Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Ariadne

In general, I'm not a huge fan of Greek mythology...mostly because of the rampant misogyny and bad behavior of men and their Gods—which is why Ariadne sat on my shelf unread until several days ago. I really, really liked it!

Written from the perspective of two strong, but very different, sisters—Ariadne and Phaedra, daughters of King Minos of Crete and sisters of the half-man/half-bull Minotaur whose diet was comprised of human sacrifices—this book kept me turning the pages quickly from start to finish. Although it was still filled with the tragic behavior of men and gods, the women were the focal point.

Although I admired and loved both of them, I related more to fiery Phaedra who went after what she wanted with passion...often without the benefit of adequate life experience or deep thought...and was justifiably pissed off at the men. Been there.

I love learning history through books like this. Whether you're a fan of Greek mythology or not, it's a worthy read.

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hannahbailey's review against another edition

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challenging sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I went into this excited to read a Greek myth feminist retelling that WASN'T about the Trojan war and instead focused on Ariadne, sister of the Minotaur and traitor to her family. After trudging through (barely) the clunky prose I was disappointed to discover this portrayal of Ariadne as passive and boring. I kept persisting with the hope that she would either become more interesting or begin her revenge arc, but she did neither. As I'd not read about this myth before I was interested to find out how it ended, and it seemed to be leading somewhere empowering (finally!) for Ariadne. Jokes on me, I was wrong again. The ending left me unsatisfied and a bit speechless tbh. I could go on but to spare you the pain, if you're struggling to get through this, it doesn't get better -- sorry 🤷‍♀️😔

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catorureads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Ever since I've read Percy Jackson I've had a fascination with Greek mythology. I've also been loving retellings where they focus on the women's point of view. This one was written well and although I'm familiar with this myth it felt new in a lot of aspects. Some parts dragged a bit and normally I would rate it 4 stars. However, the story itself captivated and enchanted me and I just had a great time reading it. Sometimes a great experience is all you need to give it five stars.

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kelburke's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.5

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leahkarge's review against another edition

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3.0

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biancafrancisco's review against another edition

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reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I'm a simple woman, I see feminist greek retelling and I read

Buuuuut this one disappointed a bit. I enjoyed reading it, the writing is as pointed out in my cover "lyrical".
However, it does not do what it sets out to do.

Ariadne as a character lacks luster as she is very passive.

She has barely any role in defeating the Minotaur (Dedalous gives her the thread and Phaedra steals the weapon), with this characterization one wonders how she even had the conviction to betray her father (I guess the explanation is her falling in love immediately by looking at Theseus....istg).
While she lives in Naxos with Dionysus she also shows no interest in the sister she left behind or on what her husband does on their island.

She is lulled by her comfortable beliefs and leaves everything at that.

When the two sisters came to be reunited I thought the story's purpose might be revealed, that it would be about these two woman and their bond (once again pointing to the supposed feminist undercurrent of the book), but the only reason Phaedra went to Naxos was to further her plot and they seemed to add nothing to each other.

Through the book there is an emphasis on the gods being careless and cruel and innocent humans, particularly woman, suffering for it. This attempt at criticizing the treatment of woman in classical myth falls short as the plot of the book goes by. You would think Ariadne would go against this and, even if the ending had to be as in the myth, she would be shown fighting her fate.

Yet, she merely goes where she is pushed most of the time and both Phaedra's and her death feel pointless and void of meaning.

Phaedra's struggle with motherhood seems to also be looking to shed some feminist light, but the message gets lost along the way.

At the beggining of the book Ariadne
speaks of seizing her destiny for herself, but we see her do nothing of the sort throughout the book. In her own words, after a decade of marriage, she says "I had been trusting and obedient. I had thought that was the right way to be". She ends up being disappointed by Dionysus also and it seems the only lesson to be learned is a weird dichotomy of men are bad and woman good mixed with a Madonna-whore complex where woman who reclaimed and used their power were seen as evil (Medea and Hera, for example) while passive woman like Ariadne were good.

I realize this is to be a tragedy, but why retell a story if not to shine a new light on it? The women end the story the way they began, Ariadne without purpose and Phaedra miserable and heavy with humiliation.

It is not a terrible book, it was enjoyable to read - it just didn't convey its own message. If you have started it searching for something akin to Madeleine Miller's Circe, you will not be totally satisfied.

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niyou's review against another edition

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If you want to read something similar to Circe, keep looking. This book doesn’t compare: the prose is indifferent and the characters are annoying and flat. Around a quarter through I realized I didn’t care enough to keep reading.

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