A review by eatreadgamerepeat
Stone Blind: Medusa's Story by Natalie Haynes

challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was a weird read - not that the book itself is weird - but its a really harrowing intense read (as you can imagine based on the title & premise TW for SA & murder - its not graphic but it does state bluntly and in clear language what is happening) but at the same time its kind of funny? Its a weird balance that I think is hard to strike that I do think that Natalie Haynes does it well but it gives the necessary gravitas (like I did tear up at one point) but at other parts in the book it had a really light hearted conversational tone at parts where its like the author was making fun of the way we know the original myth and also kinda calls you out at times "like oh you're feeling sympathy for Perseus?? really?" or the way Athena & Zeus both behave a little more like kinda clueless and spoiled brats than a the serious gods they are often portrayed as in other mythology retellings. 

This book re-centers various women as the new protagonists and hero's of this story. There is a lot of commentary in this book about the way the men in these myths behave towards women and the way these women are remembered in the myths & stories themselves often presented from the point of view of these women themselves. The book really challenges you to reconsider who the monsters really are (and if you don't know I'm a sucker for that trope). 
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