Review: Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an audio ARC from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this. The narrator was wonderful, giving a voice to both Ariadne and her sister Phaedra. While most of the book is told from Ariadne's perspective, it was nice to get the chapters from Phaedra's perspectives as well. She is a character that I don't remember from mythology so it was nice to see not only the sister dynamic between them, but to have the author tell of yet another lesser known character. I loved how Jennifer Saint wove many of the famous Greek myths into this story. If you are an avid reader of mythology, I'm sure you will recognize many of them, but I also enjoyed seeing the authors own personal take on the myths.

If you enjoyed Circe, I really think you will enjoy this. Ariadne, like many of the women of mythology has always played a supporting role in the stories of the Greek gods and heros. In this, she takes center stage, often questioning why the women were punished by the gods for the crimes of men or the gods themselves. She experiences first hand when her mother is driven mad as punishment for her father's behavior. She has her own personal experience with gods and men when Theseus leaves her for dead on a deserted island. I really loved that we meet Ariadne prior o the birth of the Minotaur and get to see her as a princess of Crete, as a sister, a daughter, a eventually a wife and mother. We see her go through so many emotions and trials, and just when you think she is going to break she finds that inner strength to push through yet another bad situation and survive it.

I very much enjoyed the writing and this has inspired me to get back to reading mythology again. I used to devour it and it has been too long since I've read the Greek tales. I really liked some of the messages put forth in the book. I thought the pace was good, but I have read some reviews that said they felt it was a bit slow. I did listen to the audiobook so if pacing is an issue for you, maybe give the audio a try as I very much enjoyed it. I often find that I enjoy slower paced books on audio a little better. I look forward to reading more from Jennifer Saint in the future.
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