I think I had different expectations of this, which lead me to spend most of my reading time readjusting my mindset instead of fully enjoying the indeed extraordinary tale retold here.

Ariadne Unraveled is a retelling of the story of Ariadne, the high priestess of Crete, who is part of the Greek mythology canon. While she's an interesting character, she never gets to fully shine in the original saga, which made me excited for this book, hinting at focussing fully on her journey.

Usually, she's just a side character in the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur. Neil decided to rephrase her side character status for the sake of a love story centred around Ariadne and Dionysus, the God of Wine. This felt appropriate and she tied the knots together in a satisfying and plausible way, therefore offering a new reading of the oftentimes contradicting and abstract original myths.

My biggest problem with this was that the whole narration felt flat. It's a somewhat straightforward style she went for, which prevented the characters to truly come alive on these pages. Ariadne and Dionysus fall in love at first sight, which meant I as a reader was never able to fully get invested, as they were already tearing their clothes off within the first few pages. I think I was hoping for a bit more complexity and depth in that regard. I'm left believing that the only reason they're enjoying each other's company is that they are a good match in bed.

While this felt like a good blueprint, I just wished for more. More character development, more insight into how the characters are feeling and what they are thinking, more complexity in their behaviour and motivations. I would recommend this to people who don't know much about Ariadne's role in Greek mythology, as this is a very straight-forward retelling of the basic outlines, but if you care to dig deeper, there's not going to be that much to unravel here.

I am afraid I had mixed feelings about this book. As a Classicist, I did appreciate the research that had gone into some of the background details (the clothing, for example - it's often presumed that Ariadne would wear 'Greek' clothes rather than Minoan etc.), and the author had definitely done some research on the background myths of Dionysus (I particularly enjoyed the reference back to Ovid's Metamorphoses with the boat/sailors-to-animals scene).

However, I was very disappointed by the explicit sexual nature of the book overall. This is purely a personal comment, but I feel the text has been mis-advertised. To be blunt, if I had known how crude a lot of the content would have been, I wouldn't have picked up the book (as this just isn't my kind of reading..!). I am sure some readers will enjoy this, but I felt it was a shame that the story rested so much on sex and, specifically, Ariadne's chest...I feel like the author was trying to push a 'feminist' perspective, and sometimes this was achieved, but unfortunately I don't feel that this was fully successful. It is very difficult trying to add a feminist slant to a world (and to characters) that was so far removed from this concept, so I applaud the author for trying, but personally I don't feel the story was quite done justice...

3/5 as I did genuinely appreciate the effort the author put into research here.

Considering the quality of the prologue, I had high hopes for this book. A romance between Ariadne and Dionysus? Betrayals? Some yearning? I was all for it!

Unfortunately, the romance wasn't what I expected... Too carnal for my tastes. Ariadne and Dionysus meet rather quickly (a good thing as we don't have to wait too long to see them together), and they are instantly attracted to each other. Actually, they have sex right on the spot. It felt insta-love-y and underwhelming as I wanted more build-up and complexity. Plus, I never bought their love for each other: sex is all they are sharing. I'm not kidding you when I say that each time they saw each other they had to go at it again... Where were the emotions, the angst, the tension? Nowhere to be seen.

So yeah, there is a lot of smut in here, which is something I don't personally like. However, what made me uncomfortable is the essence of Ariadne's relationship with Dionysus and Thalia. Dionysus has the power to arouse the people around him: it's not his fault as he doesn't know how to control his gifts. However, he knows what his powers do but still chooses to have sex with these people. My problem is: are they consenting to this? Is Ariadne really *in love* with him or are his powers influencing her? I wish there were a substantial discussion on this.

Now, the friendship with Thalia was baffling. Sure, we're talking about cruel gods but as a retelling I would have appreciated more feminism. Ariadne tells us multiple times that Thalia is her friend and lover but there clearly was a slave/master dynamic that didn't sit well with me. Thalia was a submissive slave through and through: she was the one giving pleasure to Ariadne while the latter didn't give much back (except touching her breast, eh?). As soon as Thalia was in the same room, she had to pleasure Ariadne. Plus, Ariadne was always using the words "my slave" instead of "my friend". Are we supposed to believe in this friendship?

Because of that, I didn't like any of these characters. Ariadne was selfish, one-dimensional and naive. Dionysus was nothing more than a good-looking god. Thalia was a slave to both of them.

The story itself was quite boring honestly, I never was invested. The ending was also cheesy. Ariadne hasn't grown much as a character.

The men had too much power over the women in my opinion.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into this story. The authors voice just didn’t resonate with me. I felt like I was just reading words. I encourage others to give it a chance. Maybe I have just read too much Greek fiction recently.

This retelling is about Ariadne and how Dionysus came to be a god, it was entertaining and well written, it flowed very easily. I am glad it focused on Ariadne as much, and made her an interesting woman instead of a footnote in men's stories and gives her the spotlight. It gives an explanation of why she would betray her family when she had everything as the high priestess of Crete and how she got trapped in schemes with no way out.
I would have liked more insight from the characters to their thoughts and a bit more development on the page also I am not a fan of love at first sight, it ended up with a good dynamic but the beginning was a bit long for me, the good writing kept me reading and then I really loved how it went.

Book Review for Ariadne Unraveled

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The story surrounding Ariadne is one that has always interested me. Why would a woman betray her family only to find herself abandoned and pregnant? In Ariadne Unraveled, Zenobia Neil puts forth an explanation that puts Ariadne in charge of her own decisions. Ariadne finds herself drawn to Dionysus and they marry. As the high priestess of Crete, Ariadne has a duty to the goddess Artemis which she takes very seriously. When the goddess tells Ariadne that she must betray her family, Ariadne does what she has always done, put the goddess first. However, she finds that since Dionysus has angered Artemis, Ariadne is now trapped in a web with no reasonable way out. I appreciate this retelling of this tale that puts women at the forefront of a story that should have been theirs all along.

While I typically love retellings of Greek myths, I had a hard getting through Ariadne Unraveled. The writing style just wasn't for me; the flow of the writing was choppy and not enjoyable to read.
I didn't feel any attachment to what was happening, like being told about an event vs actually watching it unfold.

I love Greek mythology, so I had to request this one right away!
I thought this epic was easily read, while remaining a stunning work of art. It made Ariadne’s story so interesting and had many realistic characters.
I didn’t get lost like I sometimes can with these mythological stories.
I hadn’t heard this story before, but I fell head over heels!

The Book Maven’s Journal
Reviews for Word Connoisseurs

REVIEWER: J.Hunt
STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ariadne Unraveled: A Mythic Retelling
By Zenobia Neil

Unfamiliar with the Ariadne story in Greek Mythology, except for some vague memories of Crete and the Minotaur’s labyrinth, I was excited to read this tale, Ariadne Unraveled: A Mythic Retelling by Zenobia Neil—especially since Madeline Miller's recent hits with Circe and The Song of Achilles have had me hankering for more re-imaginings of Greek legends and lore.

Neil does an excellent job in this version of the story, visioning Ariadne as High Priestess of Artemis on Crete. She is a physically stunning, intelligent and passionate young woman. Ariadne is dedicated in her position to the goddess—a role that she was born to fulfill, as well as loyal to her family and country.

Ariadne’s entire world until adulthood was based on Crete. This is where she grew and matured under the rule of her vengeful father, Minos, and her witch mother, Pasiphae, in their sprawling maze-like palace.

She was raised to witness Minos’ blood-thirsty retribution for the death of one of her brothers by requiring Greek children to be periodically offered as sacrifices to the Minotaur in their home labyrinth lair.

This made Ariadne strong because she knew that she also had to weld a blade and kill. If she was ever forced to take a husband, after three years of marriage, she had to slit the man's throat as a sacrifice to Artemis.

Therefore, Ariadne's heart had to be hardened to true love and emotional devotion of another person. Sure, she had affection for her handmaidens, but genuine love; well, she was, after all, the high priestess of Artemis. Ariadne had to remain pure and totally committed to the goddess.

However, unexpectedly, as life has a way of happening, on a sunny day of bees swilling nectar among fragrant blossoms while enjoying a picnic with her attendants, Ariadne’s life started unraveling. Her little party was startled by an enchanting wander, Dionysus, bearing the gift of an intoxicating new drink, wine. This breathtakingly handsome stranger assured the women that he came in peace. His only goal was to serve Ariadne and to fulfill her desires because he found her the most alluring and tantalizing of women.

Soon Ariadne and Dionysus were alone in the meadow enjoying wine and kisses. What started as unplanned moments of ecstatic pleasure set the stage for inevitable and irreversible changes in Ariadne's life.

Had the The High Priestess overstepped her boundaries by tasting sensual pleasures with the new god of the vine, Dionysus?

Unknown to Ariadne, her delights with Dionysus set off rumblings of impulsive jealousy and vengeful anger on Mount Olympus. Artemis was insulted. Her high priestess on Crete had allowed herself to be seduced by a man—a male godling at that!

Don't miss Ariadne's Unraveling to see how her fate unfolds. What role does Dionysus continue to play in her life, if any? How does Artemis seek revenge? And on whom? Ariadne’s Unraveling is a page-turning adventure story filled with love, romance, spice and angry Greek gods. For several things are certain in Greek Mythology: the gods are vengeful; vanity and greed come at a heavy price; even hero's have weaknesses; and you just can't overcome your fate/destiny.

ARIADNE UNRAVELED: A Mythic Retelling by Zenobia Neil is a work of General Fiction (Adult) / Historical Fiction / Romance. This Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) was provided for review by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op. Publication date is scheduled for 07 July 2021 by Hypatia Books. The Kindle ePub Reader Copy is 345-pages in length.

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Love Greek myths so I was really excited to read this book.. I love Circe, Song of Achilles, Jocasta's children and Ariadne (by J. Saint) in different ways and each book brings out a different part of the greek myth. The basic story is that Ariadne, high priestess of Crete, grew up duty-bound to the goddess Artemis. If she takes a husband, she must sacrifice him to her goddess after no more than three years of marriage. For this reason, she refuses to love any man, until Dionysus arrives on her island, He came to Crete seeking vengeance against Artemis. He never expected to fall in love. I love this retelling. The pace is good and the characters are made interesting. A wonderful read.

Thanks to the publisher for providing this ARC.