It was a decent enough adaptation of medusa's story. I really liked the ending making it sound as a mercy killing

I was excited to read a retelling of Medusa's story. The basic myth is well-known but we only really see what happens to her. Getting Medusa's POV let's the reader decide whether or not she was the monster we were all taught about in classic literature. Hannah Lynn does a masterful job taking the reader into the setting of Ancient Greece. The temple of Athena, the island where the Gorgons live, Perseus' voyage, the cave home of the Graeae are all detailed where I was swept into the story. Ultimately we're reminded that the Pantheon was mostly a group of conniving jerks who preyed on & messed with mortals for fun. Medusa's story is heartwarming & heartbreaking by turns and well worth the read.

3.5

Most Medusa stories always portray her as this monster but very few really touch on her backstory, this book did and I loved it for that. You get to know Medusa the girl and woman, before all the stories of her being a monster were started. She has been so villainized like most women in history that having a story like this about her is a breath of fresh air and is correcting some of the wrongs done to women historical figures in stories. The one draw back for me is that I do wish it was longer. Felt a bit more like a novella.

Really torn about this one.

This is the story of Medusa (and Perseus) and that’s pretty much it. Most of the first part covers her life, almost every chapter a time jump to the next major scene. There’s not a lot of meandering, it’s to the point and the writing style is good, but just when I thought we were getting to the part that’s going to offer a new take, some deeper characterization, we go to Perseus. After time jumping through months, years, decades and ultimately millenia with Medusa, Perseus gets the narrative advantage of having a mortal life span that allows his story to be delivered in a way that doesn’t feel choppy. I actually wouldn’t have minded this, had it not been for his detour, a scene that I couldn’t wait to be done so we can get back to the meat of it.

This was a tragic, heartbreaking telling that really succinctly delivered the Medusa myth, but I’m afraid it didn’t blow me away as someone who’s familiar with this version of it. I can see people liking it a lot more than I did however and I recommend it.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A really good take on the Medusa story - this has been compared to Circe, and I can definitely see the similarities in style. I really liked how every character was rounded out, particularly Perseus’ inner dialogue. I’m so glad the author didn’t go down the route that some others have, making her story some kind of star crossed romance - as if seeing her through the eyes of a man in love is the only way to humanise the monster. We therefore get to see her as a woman in her own right, and Athena’s Child is a far more satisfying read because of this. I’m looking forward to seeing what this author writes next!

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for sending me an advance copy in return for an honest review.

I'd largely forgotten the story of Medusa-thinking of her only as her image. This is an interesting retelling with Lynn delving into her life before she was cursed, Medusa was once a great beauty, so much so that her father sought to protect her by sending her to Athena. Unfortunately, no one counted on Perseus the villain in this story, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, I enjoyed this quick read,

I absolutely love Greek mythology and was pleasantly surprised by this new take on Medusa’s story. I’ve read a number of Medusa inspired books this year and appreciated that this gave her more background and humanity than any of the others. I also really liked that Perseus was given a voice and a more interesting story of his quest. It was a very enjoyable book and the narration was fantastic.

Thank you sourcebook Landmark for the alc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Athena’s Child! I’m always a bit hesitant when it comes to Medusa’s story because I do think her story is misunderstood and misrepresented most of the time, but I really appreciated how it was portrayed in this book. The thought the characters were unique and well portrayed and worked well with the story.

🐍The book - 1st in The Grecian Women trilogy - is a Greek mythological retelling of Medusa and her nemesis Perseus. Narrated from the POVs of Medusa, Dane, and Perseus, the book is divided into 2 parts. Part 1 explores Medusa's backstory and how she turned from a priestess into a Gorgon and Part 2 shows us Perseus's origin story and his own quest of becoming a hero.

🐍Hannah's writing is lyrical and elegant. Within just a few pages she has cleverly done for Medusa what Miller has done for Circe which makes you think about the way the stories are told, but her writing certainly lacked Miller's richness and depth. Further, the fast-paced narratives and sudden jump in the timeline, and change in POVs, make it difficult to cope up with the story.

🐍The characters are beautifully envisioned and articulately flesh out. By the end of the book, you are definitely gonna feel for Medusa's plights and sufferings and your perspective towards the Olympian Gods will change -as if nothing change over the centuries, it was always women who are blamed for men's cruelties, not the other way around. Other supporting characters are barely touched.

🐍The ending felt abrupt and unfulfilling, as many points were left open for readers' own imagination. Nevertheless, it liked it - it gives you a different outlook on Medusa's fate and forced you to accept that it was not she who loses her humanity, but people do.

Overall, Athena's Child was an enjoyable lite read for me. If you are into Greek myth, then you should definitely check out this refreshing retelling of Medusa. Highly recommendable.

✨Book Review!✨
“Athena’s Child”
Netgalley ARC
Written By:
Published by:
•••
Athena’s Child is a story about Medusa, her sisters Euryale and Stheno, princess Danae and her son Perseus, son of Zeus.
•••
The book takes you through how Medusa came to know Athena, how and why Medusa was cursed after being taken advantage of by Poseidon and her life after she became the “monster” with hair made of snakes.
•••
Medusa’s story then become entwined with Perseus, son of Zeus. When Perseus’ mother, Princess Danae, is betrothed to a vile king, he is set on a mission by the king to collect Medusa’s head as a wedding gift. Knowing how many men over a millennium have died trying to do just that, Perseus isn’t sure it can be done. He realizes if he wants to save his mother, he will need to make an attempt to do what no one has done before and slay the “monster”.
•••
I have always been a bit fascinated by Medusa. A woman with a head full of snakes?! WUT. So when I saw this ARC on Netgalley, I HAD to read it. Although I felt like it could have gone more in depth, I did enjoy how short and quick it was! If you’re into Greek mythology… don’t miss out on this book!

1- Characters: 9
2- Atmosphere/Setting: 9
3- Writing Style: 8
4- Plot: 8
5- Intrigue: 8
6- Logic/Relationships: 7
7- Enjoyment: 8

Total Score: 57
57/7= 8.142
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am not much of a Greek mythology fan but this book kept me interested enough to finish. A quick, short read that I enjoyed.

This is the first book that i have read about Medusa. I never realized her connection and her story of her being wronged by Athena. I always knew of her being wronged by Poseidon. So this book did a great job of grabbing my interest and keeping my attention throughout Medusa’s story. This is a retelling as the author gives their own twist that i that was wonderful. My heart really broke for Medusa. She was made into this monster by men and Athena. But when reading this book, you see that she really wasn’t a monster. This was very well done and i really enjoyed it.

*Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!*

This was a nice, quick read and overall pretty enjoyable! I’ve always been fascinated by Medusa’s story and so I was really excited to dive into this book. That being said, the author’s very straightforward style of writing wasn’t my favorite. Personally, I prefer more lyrical prose. I also think going into this after having recently read Madeline Miller’s books made it hard for me not to compare the two.

That being said, I still think this is a great book to read if you’re looking for a good retelling of Medusa’s story!

This book felt a little all over the place. I also feel like, because I read Medusa's Sisters earlier this year, there was a bit of comparison going on for me.

This is a quick read and it gets into the origin of the Medusa myth fairly quickly, which I still feel like I grew up with a VERY different interpretation of why Athena cursed Medusa, but then it leans more heavily into Perseus, which... I do not feel is necessary. This book was strongest when focused on Medusa and the switch away from focusing on her felt very abrupt.

Lynn has an interesting interpretation of how Perseus was able to slay Medusa, but getting there felt like a bit of a slog.

This was a short read. The beginning of the book was strong and I really enjoyed the writing but the middle end of it I found myself bored. I didn’t like the major time jumps and the change of povs at the end to Perseus’ seemed to be more about him than Medusa. Overall the story was good but I found myself wanting more.

Athena’s Child is more like a novella than a full-length novel, clocking in at under two hundred pages. It tells the intertwined stories of Medusa and Perseus. It starts with Medusa and how she ends up cursed by Athena, then transitions into Perseus’ origin story and how he is eventually manipulated into a hero’s journey to Medusa in order to save his mother. It’s interesting, but it’s not very in depth. What makes modern mythical retellings stand out is an exploration of a character not originally explored, that brings an alternative perspective to the story. This could have been done with Medusa, but barely skims the surface to also tell Perseus’ side of the story in a short story. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t add much new to the original myth. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I picked up Athena's Child because it is described as a retelling of Medusa's mythology, told from her point of view. I'm not a big mythology reader, but Medusa has always fascinated me. The beginning was strong - humanizing Medusa and explaining how she became a priestess for Athena and how she was unfairly punished with the snake hair, but it devolved into talking more about Perseus's backstory (which I wasn't super interested in) and not adding much depth to his character. It honestly got kind of boring and felt more like reading a standard mythology story instead of giving much insight or new perspective to Medusa.


2.5 rounded up.

I'm going to be honest, I didn't love it. It felt oversimplified, and there wasn't enough character development to make me care what happened to the characters. It was an interesting retelling of the Medusa myth, but I wish there had been more Medusa and less Perseus. I really felt like so much more could have been done with Medusa herself and there were many lost opportunities. I'd give it three stars...even though it's not entirely my cup of tea I'm sure there are many people who will enjoy a simple, quick read.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger Warning for rape. (I realize the entire mythos of Medusa originated from this, but on the off chance that someone reading this is unaware, I wanted to give a warning.)

Despite knowing the story of Medusa, this retelling packs a punch with the childhood and eventual rape of Medusa by Poseidon, and the curse cast upon her by Athena. I thought the adaptation of Stheno and Euryale of having also been mortal and likewise cursed by Athena was an interesting take on the myth. My general understanding was that all three of the gorgons were born, but only Medusa was mortal and a priestess for Athena, while the other two were always immortal. I thought this interpretation allowed cohesion between the two stories in a way that made thematically sense.

This book is good at placing the reader into the myth to experience it firsthand, but it is very quick and efficient in doing so. I really appreciated that neither Medusa nor Perseus were set to be the antagonist or villain of this story - both are victims of the wills of the men and gods around them. Typically, depending on the slant of the story that this myth is being retold, one or the other is cast in a less than sympathetic light, when neither has done anything deserving of derision. They are characters in a play, forced into roles that neither wanted but have no choice but to continue until the curtain drops.

There were also a few points I felt that this book incorporated a too modern perspective into the characters, in a way that felt almost confusing. I don’t necessarily disagree with them, as this is a feminist retelling of Medusa, but some aspects I found jarring. For instance, Medusa’s father wants to prevent her from marrying young and so that is the motivation for her becoming a priestess for Athena - and yet, her sister is married just as young as Medusa was when she left. I felt like there could have been a better reason for Medusa to become a priestess of Athena, to account for this discrepancy.

There are also times when the timeline skips around in a way that I found confusing, even being familiar with the entire story of Medusa. The biggest one I noticed was the change from Danae and infant Perseus almost drowning in the chest, to an adult Perseus talking to characters about events that we have not seen. I know the mythology, so I was aware of what was happening, but I felt there should have at least been a chapter or two to cover this timeline change to keep the reader aware of everything going on.

This novel also isn’t the best at letting the reader be aware of the passage of time as it happens. While I obviously knew time had passed from Medusa and her sisters escaping to their island, and Perseus making the promise of beheading her for the king, I was not aware millennia had passed until it was stated explicitly. The writing had led me to believe that maybe a few generations had passed, but not the expansive passage of time that the story explicitly states later.

I believe that as long as a reader is familiar with the myth of Medusa, this story is told very well and really brings to life the characters within the story. Overall, this book is a fairly quick read, so I do suggest giving it a try.

A quick read, this retelling is tragic and feminist. I really enjoyed the humanizing of Medusa, however I found most of the character development lacking. There were big jumps in time that I wish we had more information on, but overall this was an enjoyable read.