Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - The Heroines

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did. I'm the first person to love a feminist myth retelling. The point of view shifting so frequently hindered the book in my opinion. It made it hard for me to feel truly connected to any of the characters. Don't get me wrong. I love a Greek tragedy, which this certainly is and I knew that going in. But the tone of this book was very dark, so definitely be warned that the subject matter is heavy. I preferred the book Ariadne by Jennifer Saint and Ariadne Unraveled by Zenobia Neil. Both of those were 5 star reads for me.

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bubblegirl858's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

2.0

I really wanted to like this book. I have been on a Greek mythology retelling reading kick and I thought this book would be the perfect fit. It was not. Knowing the myth does not make this book any easier to read, in fact it only makes you want to scream when events play out exactly as you knew they would but now, NOW you can see the actual (imagined) impact they had on women in the story which only made me angrier. Every single character is unlikable. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Not a single redeeming quality to be found in any male character and not a single likeable character trait in any female character. One of the things that irked me the most about this book was that they CONSTANTLY reminded you how plain Phaedra was. Anytime a new character interacted with her: "Oh that is too bad she is so plain." "Well, she isn't a great beauty" and so on and so forth. That was the only way to describe her. I completely understand the constant reminders that she is a child, because she is, but the constant reminder of how ugly she is compared to other women was so off putting. For a proclaimed "feminist novel", I expected a lot better than what was given. Also, can we talk about how every Greek mythology retelling book is compared to Madeline Miller (just like this book was)? This book's writing was scores below Madeline Miller and just plain boring at times. The Night Chorus was interesting, and I might have enjoyed it if I listened to the audiobook. In writing, it looks super disjointed and is confusing a lot of times.

The only redeeming aspect of the book was getting to see Phaedra take revenge on her rapist because let's be honest, any person who has been raped wishes they could deal out justice to the person who harmed them in the same fashion. Knowing that she was like 6-7 months pregnant when she did it makes it that much more of an accomplishment. That was the only high point of the book. Her death at her own hands doesn't even feel like her own choice at the end due to her being backed into that corner.

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masoncasper's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A feminist mythological retelling focusing around themes of faith, justice, and identity. Phaedra, the maligned daughter of Crete is a wonderful source for powerful imagery and a story that absolutely breaks hearts. The multiple narrators provide a well rounded perspective of the plot as it develops and the myth plays out. Despite knowing how the story ends, it was an enjoyable read nonetheless (I just didn’t finish it in like a day)

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emmhardt's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I suppose I am tired of reading of new ways to tell the pain of Greek mythical women. Tired of reading about how they are used and hurt and manipulated by the men and gods around them. Tired of never seeing them triumph. I know it does no good to remove the ending of these tragedies, but I would have hoped for a Phaedra who was not so at the mercy of the terror around her. I would have liked for her, just once, to have been allowed joy and victory, to have had full, unconditional support from even one person. But it never came. She was alone to the end, always moved by the whims of everyone else. Even in death, her actions were brought on through the manipulations of others. Do not read this book for comfort; you will not find that here.

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samreadsandreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

As someone whom enjoys Greek mythology and feels like they know quite a bit about it, Phaedra’s story was not one I’m familiar with. It was fun to read a tale that I didn’t know the outcome of and the way the author wove many of the Greek myths related to the story of Phaedra and Hippolytus into her novel was impressive and entertaining.

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that_chick26's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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