Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

29 reviews

sas_ram's review against another edition

3.75

So describe this story in a few words: victim-blaiming, multiple timelines/perspectivs that take away from Medusa, less focuse on Medusa than expected (it's just as much Athenas story as Medusa's), not that mythologically correct ending, makes the gods look almost human, Athena is egoistic as hell, you literally get to know more about Athenas character than Medusas, there are some parts that are much better in how it's written than most of the story. In general in just lacks depth.
It is a good read but definitly not one of the best retellings out there.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, War, Confinement, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Stalking, Violence, Death, Incest, Misogyny, and Blood

aj_langley's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Grief, Violence, and Infidelity

notthatcosta's review

adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I've never been a Classics girlie but I found this book utterly compelling and charming. Although it took about 60 pages to really grab me, it didn't let go after that.

I didn't know I was longing for a woman-centric take of mythology and one that challenges the notion of monstrosity and evil women, but I was so utterly captivated by Natalie Haynes' fresh and witty take on well-trodden ground.

Of course, many parts are deeply sad, but it's filled with humour, pathos and intention, so I can't really resent it. Also, most of the plot is pretty established...being based on Greek myths and all that. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Infidelity, Rape, Abandonment, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Grief, Incest, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Murder, and Pregnancy

ivegotyourpaperback's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad slow-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Rape, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

1.5

I love a good feminist retelling and I've read another Medusa reimagining before. This one was not good compared to the other I had read previously. I liked some aspects like how most of the povs were female characters, but it was so slow and that many povs didn't add anything to the story. It didn't feel like the focus was supposed to be on Medusa. The ending was okay, liked how Athene "went home", but otherwise the ending was quite a letdown. I was hoping for so much in this and didn't get much of anything. Honestly with how slow it was, I should've dnf'd but I pushed through.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Grief, Infidelity, War, Confinement, Death, and Murder

eilatan6991's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Infidelity, Death, Rape, Abandonment, Grief, Sexual assault, and Sexism

iwishihadmoretimetoread's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual violence, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexism, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

mamaowlbear's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful and tragic.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Sexual assault, and Rape

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child death, Body horror, Blood, Sexual harassment, Murder, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, War, Kidnapping, and Animal death

znvisser's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.5

I expected this to be a story about Medusa but instead it was mostly written around the man hunting her - which felt quite contrary to the point. It felt like the author had a vision but discovered along the way there wasn't actually enough source material or creativity to pull from. So instead, many subplots are piled onto the core story, in which we merely meet characters so one-dimensional you don't even get the chance to ponder how to feel about them. And if you still do, you don't have to wait too long for an intermezzo in which some extras come out of nowhere to spell it out for you even more explicitly. I love reading about Greek mythology but to me, the strength in a modern retelling lies in the capability of its story telling: does the writing convey new dimensions to a story long told? To me, this was unfortunately not the case with Stone Blind.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Murder, and Death

Minor: Blood, Animal death, Confinement, Grief, and Sexual violence

I expected this to be a story about Medusa but instead it was mostly written around the man hunting her - which felt quite contrary to the point. It felt like the author had a vision for this book but discovered along the way there actually wasn't enough source material or creativity to pull from, leading to many loosely related storylines being piled onto it. And every single character in those subplots is one-dimensional, so we can't be too confused about how to feel about every single one of them (and if you still are, you don't have to wait too long for an intermezzo in which mostly irrelevant extras spell it out for you even more explicitly). I do love reading about Greek mythology but to me a key factor in the success of modern retelling is the storytelling: does the writing convey new dimensions to a story long told? Unfortunately, I didn't feel that way about this one.