After highly enjoying Daughters of Sparta (way more than other "feminist retellings of the trojan war" aka Elektra, sorry) I was thrilled to get an early copy of The Shadow of Perseus. I thought the triple POVs were well done as the story was told about Perseus through the eyes of three women who knew him. I will say it was kind of a downer to read and a lot of the fantastical parts of mythology that we love were removed. Unfortunately, that took away from the story quite a bit for me. I don't think this is my favorite retelling of all time unfortunately but I'm still glad I read it and will continue to pick up future Claire Heywood books.

Knowing her previous work, Daughters of Sparta, I was really interested to see where Claire Heywood would go with the story of Perseus.

Although titled after Perseus, this is a story from a different perspective: that of the main women in his life.

I really appreciate the level of research that Heywood undertook to bring this story into a real-life tale. With that being said, by stripping away the magic and beasts of the mythological version, she brought a different empathy to the female characters and turned off the shining spotlight that Perseus was under.

I’m much more familiar with the tales of Perseus the hero, but don’t always give enough thought to those who surrounded him. It gives a better understanding of the balance that needs to happen to create a fair world for those living in it.

This may be a story about the power of the women, but I found it to be a much more understated strength; an inner turmoil/strength that helped guide the women on their different paths, some having different “success” than others.

Overall, it was a pretty steady read that I could visualize in my mind quite easily. Very curious to see what Heywood comes out with next!

Thank you so much to the author, Claire Heywood, Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the eARC of The Shadow of Perseus!

I really love mythology retellings but I had a hard time getting through this one. I loved how it was told from different points in Perseus's life but I felt like it was more about everyone else then about him, While the writing was well done, I think that this book was just not for me.

3.5 stars
The Shadow of Perseus takes an interesting look at mythic hero Perseus's journey but reads more like historical fiction than a re-telling of the famous story. There is no divine intervention for any of the characters and while the Gods exist they do not play any major role in this story.

The novel is told in sections with the first section being told from Danae's point of view. The story stays pretty close to the myth with one notable difference but the end result is the same and she is forced from her home. Danae is forced to make sacrifices to survive and give little Perseus a better life. However, being a bastard is difficult on Perseus and he lashes out. Perseus seemingly does not care or understand the sacrifices his mother made and he threatens her newfound stability. His heroes journey is less for him to prove himself as a demigod and more to give his mother a break and maybe gain some maturity. The journey does not improve Perseus's character but instead he changes from petulant child to violent man. The chapters from Medusa and Andromeda paint a dark picture of the fabled hero. Eventually Perseus, Danae, and Andromeda reunite with disastrous consequences though there is a hopeful ending.

I enjoyed this re-telling of the myth of Perseus and I liked getting more insight into both Danae and Andromeda. However, I felt like the ending was a little rushed and didn't provide closure for anyone. I'm glad it ended on a hopeful note but I felt like there needed to be a little bit more.

This was definitely a fascinating read and definitely accessible for readers new to the myth of Perseus. I would definitely recommend.

I was provided a free copy of this book through NetGalley.

A fantastically feminist reimagining of a Classic! I absolutely loved being able to follow this story from the perspective of Danae, Medusa and Andromeda. The writing felt historically accurate and also easily flowed throughout. You can feel the labor of love this story was for the author. I will be recommending this one to my followers and including it in all my recommendations for Greek mythology books!

This retelling was absolutely genius. I loved being able to hear from the women in Perseus's life and get their stories. We got to feel their pain and struggles that are normally not looked at too closely.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the copy of this ARC!

The Shadow of Perseus tells the story of Perseus through the eyes of three women: his mother, Danae, and two women whose lives he alters, Medusa and Andromeda. I'm not very familiar with Greek mythology so enjoyed learning this story... but I didn't expect Perseus's shadow to be so dark! This retelling from a feminist point of view displays Perseus as a man-child and all-around terrible guy instead of a hero. The story was an engaging and interesting retelling of Greek mythology.

I have really enjoyed mythology retellings, particularly those with a feminist lens that give tragic female characters more dimension and agency. I was especially looking forward to The Shadow of Perseus, as I am particularly interested in retellings of the Medusa myth. I appreciated its premise to reframe the Perseus myth with the three most significant women in his life at the center: his mother, Danae; his conquest, Medusa; and his wife, Andromeda.

However, I'm not sure that the execution was successful. Because the narration is split into four parts (two from Danae's POV, and one each to Medusa and Andromeda), I found Perseus to be a rather flat character with inscrutable motivations. I was baffled by his swings from the sweet, tender child to his ruthlessness and violence as an aspiring hero. While the events are more plausible, I didn't find the resulting story compelling.

The most difficult change was the removal of supernatural elements, including the direct interventions of the gods and the presence of monsters. While this change fits with the author's background as an antiquities scholar, I didn't feel that it served the story. I recognize the author's goal to shift the myth's themes of choice vs destiny, but I felt that the missing magic instead flattened the story. Medusa's story is especially brutal without the fantastical elements. Her section is the shortest, and although she is presented as a woman with agency, her much more violent murder is a totalizing event. I truly didn't understand Perseus' motivation in killing Medusa, as she was stripped of her magical qualities. While that change removes her monstrousness, I did find that it stripped her story of the possibility of nuance. Her severed head becomes a gruesome trophy, and more tightly defines her as a pure victim. I had hoped for more for her.

The story is readable enough, but feels rushed, and the grounding of the story in a more realistic setting strips it of its complexity. What is left is a stark and grim retelling, lacking the magic of its source material.

Spoiler alert -- Perseus has an ego and a temper that cause lots of problems.

Claire Heywood does an excellent job telling the story of young Perseus through his mother Danae, the queen of the Gorgons Medusa, and his bride Andromeda. The feminist retelling feels very factual instead of illustrative but is a quick and enjoyable read for fans of this growing genre.

Thank you, PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

I definitely did appreciate the research and interpretations of Medusa and Andromeda, giving voice and choices to the women. I also really liked the slow-growing realization-- mostly in Medusa's that Perseus is a danger, wrapped up and around in "one of the good guys". You know he'll call himself that, a nice guy. Well, nice guys are not. . . .him.

Choices made make his mythological actions a lot crueler, dehumanize him in a way I think fits very well, particularly with Medusa. I liked the different cultures shown here, with three three women as viewpoint characters.

Andromeda unfortunately came off a little too much "girlboss" to me, in not quite an "I can fix him", but "I can shape him to what is better". Overall, I did enjoy it-- but I still wish it had a few more obvious gods in it, rather than what is turned into godliness?

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

This is a tale of toxic masculinity told through the eyes of women who were most affected by it. It really takes the tale of the heroic Perseus as we know it and brings it into reality, or at least a passing semblance of reality, possible reality if you will. It's almost like the myths of Perseus were the locker room talk of a very fragile man. While that's not something I'd ever considered before, it doesn't feel like a leap at all. While I know we'll never really know how things went down, this felt so plausible.

This story made me way more interested in the life of Medusa than I originally was, and I wish I could've seen more from her here, but well, her story was cut short. The entire Gorgon settlement and what led the women there was heartbreaking, and yet I'd read a whole book about it in this world crafted by Ms. Heywood. There's still so much depth that could be explored there. Really if Ms. Heywood wanted to rewrite all the myths this way, I'd be all over reading every single one of them.

Overall I give this book 4.57 out of 5 stars.

I think in the grand scheme of Greek mythological retellings (especially feminist retellings), this one ranks somewhere midway. It's not a bad premise, but I don't know if it has anything particularly memorable or unique about it. Though, to be fair, I did like what Heywood did when she rethought the myth of Perseus from the perspective of a handful of normal people calling out his BS.

If you are a fan of the Perseus myth, prepare to loathe this man-baby.

<i>NetGalley gave me an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.</i>

While I enjoyed the writing style and did like the beginning when we first met Danae I think this retelling was a little too real for me. I didn't realize going in that this was going to be missing all the magic that really sucks you into a Greek myth so the story felt a bit flat for me.
I felt bad for the women Perseus hurt, and I know the author was trying to be as factual as possible but found myself wishing since this is a feminist retelling that one of them, maybe Andromeda or his mother or anyone really would just kill him already! I really disliked him throughout the story and had a hard time connecting with any of the women.
Even though this particular story wasn't for me I do think that a lot of others would really like this.

I rather enjoyed this retelling of Perseus’ tale through the eyes of Danae, Medusa, and Andromeda. I do feel that Medusa got the short straw in this story as far as knowing more about her. Her chapters were significantly shorter than those of Danae and Andromeda. The removal of the fantasy elements made the story and the way the women were treated crueler in every way. I think most everyone is familiar with the phrase “history is written by the victors” and this definitely rings true with this interpretation of Perseus.

“Then how do you have children?” She saw his eyes drift to Halla, her babe strapped to her chest as she swept the cave floor. “Each day the world gives birth to another wronged woman,” Medusa said quietly. Gogo had spoken those very words to her years ago, when she had asked the same question. Perseus turned his eyes back to her and smiled faintly as if at the wit of her reply. And she knew that he did not understand, that he could never really know the truth of those words.

Since the story wasn’t written from a singular perspective (or even in the same geographical vicinity at least until the end) the story felt a little disjointed. We don’t “see” Perseus’ journey from his island home with Danae to where he meets Medusa or his journey from Medusa to Andromeda so it was hard for me to piece together where he actually was. I will say that the author’s piece “A Note on Setting” in the back of the book would serve far better if it were in the front of the book. Reading it helped clarify Perseus’ journey more than the story lent.

She could have let her anger make her monstrous. She could have hated the world and everyone in it. She could have taken revenge on those who had wronged her — even now she could. But why become what they had tried to make her?

Overall, I enjoyed this different style of retelling of Greek mythology into something gritty and grounded in reality rather than fantasy. I would very much like to thank Dutton/Penguin Group for the chance to read more about the unsung women in Perseus’ life. All opinions are my own.

I'm a deep fan of Claire Heywood's work, and The Shadow of Perseus did not disappoint. Another great feminist retelling of a long misunderstood mythology.

This story transports readers into the the time of Greek heroes and myths - what made this retelling different was that the story of Perseus was told through the eyes of three women whose lives were drastically altered by him. While I appreciated the storytelling and lyrical writing, Perseus's character felt underdeveloped and lacking motivation for his violent actions, especially in the first three parts. Even by the end when I had more of an understanding of why Perseus has acted as he did, I did not find anything redeemable about him. I think the story either needed to continue, or his character be more fleshed out from the beginning. Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend!

There’s a line in Shadows of Perseus where two people are gossiping about how much Perseus sucks, and one of them asks the other whether they believe in monsters and monster-slayers. The answer sums up the vibe of the book. Of course monsters exist. Of course heroes exist. Our main man Perseus just isn’t up to the task of being a monster or hero. He’s more of a vulture.

It’s well known (lmao “well known”, as if more than 5 ppl read this) that I don’t go hard in for euro-centric feminist retellings. This one however, avoids some of the common slumps by effectively being 3 short stories and an epilogue, each one tracking the life of a woman who has Perseus thrust upon her, and how her life just becomes WRECKED in the aftermath. Perseus is milky little brat and we hate him, but he gives off just enough of the “i’m safe, i’m a friend” recognition in women that they let down their guard and trust him before realizing he’s the “nice-guy-turned-murderer” of their nightmares..

TLDR: Tell a man he has a “destiny” and he’ll commit himself to being the worst.

Read If:
You prefer historical fiction over fantasy
You’re very over the “chosen one” trope
You truly believe that a mother’s love is unconditional

this was quite interesting to me! going into this, i didn't know much about perseus besides his conflict with medusa. the writing was easy to follow although, the cut-off's to each story felt more like a collection of stories than a singular book. overall, i enjoyed this and i really liked seeing the characterization of the women!

This is just so excellent. The characterization, the storytelling, the intricate details woven throughout the story! It was too good! I cannot wait to push this into my friends’ hands. Especially when I host a mythology readathon in April. This is going to be a favorite among its readers. I just know it. It’s so powerful and so well written. I was addicted to every page.

4/5

A Greek tragedy about the redemption, endurance of spirit and the damaging impact holding onto your pride can have on you and the world.

A quick but heavy read about Danue, her son Perseus and the life choices they made when they are cast away from home. The writing is lovely despite the darkness of the content, and the book moves quickly. I only wish it had continued forward with its resolution.