Tag: Greek mythology

Review: Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

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A hand holds a library hardcover copy of Ariadne over a gray blanket. A stack of books, including Circe and Percy Jackson, sits behind it.

Alexis:

It’s disappointing when you don’t end up liking a book you were looking forward to.

I love myth retellings, especially Greek myths. As someone of Greek heritage myself, I find it fascinating that my ancestors wove such intricate, and often brutal, tales about the world around them, and I’ve loved learning about Greek myths ever since my Percy Jackson days and my Latin classes! 

I almost DNFed this book 50 pages in, but decided to stick with it. Ariadne follows, you guessed it, Ariadne. In Greek mythology, and in this book, Ariadne is the Princess of Crete. Hero Theseus arrives in Crete after offering himself up to be sacrificed in place of a child to go through King Minos’ labyrinth, and face the Minotaur, a half-bull, half-human creature. For Ariadne, she falls in love with Theseus at first sight, and she devises a plan to help him make it safely through the maze.

The book is mostly from Ariadne’s POV, but also features the point of view of Phaedra, Ariadne’s little sister. However, the dual POVs did not work for me. The voices were too similar, and while I liked Phaedra’s storyline at first, it quickly did a nose dive. I felt like both she and Ariadne didn’t have good character development.

Despite being in first person, I didn’t feel like I got to know Ariadne as much as I wanted to. And honestly, though not too slow-paced, the story bored me. I felt like it kept leading up to something, to a big event, but it never did. 

And the ending. Oof. Saint definitely went the Greek tragedy route, without modernizing this story, telling a different version, or fleshing it out enough. Unfortunately, I don’t think this book added anything to Ariadne or Phaedra’s voices or stories.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐/5

Review: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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Alexis:

What a beautiful love story. Because at the core, this is a love story. Because anyone who knows Greek mythology knows that Patroclus was Achilles’ lover, not “friend.”

Millers’ love for Greek mythology shines in this book. And she knows the ins and outs of it. She captures the Ancient Greek culture and society so well, including the Ancient Greek definition of honor, that I felt like I was being transported back to my three years of Latin class. Everything stays true to Homer, even her creative liberties.

And Miller’s writing is just beautiful, even when it’s brutual; she doesn’t sugarcoat the Trojan War. Even her similes are steeped in the culture, and Patroclus often compares things to olives (which makes my half-Greek self happy!)

I think writing from Patroclus’ POV was a brave choice, but it worked really well for the story as a whole. And I loved how Miller filled in the gaps of he and Achilles’s story. And their relationship is really the shining star of the book. Miller just poured emotion and chemistry and characterization into them.

The only thing that bothered me ***(small spoiler, but really, this story has been around forever) is that Achilles’ heel was taken from the story, and he dies in a different way. I understand why Miller changed it, but I think it’s such an iconic part of Achilles’ story that it felt a little off.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

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Alexis: Read 4/16/19

Why do I always really enjoy the first half of a book, only to really dislike the second half? That’s how I felt about Cruel Beauty.

Cruel Beauty is a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I’m a fan of fairytale retellings, and I actually took a seminar on Beauty and the Beast while I was in college. But what’s different about this retelling is that it blends the fairytale with Greek and Roman mythology and history.

The story is set sometime after the fall of Rome in Romana-Graecia, in a fictional land called Arcadia that was cut off from the rest of the world and held captive underground by the Gentle Lord. The Gentle Lord makes cruel bargains with the people of his land and sometimes sets his demons on them. The Greek and Roman influence was an interesting change of pace, as the original Beauty and the Beast story is from France. I love Greek mythology, and I loved the mix of Latin and Greek terms, history, and terminology. The stories told in the book took me back to my Latin classes.

In this book, the magic is called the Hermetic arts. The main character, Nyx, was trained by her father in this art, which is connected to the four elements. Nyx can use sigils to sort of control the “hearts” of each symbol. While this sounds interesting, not only was the magic never explained any deeper, but it was never useful in the story.

Here’s a basic outline of the plot: When Nyx’s parents couldn’t have children, Nyx’s father made a bad bargain with the Gentle Lord. Nyx’s mother bore twins but died in childbirth. The Gentle Lord required that Nyx be married to him, while Nyx’s sister could live free for the rest of her life. So the book opens up with Nyx marrying the Gentle Lord, who’s also called Ignifex.

I really did enjoy the first half of the book. All of the original aspects of Beauty and the Beast are there: the roses, the mirror, the enchanted castle, the question every night, and a beastly prince of sorts. Nyx’s mission is to kill Ignifex in order to save her land from his terrible reign. The first half focuses on her exploring the castle and trying to find its Hermetic hearts, which was my favorite part of the story.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Nyx, who mostly complained about her tragic fate and battled with her intense hate for her family and Ignifex. But I appreciated that she was a strong female character who made her own choices and expressed her strong emotions. Her relationship with her sister was weird, and as a twin myself, it didn’t feel like a true twin relationship, though some of it was intentional due to the characters’ circumstances. To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the characters except for Shade.

As for the second half, there’s a really weird love triangle that didn’t work for the story. The plot starts to go downhill and then becomes convoluted. Nyx and Ignifex’s relationship is abusive, with Nyx hitting him basically every chapter and Ignifex being emotionally abusive. Nyx remembers an important plot-point only to forget about it until the very end, which was supremely annoying. There’s no clear antagonist. And the ending has a weird alternative time thing that’s even hard to describe.

I obviously have a lot of thoughts about this book. I was pleasantly surprised by the first half and disappointed in the second half. If the ending was different, this would’ve been a solid read!

VERDICT: First half: 4 stars

Second half: 2 stars

Total: 3 stars

Review: The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

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Alexis: Read 1/25/19

I couldn’t help but compare The Gilded Wolves to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. The heist plotline and the similarities in the gang of characters made it impossible. Prepare for a long review; I have a lot to say about this book!

Pros:

The Gilded Wolves is packed with detailed information. The story is set in an alternative 1889 Paris in which certain people can Forge, or magically manipulate objects, metals, and/or plants, etc. I have to admit Paris is not one of my favorite cities, but I really enjoyed the setting for the book. Chokshi did a great job of exploring the city’s history, both the good and the bad, and I thought she described the city well. Her descriptions of the Eiffel Tower, mostly from Zofia’s point of view, were unique and interesting.

I enjoyed reading the snippets of Séverin’s past. Overall, Zofia was my favorite character because of her uniqueness. Plus, it was refreshing to read about a woman scientist and mathematician.

This book is an interesting mix of history, science, and mythology. I really enjoyed the mythology, as the book explored Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology. I loved the diversity of the characters; it painted a more accurate portrayal of Paris in 1889 and helped give the characters unique backgrounds and perspectives. I also enjoyed Chokshi’s descriptions and appreciated that she tackled themes of racism, prejudice, and identity.

Cons:

Though the voices of the characters were each distinct, I only really started caring about Zofia and Enrique once I reached the halfway point of the book. They felt the most real to me. There was a death at the end of the book, and, unfortunately, I didn’t find myself caring about it as much as I wanted to.

I wasn’t really a fan of Hypnos. Though I appreciated the diversity his character brought, he felt like a stereotypical gay character to me, and I had a hard time understanding his motives and his character.

Though I loved the blend of topics, sometimes this book felt more sci-fi to me than historical fantasy. I also felt like the book wasn’t as deep as I wanted it to be. I almost wish Chokshi will write a prequel to this; a lot of events happened before the start of this book.

I have to mention that it took me a while to get into the story. The beginning was a little too chaotic, and I found myself having to re-read paragraphs to make sure I understood what was happening. The Order confused me. I also felt like the climax of the book was a bit rushed. Though I enjoyed Chokshi’s writing style, the overabundance of adverbs irritated me (that’s my English major coming out!) “‘You lied to me,’ she said loudly.” “‘Ready?’ she said brightly.” “‘I know,’ said Hypnos solemnly.”

Despite my issues with the book, I did enjoy reading it, so. . .  

VERDICT: 4 out of 5 books