Beautiful writing but lacking some pace and drama. 3.5/5.
Thank you to Headline/Wildfire for providing me with an e-copy of this book via NetGalley.
The blurb:
As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur – Minos’s greatest shame and Ariadne’s brother – demands blood every year.
When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything.
In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?
My take:
I’ve enjoyed many books in the current trend of telling mythological tales from often side-lined female characters’ perspectives. The high-water mark in this genre (or sub genre?) for me continues to be Circe by Madeline Miller.
In the case of Ariadne, I was particularly intrigued by the author’s choice of narrators because Theseus, like many of the male Greek heroes, didn’t treat the women he encountered all that well (intention understatement) and I thought it would be interesting to get the women’s point of view. And overall, I think the author’s creative depiction of Ariadne and Phaedra’s experiences is perceptive and the dual narration adds to the story and provides some interesting contrasts. The writing is beautiful and the descriptions are particularly evocative.
However, these myths have endured for a reason (and in several versions): they are gripping and dramatic. So why did I find this version of the stories a bit dull? The best-known myth – that of Theseus and the Minotaur – is covered and completed by the 30% mark and I think the story loses some of its momentum from then on, especially as that is when the narration starts to be split between Ariadne and Phaedra.
I also found there was a great deal of “telling” happening to the detriment of “showing”. Many characters tell stories within the story, and so we only get second hand accounts of events rather than getting to “see” them unfold directly. Moreover there isn’t a lot of dialogue in this book – something which usually helps to move the story along. And I thought that all the mediations of “women suffer all the time at the hands of gods and men” grew repetitive and were unnecessary. After all, the events of the narrative show us that this is the case, so why do we need to be repeatedly told this as well?
Finally, I thought the last part of the book was rushed compared to the rest of the story, especially the last couple of chapters. This was a shame because they promised to be a return to the drama of the first third of the book, but sadly the action was cut rather short.
Overall: a well-written retelling with some beautiful descriptions, but I found the story lacking in pace and drama.
Art and Soul 
This is on my list to be read – there are a lot of these female retelling of myths around even if I have only read “Silence of the Women”. I agree about dialogue, so that’s a bit disappointing. We shall see!
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I really hope you enjoy it. I feel like an outlier with this one because everyone else is raving about it. I start to wonder if I’ve read too much in this specific genre now and I’m beginning to get overly picky…
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I haven’t read Circe (yet!) so I came at this from a different angle I’d say. Really enjoyed it. Pure escapism for me.
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Circe is just SO brilliant! I think it may have slightly ruined all other entries in this genre for me! (which isn’t really fair on the other books). I’ll be looking out for what this author writes next as she had beautiful style 🙂
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Thanks for this review Claire and yes, I can believe that Circe might have ruined the Ariadne book for you, but please try The Silence of the Girls, if you haven’t already. Both brilliant in their own way and making the same point that you say this author does, that women suffer …, always have (always will ?)
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I’ve read The Silence of the Girls and thought it was excellent, although I did get a bit annoyed when it suddenly gave us Archilles’ perspective as I’d though it was trying to give voice to the female characters in the story. Although I did approve of her depiction of him as a sulky man child, which I think is spot on! 🙂
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Great review, I’m reading The Time Hunters with my son, a middle grade book which includes Theseus and King Minos (I’d highly recommend it for the 9-12 age group) so it’s interesting to read about a more grown up retelling of this 🙂
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Thank you! The Minotaur/Minos section of the book (the first third) was definitely the best bit – that story is brilliant. The Time Hunters sounds great 🙂
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