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lizy's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Slavery, and Grief
kanadrallegria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Minor: Confinement, Murder, Sexual content, Child death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Slavery, Violence, Rape, Suicide, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
bookishwondergoth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
1) Suspension of disbelief. There were so many instances where I was required, as a reader, to simply accept that something ridiculous had happened. Protagonist Leto makes a series of increasingly nonsensical decisions and then is never questioned or suspected by anyone around her. How did 2 women with no sailing experience crew a Grecian boat to Ithaca without raising eyebrows? How can a small city manage to sacrifice 12 girls every year for centuries without having significant impact on that town’s population?
2) Poorly researched. Apparently this book is set in Ancient Greece, but only the occasional name of an item of clothing or references to the Greek Gods and Odysseus tells you this.
3) Poorly executed. Why does one of the characters fall in love with the person who killed them? Why does everyone fall in love so quickly? All these things needed far more nuance and greater explanation.
4) Pacing. All over the place. The opening and ending are the best parts of this book. Everything else is a meandering, boring mess.
5) Cheating bisexual trope. This book is marketed as a sapphic book, but one of the characters is bi and in a love triangle with a man who she doesn’t tell her girlfriend about. I hate it here. I gave her the benefit of the doubt when it was all just still flirting, but nope, things didn’t stop there. This trope needs to die or at the very least directly addressed if you’re going to keep it in.
The beginning of the book was brutal and I really liked how things were resolved at the end of the book. I will at least give the book credit there where it’s due.
Overall, not the book for me. I read it as part of the Illumicrate March readalong and finished it only because I was enjoying the lively discussion so much. If you like juvenilely-written stories loosely inspired by Greek myths and packed full of YA tropes like love triangles, angry girls and rash choices, this is the book for you.
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Violence, and Biphobia
Moderate: Rape, Body horror, and Sexual assault
gondorgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Grief
Minor: Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism
sophmcgraw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, War, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Blood
Minor: Sexual harassment and Slavery
withlivjones's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The prose is excellently written and the pacing is good, particularly regarding gradually revealing information to the reader so there isn’t a ton of exposition at once. The main three characters are developed and likeable, and the different chapters in each of their perspectives adds a good amount of tension to the story. I adored the romance between Leto and Melantho and I think it may even rival the legendary relationship between Achilles and Patroclus in The Song of Achilles in terms of how much it made my heart ache. However, I felt that the love triangle with them and Mathias was perhaps a little unnecessary and cliché (though that might be my hatred of love triangles talking). The ending, although it totally wrecked me, was well-written and fitting for the story.
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Slavery, and Grief
Minor: Rape and Suicide
inlibrisveritas's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.0
But I think what held me back was the love triangle aspect and the way the plot seemed to flit between moving too fast and too slowly. The plot sort of spins for a bit in the middle and it feels like it prolongs the page count for almost no reason. I think I would have much preferred for the relationship between Leto and Matthias to have developed more as a close friendship and ally than a love interest, bc we spend so much time watching Leto and Melantho pine for each other it just seems weird to have this sort of flip-flop. It also has some dialogue moments that feel weirdly out of place and more British than greek.
But overall I found it to be enjoyable, but not one I'll likely remember outside of the interesting curse aspect.
Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexism
Moderate: Rape and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
hanne_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I think the author needed to pick one or two things to really commit to: the worldbuilding as an extension of The Odyssey, the consistency of the magic and plot elements she wanted to include, Leto and Melantho’s first-person voices (which started out refreshing and distinct but soon blended together), the three protagonists’ relationships, or the political/governing elements. Instead, the story rushes past each in turn in service of the others, and the only reliably well-developed element is actually… the violence? If you for some reason want to read a lot of detail about people, mostly children, being disturbingly murdered and assaulted, this is the book for you.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Gore, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Bullying, Classism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
ecarper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Rape