Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

113 reviews

emoryjoy's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I would like to give the caveat that I was listening to this as an audiobook and had it at double speed by the end. This quite nearly was a DNF. 

I'm not sure if the story took liberties with the myth or was just much more in depth than I knew about. Either way, it absolutely nailed the Greek Tragedy vibe and was gruesome in that very specific way that myths often are. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

alli_e_oop's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War

thalia16's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Rape, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content

shadereads's review

It really wasn’t what I wanted out of a retelling of this myth. Ariadne feels like she has no agency, and everything seems to be told second hand. Phaedra has more agency than our main character, but I can’t help but wonder how much we’d miss out on page in her chapters from this point too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Body horror, Gore, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, and War

krmreads2024's review against another edition

hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

If you are into Greek mythology and fantasy than this book is perfect for you. It is a refreshing retelling of the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. I thought the characters, especially Ariadne and Phaedra, were interesting to follow. This genre is not my favourite so I found it hard to become absorbed in the story as much, but that’s just me.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Suicide

revonue's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore and Rape

noragoudie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

This book is my favorite of the two I have read by Jennifer Saint, but it falls into the same traps. Once again, the prose is beautiful and the backdrop and immersion into Greek mythology is masterfully done. However, strong female characters are built up only to make foolish decisions that feel neither intriguing nor thought provoking. So much potential, but the execution leaves something to be desired.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Pregnancy, and War

kfergy's review against another edition

dark relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

Enjoyable read - definitely a good fit for those familiar with Greek mythology and always wanted a bit more context to the parables. Good reflection upon traditional femininity and independence, though the ending doesn't necessarily leave you inspired (it's not supposed to) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Infidelity, Blood, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Pregnancy, and War

pagesofplatypus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.5

The Ariadne book is beautifully narrated and the voices for the various characters are convincing and varied enough to not cause confusion.

My favorite part of the book that I was not expecting was seeing chapters from Phaedra's point of view. She offers a good foil for Ariadne and readers definitely grimace as they watch Phaedra's tragic fate unfold.

I was not very familiar with Ariadne nor her story before this book but Saint did a wonderful job traveling through Ariadne's life from childhood to adulthood. I loved the early chapters. The atmosphere was very engrossing and enveloping. I especially enjoyed seeing Ariadne's interactions with Daedalus who was the only one who truly understood her. And Asterion. Asterion, the infamous Minotaur, will always be a favorite tragic character of mine and Saint brings even more of a doomed arc to the Minotaur.

Themes of feminism, fate, power, and autonomy are all explored. Feminine rage is also at the forefront as Ariadne considers her life and everything that contributed to it. Some of it felt heavy handed and a little repetitive in certain parts (especially as Ariadne is alone on Naxus) in my opinion. But I still think it's important to portray.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing style but like I said some parts just felt very repetitive to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

kelkelkelkelly's review against another edition

adventurous sad 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? No

2.0

While clearly inspired by Madeline Miller, this book lacks the storytelling method and narrative voice, instead focusing on poetic lines. It gets points for elaborating on an interesting myth, but at every turn the author chooses the least interesting version of Ariadne’s myth to follow. This Ariadne is flat and dull, lacks any agency or desire of her own. The end of the book picks up with some momentum, but the entire thing reads closer to a translation of an original text than a myth brought to life. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore and Misogyny