Ariadne

I’m only a third in and I’m not sure I'm engaged sufficiently to finish it - Mills and Boon meets Ancient Greece. The characters are undeveloped, the description of ‘feminist’ is a misnomer and I was disappointed to spot the anachronism ‘electric’. It’s a very easy read, if a bit stilted (Saint is over-fond of the word 'viscous') and the language is somewhat clichéd in places. At the beginning it's more like YA fiction than the literary work I was expecting, though I feel I’ve reached a shift in tone now. It’s not awful, but it didn’t live up to the hype.

I anticipated with glee this re-creation of a Greek myth treading in the footsteps of Pat Barker's intense "The Silence of the Girls" and Madeline Miller and her beautiful novel "Circe".Sadly the characterization was very poor and none of the protagonists had any depth to them so it was very difficult to engage in their joys and sorrows. But wow! The cover is fabulous. For all that, it was an excellent concept, the story of two sisters and the different ways that life dealt with them and they dealt with half gods, human men and  the activities of the gods. The story could have been really exciting, desperate and full of love, betrayals, joys and sorrows.Too much was spent at the beginning of the book trying to establish what it must have felt like to believe and live within a sphere of powerful gods.And Ariadne dancing by herself with no music (?) for what reason?   The only aspect that came across strongly was the relationship with and love of one of the sisters Ariadne for her children when they were babies and little children. Does a writer have to experience the deep emotions they write about in order to portray them adequately? I don’t know. Well.... it was a first novel and maybe Jennifer Saint’s writing will improve.

I absolutely adored this book and am encouraging everyone I know to buy a copy. It is richly detailed, lyrical and immersive. From the very first page, you are transported to Ancient Greece. You can smell the sea and feel the heat. It is one of my all time favourites and I can’t wait for Electra to come out.

Absolutely loved this book! I’ve never read anything around Greek mythology and to be honest it’s not a genre I would usually pick up. My 12 year old really wanted to read it though so I bought it and read it first to see how suitable it was. Stunning writing, fabulous storytelling and surprisingly real characters who you could empathise with - not what I expected from a book about gods! Loved it.

Ariadne first caught my eye because of that absolutely stunning cover. When I hear this was a retelling of the minotaur myth from the perspective of Ariadne I was incredibly excited to pick it up. The story follows Ariadne, daughter of King Minos. Ariadne lives with the sound of hoofbeats beneath the palace, as the minotaur roams the labyrinth below. When Theseus, Prince of Athens is brought to Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him and decides to help him destroy the minotaur. But doing so will betray her family and her country.I absolutely adore Greek retellings and this might possibly be my favourite one ever. I completely fell in love with this story. Saint has absolutely stunning prose and I got completely lost in this beautiful, fiercely feminist story. Ariadne is a fascinating character and it was so compelling to read the story from her point of view. The story really focuses in on all the female characters that are forgotten in the original myths, in favour of the infamous heroes. Ariadne is an impressive debut and I cannot wait to read more from Jennifer Saint.There were so many things I loved about this book and I particularly enjoyed the sense of sisterhood between Ariadne and Phaedra. Saint has the ability to write really compelling characters and I must admit I got a bit teary-eyed at the ending. This is an exceptional debut and if you’re a fan of books by Madeline Miller and Pat Barker, this should definitely be your next read.