A review by house_of_hannah
Ariadne, by Jennifer Saint

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This ended up being quite a bit different than I was expecting ! I adore Greek myths, but I was unfamiliar with Ariadne's, so I didn't know ahead of time how things were going to play out. I really thought the Minotaur was going to be a bigger part of the story, but it's only about the first quarter of the book, and is essentially the setup for the rest of the book. 

In the end we follow Ariadne's and Phaedra's entire lives, and we even switch to Phaedra's point-of-view for a few chapters here and there. The dynamic between the sisters is intriguing, and as this is based on a Greek myth, it is tragic as well. 

One of the main themes of this book is how frequently women are punished for the deeds of men. Several other myths are brought up, such as Medusa. It's quit sad to read about, but I think is an important aspect to analyze. 

The sequence of events in this book really reminded me of Circe by Madeline Miller. However, I actually enjoyed this story more than Circe, as I felt there were less lulls in the plot. They are written in a similar manner though, so if you enjoyed Miller's books then I would definitely pick this one up. 
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