Ariadne: The Mesmerising Sunday Times Bestselling Retelling of Ancient Greek Myth

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I loved the twist on the Greek heroes. Theseus is an asshole and I loved hating on him. I enjoyed all the different elements and characters, including Daedalus and Icarus. In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to risk everything for love ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition? I also felt that Hera's presence in the novel was in some ways a missed opportunity. She's always there as Araidne's enemy by proxy but we never really explore how the white-armed goddess (not the greatest of epithets) of marriage and birth, the protector of women, and the queen of all gods could have it in for these poor women, exploited by her King of the Gods husband, her Olympian brothers and their children. Instead as Ariadne points out.

However, once the story got going, my hesitation and reserves went out the window. With stunning prose, Saint brings these characters (male, female, gods and beasts) to life in a way that I’ve only ever seen done in Circe. Not only Ariadne, but her sister Phaedra and many other forgotten women from these myths are brought to life in nuanced, complex and emotionally profound ways that will hit home to many of us, even centuries later. Even though they parted ways rather abruptly, the two sisters never stopped caring and looking for each other. You can witness the way their lives advance as they grow older, each on her own path, but forever thinking of each other. Will Ariadne's decision ensure her happy ending and what of Phaedra, the beloved younger sister she leaves behind? As an avid reader of Greek mythology I was so curious to see which myths of Ariadne Jennifer Saint would include. I’ve been especially curious about Ariadne and have read many different versions of her story and what happens to her. I was excited to delve into this book to see which ones the author would take inspiration from. Overall I really enjoyed Ariadne. I enjoyed learning more about her after the events in the labyrinth and I really liked her as a character.

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Ariadne realizes early that it is a man's world and even more a God's world and that their actions were done to make then feel better about themselves and have the power and control that they desire and too often being cruel was just ... - beverlyj Jennifer Saint’s beautiful debut is the reimagining of the Greek mythological story of Ariadne, Princess of Crete, daughter of King Minos and his queen Pasiphae. As a young girl, she is fond of dance, loves her younger sister Phaedra and even helps to take care of her brother Asterion (the Minotaur) when he was a baby, but unable to bear his bestiality as he grows. She grows up listening to her nursemaid’s stories about the gods, goddesses and mortal heroes whose lives have become legends. She is particularly moved by the story of Perseus and Medusa and the story behind how Medusa became a Gorgon. She is witness to her mother’s suffering brought upon by the birth of the Minotaur conceived as an act of revenge exacted by the gods against her father. She ponders over her own fate in a world where gods and men rule and women have no say in the decisions crucial to their lives and are but pawns in the hands of the men who control their fate. The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010). Etymological Dictionary of Greek. Volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek. Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2010. p. 130. ISBN 978-90-04-17420-7. The characters in the book are all one-note. Theseus is fame-obsessed, Dionysus is "not like other gods" (until he IS!!!! omg), Ariadne is a spectator, and Phaedra is "headstrong" (until she is NOT!!! omg). There is zero nuance, which is hugely disappointing given the character arcs for Theseus, Ariadne, and Phaedra, and particularly for a book that tries to talk about the inherent danger and cruelty of the gods. I thought for a bit that the story was really going to be about sisters, which would make sense given the vague feminist handwaving, but the Ariadne/Phaedra reunion is weirdly devoid of emotion and happens only to service Phaedra's plot. And that vague feminist handwaving doesn't even work on the most basic level.

Daedalus seems to be one of the few admirable male characters in this novel. How is he different from the other men and gods we encounter? What role does he play in the story? Can we trust the sisters' positive account of him? I loved seeing their sisterhood and growing up in Crete shrouded in shame, ruled over by their tyrannical father. I also loved the exploration of the sisters individual characteristics; Ariadne as the gentler, introspective sister with bravery and cunning when deciding to help Theseus: Phaedra as the outgoing, daring and confident of the two.Always, these myths are told of the greatness of the male hero and little of the women they trample on their way to fame. Reading this retelling from Ariadne and Phaedra’s points of view was insightful and refreshing. The sisterhood between Ariadne and Phaedra was told very well, from their childhood bond to the strife and ravages of marriage and adulthood and shared sense of being wronged by men. Edit 18-12-2020: I'm an even simpler girl, I get approved for ARC: I do a little happy dance in my livingroom. Can't wait to get started in this one. But retellings come in many forms and guises. In my debut novel Pandora I wanted to explore female agency and the complexities of human nature, all through the richness of a Georgian lens using the myth of Pandora’s box as an anchor. All the works I’ve chosen have interpreted the Greek myths in different ways, but they are all testament to how these ancient stories have got under our skin. This is a story many people will be familiar with, thus Saint seems to take pleasure in playing with the reader’s expectations. There are many little details that appear to be foreshadowing, yet when the time comes Saint neatly sidesteps the anticipated event. For this reason, this review will avoid going into too much plot-specific detail, although it will assume that the broad strokes are so commonly written about that they can no longer be spoiled.