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lil_saddie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.0
I have a problem with YA where it feels like the author doesn’t trust the audience to grasp the plot or character motivations so things are constantly repeated or said so blatantly it takes me out of the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Rape
Minor: Sexual content
bookishwondergoth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- 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
Listen, I hate to be dragging down this author’s Goodreads rating any further than it already is. It seems like the majority of 1 star reviews on here are review bombs without having read the book. I, on the other hand, have read the book, and there was so much wrong with it I don’t really know where to start.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
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
ssmylie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.0
I thought the book was a fun ride, even made me tear up at the end. However, I can't just ignore the comments under the Goodreads section. While I don't think you need an advanced degree in the classics or be an expert in Ancient Greek history, I do think it's very important to read to read the original source material before you write a "retelling". Then, you should familiarize you're self with other retellings to see where people have taken these stories. Finally, you should have consulted with experts in Ancient Greek history and the classics to see if what you were creating lined up with correctly. Authors are researchers as well and many travel, consult with experts and read many texts as they are going from their initial idea to a published work. Research doesn't stop imagination and creativity, it expands what you can do and how realistic you can make the characters.
Now, I'm thinking "what was everyone thinking?" From the idea to the writing process to pitching the story to publishing the book to the marketing? As everyone in the comments said, this didn't have to be called a "retelling", it could have been marketed as a book related to Odyssey's return home to Ithaca.
I hope the author takes this into consideration in her next books. I think she is talented, but she can do much better than this and she has too.
Now, I'm thinking "what was everyone thinking?" From the idea to the writing process to pitching the story to publishing the book to the marketing? As everyone in the comments said, this didn't have to be called a "retelling", it could have been marketed as a book related to Odyssey's return home to Ithaca.
I hope the author takes this into consideration in her next books. I think she is talented, but she can do much better than this and she has too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Minor: Torture, Suicide, and Violence
withlivjones's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
This book is much less of a mythology retelling and more of a fantasy book inspired by the myth of Odysseus, but even though I’m not a huge fan of fantasy as a genre I really enjoyed reading it!
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Slavery, and Grief
Minor: Rape and Suicide
hanne_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- 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
Gods, what a slog. Had one early moment with properly horrific use of familiar imagery (the feet, what else?), and then… kinda fell apart. This could’ve been sweet and lush, but tried to do too much with too little and was narratively all over the place. It’s a reimagining of how the Odys— okay, it’s not really doing that rigorously but it’s an intensely personal exploration of— nope, it’s one of those “monarchic inheritance acts like a reality show competition” books— but don’t worry, this YA love triangle’s *bisexual* and even drifting toward polyam— oh wait, now we’re doing the senselessly tragic nature of capital-F Fate— whoops, have two sudden twists… and it’s over. Exhausting.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
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