Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Phaedra by Laura Shepperson

16 reviews

acrosstheskyinstars's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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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hangrim's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

Mixed bag of a book… Really felt clunky with the writing style and direction of the story in the first 1/2 of the book. Felt like a chore to read. It does pick up steam and the writing becomes more cohesive and fluid as the story grows darker. At one point it was uncomfortable to read with every other word being “rape” and men belittling her.. Truly did not realize the extent of this being a contemporary tragedy, but man it holds up with some of the classics 😅 
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phoebebird's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book could have been great. The origin myths chosen are very conducive to interpretation and the author had some interesting ideas about where Phaedra’s story might’ve gone. It is really the writing that fails here. There are far too many POVs, especially from characters who show up once and disappear, or are not crucial to the plot. As if this wasn’t confusing enough, the writing itself is clunky and disorganized. There is a lot of tense confusion and it makes for a sometimes hard-to-follow read. 
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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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allthingsnerdy's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

3.0

I found the story ultimately compelling, but the writing really hindered me liking it. If you don't mind the writing style and like myth retellings, then you'd probably enjoy it! 
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abbyburtenshaw's review against another edition

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3.75

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emmhardt's review

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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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renettereads's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

3.0

The Heroines is a Greek retelling of Phaedra who initially falls in love with her stepson, Hippolytus, and then accuses him of rape when the feelings aren’t reciprocated. With this novel, Shepperson takes a few liberties with the myth and shapes it into a relevant message. 

Though I really appreciated what Shepperson was saying with this novel – we are still dealing with victim blaming and shaming whenever sexual assault comes to the forefront – I couldn’t entirely immerse myself in the story. I think that was partly because of the many POV’s of this book. I felt as though some perspectives weren’t essential and switching as often, and with each voice being so different, the experience became more jarring, pulling me out of the story instead of making an impact. 

I also felt as though the writing style in places wasn’t for me – I’ll be the first to admit that I want my prose flowery, especially when it comes to Greek retellings – and so this one just didn’t grip me as much I would’ve liked. 

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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

i did really like the storytelling and overall writing. however, i felt like there were some characters that were never really flushed out, some weird dialogue, and it overall just felt a little unrefined i guess. the ending was really good though.
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anapthine's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 Thank you Net Galley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023, especially due to my love for Greek Mythology, however it did not live up to my expectations. Whilst the writing, overall, was good, the characters felt very 2-dimensional and it was very difficult to form a connection with them. At times the plot felt rushed and disjointed, and it felt like there were parts missing that could have really added to the storyline. I didn’t really find the characters likeable, they seemed distant in a way. When comparing this with similar fiction that retell this myth, it fell short of the sheer genius that they all seemed to have. I did find this easy to read, and at times it was mildly enjoyable. I am gutted to be writing such a negative review as I really wanted to like this.

 
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