2.75-3 stars? Added to my list of "books I really liked until the end."

Men suck and women pay the price - not really much else to gain from the story. ( )

Greek Myths Retold for a Modern Audience

This was an enjoyable read. It is a retelling of several myths,including Theseus and the Minotaur, the Maenads, and the fate of Ariadne. The author makes many references to other myths as well as other mythological characters. It could be distracting if you, like I, am not familiar some of the references. It sparked my interest. I looked up the references and it did enhance my reading experience. ( )

So Ariadne is touted as a feminist retelling of the Theseus and Ariadne myth, but I don't think that it particularly succeeds in either the 'feminist' or the 'retelling' aspects.

Taking the retelling aspect first, the most well known part of the myth is covered in the first third of the book and seems to add very little to the usual narrative beyond being told from Ariadne's perspective. I'm admittedly less familiar with what happens with Ariadne following her marriage to Dionysus, but I think there is a reason why that part of the myth is less mainstream - the lack of a particular 'plot' per se. This meant the Dionysus parts of the book (which made up the majority) were noticeably lacking in narrative drive, and the inclusion of the Phaedra aspect did not overall story more compelling.

On the feminist side, aside from using the voices of the women, I did not feel like this book meaningfully engaged with the myths from a feminist angle like some other novels of the same vein. My two main gripes were that: (a) It seemed like the author had a preconceived notion of wanting to have two opposing kinds of women in Ariadne and Phaedra, and was determined to push this contrast for the entirety of the book, with the result that there was very little character development for either of them (particularly for Ariadne, who aside from making two out-of-character decisions, largely remains the same person despite her experiences); and (b) the book clearly wants to address various aspects which are often glossed over or not featured in regular myth narrative, like childbirth, motherhood, arranged marriage etc. as well as showing how women frequently suffered as a result of the actions of men, but while the events certainly elicited sympathy, I did not feel like were properly woven into or even always relevant for the story, and some almost seemed included for the sake having them.

There were certainly flashes of emotive prose and significant foreshadowing, and some moments in the book were quite poignant and powerful - I thought the portrayal of Pasiphae was quite well done, for instance - but ultimately, Ariadne didn't meet the expectations of a meaningful retelling for me, feminist or not. ( )

I liked it. It is not great, but it was solid enough to enjoy. It is exactly what it promises to be, a retelling of the myth of Ariadne (and her sister, which often made me think the title was a little off). The novel is atmospheric, with some great introspective parts (esp. certain parts told by Phaedra).

One thing I disliked and was impossible to ignore was the dynamics of the relationships that were somewhat unconvincing. The drama for me just wasn't there in some key moments. Jennifer Saint is great with words, but I wish her dialogues and relationships were as nuanced as her descriptions.


( )

I love retellings of Greek myths, so when I heard that Ariadne was going to be the protagonist of one, I was beyond excited. Ariadne is definitely one of the many, many women in Greek mythology to be sidelined, used and discarded and, ultimately, forgotten. Following in the footsteps of books like Circe and The Silence of the Girls, Ariadne seeks to rebalance the story, placing the titular princess at the centre of its narration.

In fact, the book follows two women: Ariadne and her sister Phaedra, who has so far been snubbed even more than her more famous sister. I was extremely unfamiliar with her character even in the original myth, and while I could vaguely recall having heard the name before, I would have struggled to say anything more than that about her. Rediscovering these two characters was really great, and the book does a good job of placing them front and centre of the narration - definitely more than The Silence of the Girls did with Briseis. Nonetheless, I felt that something was still missing and Ariadne somehow failed to reach its true potential as a great retelling.

Most of it, for me, fell down to the narration. There is A LOT of telling in this book, as both Ariadne and Phaedra recount what happened to them as if talking directly to the reader. While this gives us great insight into their thoughts and feelings - which are very well depicted - it does make for a very slow pace and falls quite flat in places where more could certainly have been shown. There is also a fair bit of info-dumping, as different characters share various other Greek myths: Theseus in particular is guilty of an extremely long passage doing exactly that.

What the book does a great job of, though, is sharing the pain and suffering of women who are constantly pawns in the games of gods and men: used, abused, punished and toyed with by both. Whether they are queens or common women ultimately doesn't matter, as they are all equally victims of an unjust, misogynist society. There are a lot of secondary themes running just under the surface, and I particularly enjoyed the reflections on motherhood and the different experiences of the characters.

Ultimately, I did enjoy Ariadne and, even though it never quite reached the peaks of Circe, it is a solid retelling that actually gives women a voice and calls out gods, heroes and common men alike for the way they treat the women around them. It would appeal to lovers of Greek myth and retellings, especially those who don't mind a slower pace and very limited action.

CW: sexual violence, death, physical violence, child death, animal death, misogyny, suicide.

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. ( )