Ariadne
Books | Fiction / Literary
3.7
(1.6K)
Jennifer Saint
A mesmerizing debut novel for fans of Madeline Miller's Circe.Ariadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listening to her nursemaid’s stories of gods and heroes. But beneath her golden palace echo the ever-present hoofbeats of her brother, the Minotaur, a monster who demands blood sacrifice. When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in his green eyes not a threat but an escape. Defying the gods, betraying her family and country, and risking everything for love, Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur. But will Ariadne’s decision ensure her happy ending? And what of Phaedra, the beloved younger sister she leaves behind? Hypnotic, propulsive, and utterly transporting, Jennifer Saint's Ariadne forges a new epic, one that puts the forgotten women of Greek mythology back at the heart of the story, as they strive for a better world.
Romance
Fantasy
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More Details:
Author
Jennifer Saint
Pages
304
Publisher
Flatiron Books
Published Date
2021-05-04
ISBN
1250773571 9781250773579
Community ReviewsSee all
"I haven't read a ton (or really any) of the women-centered greek mythology stories that have been popular in the last few years, because I'm not into greek mythology like that. But this was good!<br/><br/>I'm not well versed in the myths so I was a little hesitant at first, like how much character could we really add to the minotaur story to make it last 300 pages? But there is so much more to her myth than that wow. I kind of feel cheated by the 3-page telling of the minotaur story I was first exposed to that neglects to mention where the minotaur came from, the fact that I never knew that Icarus also comes from this myth, the fact that it truly did just make it seem like that was it for Ariadne (which I guess there are competing versions) when there's this whole other version that says she marries Dionysus like why would anyone not include that this is good stuff. In fact, the minotaur story concludes in the first third of the book pretty much.<br/><br/>I was also worried this might just be too sad and joyless, and while it definitely qualifies as a tragedy, I think I forgot what a tragedy is. It's actually not that miserable imo. Like the lows are bleak but that bleakness contrasts parts where there was hope. Maybe it wasn't sad enough? Song of Achilles hit a lot more emotionally honestly.<br/><br/>Do I think this would be good for people who actually did know everything about all these myths? Probably not as good as it was for me who's seeing it like a new story but I do think this is a solid retelling and Jennifer Saint really gives the characters life.<br/><br/>Also, speaking of Dionysus, this is just a personal thing I had to share but I was a simp for my grade 9 English teacher, and before my class read Oedipus, she gave this one extremely broad-strokes lesson introducing us to Greek tragedy, which started with a whole page worth of "Dionysus is the god of wine and goat sacrifice" before diving into hamartia anagnorisis catharsis, hubris is their fatal flaw etc etc. And this is probably the standard intro to greek tragedy but the origin story was never that relevant to Oedipus but just so happened to be all the background knowledge I needed to read this book, and man I miss that era now. Feeling wonder and excitement about English class. I still have all my notes because I am not ok, so here are the receipts. Orgiastic is in fact a real word ok continue.<br/><img src="https://i.imgur.com/TWAwqFi.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /><br/><br/>Maybe I am into Greek mythology like that. This was an approachable book to dive into it with because it visited familiar myths and figures."
E
Emily
"I just finished this book and I am speechless. I already knew the basic myth about Theseus and the Minotaur, but other than that, I didn't know what to expect. I love books that bring attention to the often forgotten women in history.
This book makes me wish I could just give every woman in the story a big hug. It's about finding freedom and realizing it may not be what you thought it would be. It's about betrayal, and finding hope where you least expect it. It's about women having to pay for men's mistakes, and how they need to stick together, because they can only trust each other. "
"This book was presented to me as a “female empowerment” story, but the women in the story constantly fawned over the men and immediately fell in love and did everything they asked. Yes, Ariadne did eventually get away from Theseus, but then she fell in love with another man and stayed on an island while he went galavanting around. The way her sister’s story ended just made me mad. Then, the end of the book annoyed me because it made me feel like I had gotten nowhere."
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