unduly, I how all men do so. No matter if they are hero, brother, father, benevolent or vengeful deity, women will suffer because they are not valued for who they are.
This book was very meh. I especially didn't like the fact that it was lauded as a feminist book, and the main characters certainly make astute observations about the role women play in society, but then manage to not subvert those tropes at all. Their lives orbit around men, they live and die because of men with very little agency of their own, and anything that might expand beyond their relationships with men (motherhood, careers, court politics) were glossed over too quickly for me. Ariadne had a bunch of kids but it's mentioned like " so I had a child, and then another, and then another, and years passed and I felt like I was nothing else except their mother" which is a valid feeling but it was never explored further. Phaedra was queen for years/decades, but other than telling us how she got accepted into the council, there are no other mentions of her capability as a statesperson, an administrator, a patron of arts, anything. It's like the author wanted to convey an interesting and nuanced message but the book itself was the equivalent of the google search results for "womanhood and women's place in society".
I haven't read Ariadne but I did read / listen to Elektra and really loved it. I read it back to back with A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes and they were both great.
@@ThoughtsOnTomes I highly recommend anything by Natalie Haynes, including Pandora's Jar which is non-fiction and I think that you in particular would enjoy. I only started reading her work recently and after 4 of her books, she is an instant-buy author now.
Before I preordered her Elektra book I got this one out of the library to try out and honestly I didn't love the writing style right away. I didn't like the I am Ariadne and this is my dad and this is my brother. I didn't like getting hit with what felt like facts right say to open the story instead of flowing the story more so I think I'll finish it but wait for Elektra at the library.
My feelings were pretty much the same. I thought it was good, not great. You might like Sistersong by Lucy Holland. It’s kind of in the same vein of Madeline Miller. But seriously, can we just get the next MM book? I’m impatient! 🤣
I felt very similar when reading this, i didn’t feel any connections to the characters! I was also disappointed because I wanted a little more of the story of The Minotaur, I was disappointed that the beginning with The Minotaur was wrapped up so quickly.
This fell flat for me as well due to my not being able to connect to Ariadne or Phaedra. I am still hopeful for Elektra though, and will be picking that up for sure!
I agree this was just mediocre for me. It wasn’t bad writing for me, it was just too close to the original story to the point it didn’t feel like a retelling, it just was the verbatim myth told in modern linguistics. It was very depressing as a female reader to witness all the horrible treatment of pretty much every female character in this book. I would have preferred a slightly different twist because this is being retold to modern audiences and would have liked a modern lens to it.
I completely agree with you! There were more interesting versions of Ariadne's myth in the established canon and I wish the author went a different way. It was two stars for me. Considering this is advertised as a "retelling" I wish the author did a little more to make the story her own.
I wasn’t a fan of Circe, but did manage to finish it. This one I ended up DNFing and definitely agree with how I really didn’t feel any sort of connection with Ariadne. Great review!
I almost DNF’d this but since it was an audiobook it was pretty easy to finish. If I was physically reading it, I would have DNF’d for sure.
I completely agree with you about not feeling connected to any of the main characters. Although I kept wishing that this was Pasiphae's story when I was reading the first half of the book. I wish we could have explored her character more.
I totally agree, this was just OK. I read this when it first came out and honestly I think I forgot all about it until I saw this video. I love Greek mythology but I think I might be done with retellings at this point - except for anything Madeleine Miller writes of course!
Totally agree. The prose itself and the overall Greek mythology vibe were definitely there but it didn't go deep enough to really give you a chance or desire to fully connect with Ariadne or Phaedra. Not bad by any means but not what I had been hoping for.
Thank you for adding to my tbr list please stay safe and enjoy your reading 📖
I just read this and it was a devastating and brutal read for me. I loved it so much, but I will find it difficult to read again, though I will want to.
I found it to speak not only to the way gods toy with women and punish them unduly, I how all men do so. No matter if they are hero, brother, father, benevolent or vengeful deity, women will suffer because they are not valued for who they are.
This book was very meh. I especially didn't like the fact that it was lauded as a feminist book, and the main characters certainly make astute observations about the role women play in society, but then manage to not subvert those tropes at all. Their lives orbit around men, they live and die because of men with very little agency of their own, and anything that might expand beyond their relationships with men (motherhood, careers, court politics) were glossed over too quickly for me. Ariadne had a bunch of kids but it's mentioned like " so I had a child, and then another, and then another, and years passed and I felt like I was nothing else except their mother" which is a valid feeling but it was never explored further. Phaedra was queen for years/decades, but other than telling us how she got accepted into the council, there are no other mentions of her capability as a statesperson, an administrator, a patron of arts, anything. It's like the author wanted to convey an interesting and nuanced message but the book itself was the equivalent of the google search results for "womanhood and women's place in society".
It's always interesting to see what route authors are going to take in regards to women in Greek myth retellings.
I haven't read Ariadne but I did read / listen to Elektra and really loved it. I read it back to back with A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes and they were both great.
ooh I also want to read A Thousand Ships!
@@ThoughtsOnTomes I highly recommend anything by Natalie Haynes, including Pandora's Jar which is non-fiction and I think that you in particular would enjoy. I only started reading her work recently and after 4 of her books, she is an instant-buy author now.
Before I preordered her Elektra book I got this one out of the library to try out and honestly I didn't love the writing style right away. I didn't like the I am Ariadne and this is my dad and this is my brother. I didn't like getting hit with what felt like facts right say to open the story instead of flowing the story more so I think I'll finish it but wait for Elektra at the library.
My feelings were pretty much the same. I thought it was good, not great.
You might like Sistersong by Lucy Holland. It’s kind of in the same vein of Madeline Miller.
But seriously, can we just get the next MM book? I’m impatient! 🤣
I read this book 2 weeks ago and I loved it so much.
I felt very similar when reading this, i didn’t feel any connections to the characters! I was also disappointed because I wanted a little more of the story of The Minotaur, I was disappointed that the beginning with The Minotaur was wrapped up so quickly.
This fell flat for me as well due to my not being able to connect to Ariadne or Phaedra. I am still hopeful for Elektra though, and will be picking that up for sure!
💜💜💜
I found it very boring. I liked the themes but it just wasn’t anything great 😭
Same!
I agree this was just mediocre for me. It wasn’t bad writing for me, it was just too close to the original story to the point it didn’t feel like a retelling, it just was the verbatim myth told in modern linguistics.
It was very depressing as a female reader to witness all the horrible treatment of pretty much every female character in this book. I would have preferred a slightly different twist because this is being retold to modern audiences and would have liked a modern lens to it.
I gave this 1.5 stars 😂 really disliked it and hated parts of it