Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - Ariadne

I really enjoyed this book! I listened to the audiobook and I thought it was really good. This story is a simple retelling of some women of Greek mythology, and I kept having to stop myself mid book so I wouldn’t go check Wikipedia for what happened to these characters before I read it in this book. It was intriguing and had some strong themes throughout; it definitely had a moral to the story and gave me some things to think about, but it was a little shallow in its storytelling. Like others have mentioned, it didn’t show much, only told you straight out what happened. But I enjoyed listening to it and want to dive back into Greek mythologies and retellings!

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keeleyraths's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

Some strange points but the story is well told in a modern light. Slower points drag a bit if you know the original plot.

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_falieadeline's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Ariadne can be slow at points, though that may be because of the different perspectives. Which, while I enjoyed, I personally find it easier to get attached to one character's perspective. In saying that, the pace picks up, especially the last 100 or so pages which were impossible to not turn. Definitely recommended if you enjoy modern takes on mythology!

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mxbluet18's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.75

Trigger warnings for Ariadne include:
alcohol, animal death; assault, attempted murder; bestiality, blood and
bones; child death, childbirth, cults, death, gore, miscarriage (past); pregnancy, r🅰️pe, sexism, starvation,
su1cide and war.
☆
☆
This book was slow, but very detailed and I quite enjoyed reading it, even if it took me the best part of 2 weeks to finish.
~
It followed the story of Ariadne (probably not a huge surprise there). It follows her from childhood, detailing the events of her young life on Crete as a princess, to her and Phaedra meeting Theseus, and then Dionysus.
~
As with any story you'd find in Greek mythology, it is riddled with deaths, rape, sexism and misogyny and a whole lot of war and general violence, as that was the way of many of the society's in history.
~
While I can enjoy the stories, I also take it with a pinch of salt because it's a work of fiction, and there are a lot of actions and events that were wrong and unacceptable with the standards of today's society.

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little_lida's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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read_with_riley's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad

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

3.75

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lizzie24601's review against another edition

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reflective medium-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? It's complicated

2.0

If you liked Circe by Madeline Miller, you'll probably enjoy this book. For what it's worth, I did like the discussion around miscarriages and postpartum depression, especially during this time period. The book's depiction of Dionysus is also very well done and shows a different side of him than many other Greek mythology retellings.

But just like with Circe, I didn't find the story of a woman abandoned alone on an island for the rest of her life very compelling. So much of this book is Ariadne (and Phaedra) just thinking and thinking about people and things - there is very little action or even compelling relationships. So much of the book is devoted to the sisters discovering all the men in their lives are deceitful and untrustworthy - and yet, they never develop relationships with the women around them as an alternative. (

Ariadne literally has a whole community of women move onto her island, and only one is even mentioned by name.

)

The book's structure also felt a little off. First it's only Ariadne's perspective, then for half the book it's both her perspective and Phaedra's, and then it's only hers at the end again. The first person perspective of these isolated women also means we have to read long passages of men recounting events to them that they didn't witness themselves. I wonder if it would've been better in third person.

Ultimately, this book just felt very lonely - Ariadne and Phaedra's only significant relationships are with their husbands and each other, and each of these relationships ends in tragedy. It was interesting, as a fan of Greek mythology, to learn more about what might've happened to Ariadne after the labyrinth, but the book was just okay.

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polly_ang's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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