Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⬜
Title: Ariadne
Author: Jennifer Saint
Genre: Fantasy / Mythology
Author Info: She / Her
Setting: Crete / Naxos / Athens, Greece
Month Read: May 2021
Book Type: Hardcover
Publication: 2021
Pages: 308
*May Book of the Month Pick
TRIGGER WARNING-
Murder / Torture / Rape / Depression / Animal Abuse / Postpartum Depression / Cult / Suicide / Abandonment
"What I did not know was that I had hit upon a truth of womanhood: however blameless a life we led, the passions and the greed of men could bring us to ruin, and there was nothing we could do."
No Spoiler Summary:
Ariadne is the telling of the story of the Princess of Crete, from the birth of her brother (The Minotaur) as a child, to her rebelling against her Father, King Minos, to being deserted on the island of Naxos as plans go awry.
You also get to follow her sister, Phaedra, in a multiple narrative that calls back to the Greek way of storytelling. As the sisters grow up and get what they think they wanted, they realize that sometimes it isn't what it seems. Will the sisters regret the choices they made? Will they forge their own paths? Or will this be another Greek tragedy?
Ariadne is the story of women who are sacrificed for men's ambitions. It is also a story about finding your own happy ending, even if it's not what you would have imagined for yourself. With beautiful passages and a heroine you want to succeed- Ariadne is a story you'll drink up faster than a glass of wine.
Review:
I've been on a mythology binge the past two year and Ariadne did not disappoint at all. I would definitely place it on a similar level as A Song of Achilles and a bit above Circe. I loved the female centered story, and the acknowledgment about how women in Greek Mythos usually get the short end of the stick.
I love books that don't necessarily have happy endings, as well--- if I feel like that is where the story should end. Usually, I want things tied up, but that isn't always life and I think the ending for Ariadne was near-perfect.
I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked this book, I was expecting it to be slow and boring and it picks up faster than you'd expect, and keeps you along for the ride. The dual-narrative between the Princesses of Crete help keep the story moving.
I'm glad this was a Book of the Month pick, as I'm not sure I would have ordered it if it weren't, and that would have been a shame. I really think if you like a good woman-focused story, or like Greek Mythology- this is a great book for you. I also love that it isn't a retelling you've heard 1000x before. It felt very fresh.
Recommendation:
If you love Greek Mythology:
Circe by Madeline Miller
A Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan (YA)
"I wonder if the heroes the bards sang of that evening knew before they triumphed what they would become. In those crucial moments when a fateful decision was made, did they feel the air brighten with the zing of destiny? Or did they blunder on, not realising the pivotal moment in which destiny swung and the fates were forged?"
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