Thank you for Flatiron and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I feel like the mythical retelling is just a staple of popular literature these days -- especially women-centric stories. And so I knew that reading this would be a challenge in originality, since so many of these tales are just about suffering and pain. I have to say that Ariadne is nothing new in this way; it is another beautiful, lyrical retelling of two sisters who are taken advantage of by men and gods alike, victims to the whims of the world around them.

I think the first third of so of the book was challenging because it was so bleak that I was not sure I could take the whole book that way. But I did persevere and ended up enjoying the softer parts of the book as time passed and Ariadne experienced love and wonder in her life. However, it made it even more bittersweet when (since it's been 3000 years I don't think this is a spoiler) her end comes around. I had hope in my heart that Saint would subvert the story and give us something beautiful and happy instead of beautifully tragic. Other than that, I really enjoyed this read and it's reflections on the nature of men and people who view the world as something for the taking versus those who view it as something to survive.

This is a 4 star read for me and unfortunately signals to me that I might not be able to stomach many more of these retellings. I think there are some that I'd recommend over this one for their breadth and emotion, but if you're hungry for myths give it a go.

You know how it is when you can’t put a book down, but you also never want it to end? I tried hard to savor the experience of reading this beautiful mythological retelling, but I flew right through it!

This book tells the story of Ariadne and Phaedra, granddaughters of Helios, and princesses of Crete. We learn of their part in helping Theseus defeat the Minotaur, and what happens to them both in the aftermath. Some aspects of the mythology were well known to me, and some aspects were new.

Yes, of course, if you loved Circe by Madeline Miller, you’ll love this book. You will also love this book if you’d like to try a mythological retelling that is told from multiple perspectives, is about sisterhood and motherhood, and is fast paced with plenty of action. Experiencing this tale through the eyes of Phaedra as well as Ariadne added suspense and depth.

I highlighted so many beautiful passages and I am not ashamed to say that I cried. Jennifer Saint is a fantastic storyteller and every time I opened this up I felt immediately dropped into Crete, Athens, and Naxos. Days later and I still feel like I can slip into a daydream of recalling Ariadne’s experiences before and after Theseus. She was loyal to those who deserved her loyalty, brave when she needed to seek the truth, and loving.

I knew better than to expect a happily ever after, but I felt so much love for Ariadne and womankind at the end of this book, that I felt perfectly satisfied with how this story ended. Ariadne is my new favorite female character. Thank you to Jennifer Saint for re-introducing her to me. This story resonates deeply as mythology should.

5 brilliant stars.

Thank you so much to Flatiron Books and Netgalley for an ARC of Ariadne.

Ariadne is an extremely prevalent character in Greek mythology, however, until this novel, I was relatively unaware of her presence in so many familiar stories. I took a Greek mythology course in college as an elective, so it wasn't the most rigorous, but we did learn about heroes and read plays. We read Euripide's "Hippolytus" and I remember thinking Phaedra was selfish and feeling horrible for Hippolytus. I don't remember learning about Theseus's desertion of Ariadne, his rape of the Amazon Queen, and so many other horrors he commits. I remember learning about Ariadne's betrayal and Theseus's bravery, but not Ariadne's resilience and Theseus's cowardice. I remember learning about the maenad's and their maddening and murderous rituals, not the reason they left their homes to begin with.

This novel takes the myths of the minotaur, how Dionysus grew his following, the stories of Theseus, the tragic deaths of Phaedra and Hippolytus, and so much more, and turns them into a compelling and feminist story. The men in these myths are absolutely horrible. Their actions are justified because they were doing it to save their people or they're a god and have infinite power and wisdom. The women who make mistakes do things because they're crazy and vindictive. Reading Jennifer Saint's interpretation and reasoning for the women's (and men's) actions in these myths made the tales come to life. The entire semester I was studying mythology, I didn't learn about the humans in the myths. I learned what they did wrong and why they were punished, but I didn't learn how they came to be in the situations they were ultimately put in. This book sheds a new light on the characters of Greek mythology and I have so much more respect for women like Pasiphae and Phaedra after having read this novel.

Thank you Flatiron Books for both a physical and e-galley.

This was so interesting and totally for fans of Madeline Miller.

If you like learning about new, not-well-known Greek myths, pick this up. I felt totally involved in the story of Ariadne and her connection to the Minotaur and others. I learned things I didn't about mythology, which is what I wanted from this story.

Ariadne looks at the many ways women are subject to men (and to the gods, both male and female). All women face one or more of these at the hands of men: domestic physical and emotional abuse, rape, infidelity, being treated as chattel, forced childbearing. In addition, Saint gives glimpses of those things women do enjoy: domestic joy, happy marriages, maternal bliss, pride in one’s own accomplishments. Saint looks at these through the lens of Ariadne, granddaughter of Helios the Sun God, daughter to King Minos and Queen Pasiphae, sister to the Minotaur, sister to Phaedra, and wife of Dionysius.

Ariadne is best known in Greek literature for helping Theseus defeat the Minotaur. When Theseus arrives in Crete, Ariadne falls in love with him. The infatuation Ariadne feels for him falls a bit flat here. In fact, many of the sexual unions, lusty though they may have been, are essentially sanitized, including rape.

Ariadne proved to be a compelling character who underwent a nice character arc. At times, the novel was written in such a distant point of view that it was difficult to engage with the characters. The characterization of Dionysius makes him out to be almost too human as he doesn’t demonstrate the arrogance of the gods until late in the book. Theseus, on the other hand, was almost too arrogant and

While I enjoyed the novel and had hoped to see it join the ranks of Circe and The Song of Achilles, but the prose didn’t rise to the epic, poetic quality that Madeline Miller does in those two books.

Princess Ariadne must deal with her cruel, tyrannical father King MInos of Crete as well as her "brother" the Minotaur. As Greek youths from all across the country are sent to their deaths as tribute to her father, she decides there has been enough tribute paying to the Minotaur. When a handsome Athenian arrives, Ariadne learns he is Theseus, the Prince of Athens, and he plans to slay the Minotaur to save the Greeks. Ariadne quickly decides to betray her family and her island and sides with Theseus to kill the Minotaur. Theseus promises to take her away to Athens with him, but once the Minotaur is slay, not all plans work as expected. Ariadne is a beautifully written novel and tells the tale of the long forgotten women of Greece who have had to deal with the egos of the warrior men and the petulant gods. An exceptional story, especially if you have read Circe or A Thousand Ships or even if you have not.

Ah my dear Ariadne! You fell into the same trap all women in the history fell million times over: you trusted men! You believed that they are different than each other, one can be better than the other, and they can be humble enough to not to compare themselves to gods and think they will get everything they want sooner or later. You believed that they could listen to reason. You believed that they genuinely love you as an individual not as a vessel to bring children to this world and as a trophy to be put on a shelf (or sky). Ah my dear Ariadne!

Ariadne grew up hearing about women who were punished for the things men did. She had first hand experience of the price women paid by looking at her mother and poor beast of a brother she gave a birth. Ariadne was on her mother's side raising the cursed boy. Once his curse became an trophy for their father, she recognized how tables were turned if the curses benefit men. Ariadne, with the beautiful heart she had, decided that her father and her brother needed to be stopped. However, she forgot what other women had to go through to do the very same thing.

If you love mythology and retellings of those events from women's perspective, you will love Ariadne. It's a powerful story of how she went from princess to traitor to divine goddess who would guide all the late babies and their mothers to safety away from all the men. It's a story of sisterhood where Medusa turned into a victim than a horrendous monster (and many more like her...) I can't believe years later we are dealing with the same thing, but unfortunately this is a contemporary story as much as a mythical one.

<b>5 Stars</b>

Thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was high on my list of books that I wanted to read. I'm a huge fan of Greek Mythology, especially new and different takes on what we think we know about it. Madeline Miller’s Circe was excellent because we got to see the myth’s from a woman’s perspective, not that of the men who take up about 90% of the mythology. When we do get women in myth they are usually evil or temptresses or some other variety of a woman who is considered bad or wrong. Much like Circe, Ariadne takes the myth as we know it and turns it into a powerful look at sexism and empowerment.

This book was a delight to read on so many levels. Saint’s writing is excruciatingly beautiful and I fell in love with it from the very beginning. There is something so powerful about this writing, and I felt it in my bones as I was reading this novel. It is very prose filled with some dialogue, but the prose is powerful. Much of the dialogue focuses on stories and the myths that we’ve all come to know. One interesting thing is how Saint manages to loop in the other myths and explains how the relate to Ariadne. While the book is titled Ariadne, her sister Phaedra, has some chapters from her perspective as well.

The plot of the book revolves around Ariadne and her family. The choices she makes from helping Theseus and the Labyrinth to after. The book was very detailed in its plot. It stuck to the general feeling of the original myth but elaborates and adds perspective from Ariadne. The plot is almost backseat to Ariadne and her own power.

One thing I loved about this book is we know so little about the women in the myth. Saint has had to create and invent a personality and overall general character for Ariadne. Like many other women in Greek myth she lacks character. The goddesses have a little more, but here we see how powerful Saint is because her characterization is so lovely. From the moment you meet the women in this book you can see what positions they’re in, and how they have to fight. This book shows how women are manipulated for men’s purposes. Saint did it so wonderfully and it was well done - I cannot express how much I enjoyed it.

The pacing of this book is slow. It doesn’t meander, but it definitely has a purpose to the slowness. And it is helped by the fact we flip between what action there is in the book.

Elaborating from myth and real Greece, Saint creates a world and captures the imagination of mythic Greece. The palace of Knossos is vivid in the imagination, and when you look at pictures it is easy to envision Ariadne and her sister there.

This book was just stunningly beautiful on so many levels and I absolutely feel in love with it. It left me breathless and engaged. I can’t put into words how much I adored this book.

I often wish that I remembered the Greek myths in more detail. I have spent time with Edith Hamilton and Stephen Fry but need to go back. So, I was not fully aware of who Ariadne was before I began this novel. At the start, I will say that I have seen some mixed reviews but I found this book to be interesting and engaging. Its’ main subject is the story of the titular character whose relative was the MInotaur.

Ariadne is a retelling of a well-known Greek story but from the woman’s point of view. It will be enjoyed by readers of other books including Circe.

Early in the novel, readers learn about Ariadne’s parents. They are Minos and Pasiphae. He was the ruler of Crete. She was the daughter of the sun god and is beautifully described in the beginning of the novel. What Minos did, how that affected Pasiphae and the circumstances of the Minotaur’s birth are told.

A number of stories of the Greek gods are dramatized. As readers may know, the gods are often like larger than life humans, full of passion, temper and more. They form the background of Ariadne’s world.

Others whom readers get to know include Theseus becomes involved with Ariadne. There are also Daedalus, Icarus and Phaedra. All of their stories led to an immersive read for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

I love retellings of myths, fairytales, etc. so I was thrilled to get to read this one. Ariadne is such an interesting character. You hear to often about Thesus and the Minotaur, but not often about her role in the story. The descriptions of Crete and Naxos were excellent and really transported me to the islands. Unfortunately, overall this book let me down a bit. By the end, I was ready for the story to be over instead of wanting more. I would have loved more actual interactions between the characters and less glossing over of years and events. I also found both main characters to be sort of unlikeable.

Ariadne is a feminist exploration of Greek Mythology, which has historically abused and misused its female characters for centuries. And while I can appreciate the feminist view taken in the book, it ultimately ends up falling flat as a novel.

It is always hard to critic a novel that is a retelling of a myth, because most gripes with the story often come from the Greek Myth, and it's rather unfair to blame an author for something they had little control of. What I can critique is the presentation of the myth through a new and refreshing lens. Saint loves mythology, and that much I could sense as I read the novel. However, Ariadne reads more like a fancy wiki page. The information and the story are all there, but the novel really likes critical dialogue, interactions, and details. So much of what we are told in this novel is just pure exposition, and it becomes so boring, And because we lacked interactions and dialogue, as an audience, we lost a connection with the characters of the story.

When Ariadne meets Thesus and falls in love, I did not feel a wink of attraction. Their meeting consisting mostly of background into his past and Ariadne. Which, assuming you love greek mythology, is something you already know. I don't care about anyone in this story, which is a problem from a storytelling perspective.

Another flaw with this book is just the lack of actual retelling. So much of what was written was just pure regurgitation of classic myths in just fluffy writing, and I really felt betrayed by that. As someone who knows way too much greek mythology for their own good, I just found myself skipping all the exposition, which ended up with me skipping chapters without any real consequence.

However, I can appreciate that Saint managed to also include some very real female pain in the novel, and how that pain was largely ignored. So many women in Greek Mythology are often blamed for acts done without their consent, and so many women suffered, this story included. The end shocked me because I am used to another version of the myth, but it was understandable. No woman in this story left untouched, and unfortunately, Ariadne is included.

I think that going forward, Saint should focus on creating relatable characters and building the world around the character, rather than just plopping us into miles of storytelling. I really wished I could have enjoyed this story more, but it was largely skippable and I felt heartbroken by that. Also, Theseus is the biggest piece of shit in Greek Mythology and no one can tell me otherwise.

*ARC was given by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

I have been craving Greek mythology and was so excited to receive this E-Arc.

This is about two daughters of King Minos and you are brought to an island of Crete. You get the background story of the labyrinth and the minotour.

This was written so beautifully and I loved Phaedras story.

I didn't hate this book, but I certainly didn't love it. I read it, I liked it, I moved on. I wanted to get swept up in it and feel a connection to Ariande, but it just wasn't there. I think my expectations were too high, because of my undying love for Madeline Miller's Circe.

I received this novel as an ARC from Netgalley—thank you!

“I would be Medusa, if it came to it, I resolved. If the gods held me accountable one day for the sins of someone else, if they came for me to punish a man’s actions, I would not hide away like Pasiphae. I would wear that coronet of snakes, and the world would shrink from me instead.”

After years of her Minotaur brother devouring human sacrifices in the labyrinth beneath the palace, Ariadne makes a fateful choice, against the will of her cruel father, to save Athens’ greatest hero. This sets the princess on a fateful voyage full of both self fulfillment and sacrifice.

This book really expands a story and perspective rarely told in Greek mythology, centering a character usually relegated to the background—very much in the style of Circe and Patroclus from Miller’s retellings.

I love Madeline Miller, especially the Song of Achilles, so I was really excited to read another myth retelling. The cover of this book is beautiful, and I had high hopes. However, I feel that the story was not hugely compelling and the writing also let it down a bit. The beginning was bogged down by exposition largely provided in summary. I also found Ariadne’s love of Theseus needed significant grounding and development. It did not make me really root for her as a strong, empowered woman character.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

9781250773586

320 Pages
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: May 4, 2021

Fiction, Mythology, Greek Mythology

Ariadne is the daughter of King Minos of Crete, son of Zeus, and Pasiphae, daughter of Helios. She is the sister of the Minotaur. When she sees Theseus, the Prince of Athens, arrive as a tribute for the Minotaur, she is horrified. How can he give himself willingly to the monster? She must do something to save him but if she does, what price will she pay?

This is a retelling of the traditional Greek myth with a twist. It is more personalized since the story is written in the first-person point of view of Ariadne and her younger sister Phaedra. The author also included Daedalus and his son Icarus with the wings of wax. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn’t stop reading until I finished the book. If you enjoy mythology, you will love this version.

ARIADNE is Percy Jackson for adults...If you enjoy Madeline Miller's books, you will adore ARIADNE...

My Thoughts
Oh fuck. Oh fuck. OH Fuck. Oh fUCK. OH OH OH.
Head empty. Need more. Fuck.

Oh my goodness! I loved this book! I was hooked from the beginning and so excited to learn more about Ariadne- she is a Greek mythology character that I haven't really heard very much about. From my google searches, the mythology in Ariadne was accurate from the actual legends- like Theseus and the Minotaur, Icarus. I enjoyed the writing, sometimes Greek mythology is hard to follow/ pay attention too. I loved Ariadne from the beginning, even though I wanted to smack her once or twice. By the end, Ariadne was an inspiring character. I didn't want her story to end- especially since I didn't like the ending. However, there was closure (thanks to the epilogue).
One quote that I found that I loved: "I would not let a man who knew the value of nothing make me doubt the value of myself."


Special thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinion.

For lovers of The Penelopiad, Circe, and The King Must Die comes a daring new book that narrates the life of Ariadne of Crete, the discarded princess, in her own words.

The book flips between Ariadne and her sister Phaedra's perspective, telling the story of Theseus through the women he used to further his own glory. From this perspective, we see the inconsistencies in Theseus' grand tales of himself as they reflect the larger theme of Greek mythology--women being punished for men's actions.

Saint does a wonderful of bringing Ariadne and Phaedra to life, filling in the gaps that Greek myth leaves behind while telling the tale of the Minotaur. No longer are they the two-dimensional characters that only serve to further Theseus' story. No longer is Pasiphaë the crazed woman defined solely by the compulsion Poseidon cursed her with. Dionysus' maenads are not simply mad women desiring drink. Jennifer Saint brings these women into full color, fleshing them out into three-dimensional characters that are not simply shuttled along by the men in their life.

Saint also makes the myth her own by blending retellings together and adding her own details and twists to further drive home her point (such as adding Scylla as Ariadne's sister). The emotion in her prose is real and raw; you can truly feel the agony Ariadne feels as she crawls on the beach of Naxos. It is also a delightful exploration of Dionysus and his origin story, the god so often shifting in the lens of pre-Greek history. She strikes a perfect balance between the happy-go-lucky androgynous twink we all know and love and the darker, mad side of him that made his cult so famous. Saint explores the conflicting experience that is motherhood, of women that cry and women that turn to stone. Her characters are both faithful renditions and a rich, deep cast of humans that remind of our own complicated morality.

You will leave this book wanting more of Saint's storytelling, and I cannot wait for her second book on Clytemnestra and Electra. We need more retellings of the forgotten women of Greek myth and I for one am thrilled to be alive for its revival in modern fiction.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint is a gorgeous and adventurous mythological retelling that centers the voices of women, a welcome addition to a body of stories defined by and about men. The well-trod tales of Theseus and the Minotaur, the rise of Dionysus, and the death of Hippolytus converge around these women, and yet their oft-forgotten names are typically relegated to footnotes only. This book resurfaces their names for a generation of readers clamoring for a more complete rendering of these stories.

Princess Ariadne spent her youth in Crete hearing only about reviled women and their entanglements with gods and men--the monstrous Scylla, the infamous Medusa, the bestial Pasiphae--and learns too late that these women became legends because of the misdeeds of men. After risking her life to help the heralded Theseus rid the world of her half-brother, the blood-curdling Minotaur, Ariadne experiences just how celebrated heroes punish women who offer indispensable assistance. Jennifer Saint's rendition of the ensuing tale is gripping and devastating, steeped in a sense of dread and well-earned bitterness that allows jewels of Ariadne's joy to shine through despite her circumstances.

Through the book, she and her sister Phaedra alternate perspectives to narrate the high-stakes stories of their lives after being separated by the sea. While Ariadne is stranded on an uninhabited island and left to die, Phaedra is swept away from Crete to become a princess elsewhere as part of a political bargain. Saint infuses both of their voices with such humanity and urgency that their stories feel revelatory: even though I knew how their stories ended, Ariadne and Phaedra both felt so original, with such touching interiority that I found myself in tears at times. Saint’s portrayals of the duo offer complex accounts of femininity and motherhood that make each story feel simultaneously fresh and primordial. While men are typically the favorites of gods and bards who keep myths alive, this book unflinchingly holds men accountable for their omissions.

First there was <i>Songs of Achilles</i> then <i>Circe</i>, followed by <i>The Witch's Heart</i> (among many others). Now, <i>Ariadne</i>.

Her story, from daughter of Minos to wife of Dionysus and from Crete to Naxos to Athens, is powerful. The men at the heart of it are presented in less than kindly lights. Why did Ariadne really help Theseaus? Why didn't Theseaus change the sails on his boat? And what about Medusa? or Midas? This alternative version is a great balancing of the stories.

More along these lines, please. I could see a course examining different versions of these myths and these modern stories telling an alternative side of what we've long read.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.