A review by aaalison
Medusa by Rosie Hewlett

sad 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

1.0

(book spoilers ahead) this book was infuriating. it’s acclaimed as a feminist story which gives women the opportunity to be heard, yet it still uplifts an extremely patriarchal narrative. not only is medusa time and time again denounced and manipulated by other women in her life (mother, sisters, the very goddess she serves), but she finds herself both saved and ruined by men of well-meaning and cruel natures respectively. while i obviously do not think that victim blaming is ever acceptable, im extremely disappointed that medusa received the most flack from her very own patron goddess, athena. on the other hand, she found solace in perseus of all people?? the way they painted the one women with potential to be a powerful and guiding hand for medusa to be spiteful and crazy, while the man who killed her was perceived as levelheaded and sympathetic was extremely off-putting. these two relationships were definitely the most frustrating part of the novel, and i ultimately wish they had been different. although she does find support from women later in her story, the generally repetitive roles men and women take in her life draw a black and white world in which men are ultimately in power, and women are either manipulative or manipulated. there was so much potential to this story, (especially when u consider the other popular theory that athena actually blessed medusa by transforming her into a creature no man could ever assault again) and i’m terribly disappointed in this book. 
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