Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Jezebel

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Jezebel by Megan Barnard

4 reviews

lespiritusanto's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

It was written in the same style as Circe by Madeline Miller. Probably wouldn’t recommend to anyone super religious as it does not align with the Bible which might be upsetting to some. A quick read abs overall interesting take on Jezebel

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micaelamariem's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm back with another review! This was an ARC so kindly sent to me by Penguin publishers (thank you! and many thanks to the author as well!) This will probably be my last ARC of 2023; I'm taking a hiatus from them so I can focus on my TBR.

Megan Barnard, the author, is a former literary agent from Maryland. Her debut, Jezebel, tells a story from the perspective of the infamous women from many religious texts. Disclaimer: this book is historical fiction. I loved this book but my review here is not trying to say it should supplicate your religious books, if you follow one of the faiths that mention Jezebel. As someone who studied Christian theology, there are things that strayed far from the original text as well as things that would've made sense--and this made me appreciate this creative approach more and even still build empathy for everyone involved.

Many people compare Jezebel to Circe by Madeline Miller, though I find this to be even more reminiscent of Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel. What these three works have in common is that they take a women who was portrayed a villain in the original mythology and show the reader a new feminist perspective. The writing styles in all three are also similar, following the life stories of these women from birth to death, giving beautiful lyrical prose to depict some ugly events.

In Jezebel, a big theme is that women are doomed to be forgotten, only remembered by the sons they can produce. Jezebel always wanted to be remembered, and she did find a way to be, even if it was not how she imagined. We also see how the cost of trying to produce heirs can be a great toll. Jezebel suffers from some postpartum disorders and other complications that we would be able to identify now, but would only be considered madness in that time. As readers, the author pulled at my emotions, seeing what a woman was called to suffer just to be worth something in this world.

Another theme is the tolerance and intolerance of religions. In the Christian Bible, we can read about how God is angry at Jezebel for bringing foreign gods to Israel. But this book showed me how young Jezebel was, how she'd only ever known her Cannanite religion, and how it would've been the one thing that reminded her of home. While some awful things happened and Jezebel did some awful things that are not excused, even within this story, I like the way the narrative can help us build empathy for all people and see the women we were taught about with a new perspective.

I really liked the way the characters were portrayed, as well. It didn't seem like anyone was purely evil--it was more like everyone was trying to do what they beleived their god called them to do, what they thought was best. And no one really won in the end.

I don't want to give too much of the book away, so let me just leave with this: Jezebel is a wonderful biblical retelling, that is purely fictional but can help us build empathy for others, understand the plight women have had, and understand a deeper persepctive of others. The book is enjoyable, tragic, has beautiful writing, and wonderful characters. It was a four star read for me and I highly recommend it!

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heather_freshparchment's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was one of the better Biblical retellings I've read in a while. The political and religious tensions were instantly comprehensible and compelling. No character is completely likeable or dislikeable - which, I suppose, makes them fully human characters. I like this trend of retelling the stories of Biblical women of whom we know so little, especially those from the Old Testament, which tends to make a lot of modern Christians a bit uncomfortable with how violent and vengeful it is. How much of this retelling is true, I don't know, but I did like how it fully illustrates how the desire for fame and vengeance can cause anyone's downfall, regardless of their religion.

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marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh my God (or should I say Goddess?), Jezebel!!! Another powerful woman’s story reclaimed from the Judeo-Christian patriarchy that demonized her. Megan Barnard has woven a story of Jezebel’s entire life—from birth to death—in a way that is compulsively readable, incredibly empowering, and absolutely comparable to Circe. Sold in marriage to a foreign prince, Jezebel must leave her beloved home, but not without her beloved goddess. A woman made to be remembered, the Queen of Israel screams off the page. Read this and know that Jezebel did not go down without a fight.

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