I’ve been pondering this book and I think I’d have to land on love (5 stars) rather than simply like (4 stars). When things are written from a woman’s perspective, I’ll admit that I run the gamut from excited to worried. I want to read stories about women by women but sometimes they 1) make all men out to be jerks and 2) force women to be mannish to survive. I was delighted, as I read “The Shadow of Perseus,” to see women taking ownership of their femininity and using that unique strength to weather the storms they face. Claire Heywood has written a lovely tribute to the women behind the man/myth/legend known as Perseus; and in their trials. we women see how we too can turn the tide in our own stories.

The Shadow of Perseus, by Claire Haywood, is a retelling of a myth that was not well known to me before this book. The story focuses on the women of the story, as opposed to the typical mythological tales focused on the men. I really enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to others!

A gripping story about the tale of Perseus, told from the perspective of the women figures in his life. Growing up with the story of Perseus, I thought I knew all there was to know, but spinning the perspective shows a new version of the boy I thought was a greek mythology hero. I love a greek mythology retelling and I loved giving a voice to the women who impacted Perseus’ life, granting them their own chance to tell the tale we all thought we knew. I was disappointed that all the women were seen just as victims and not provided with their known qualities. I wish Medusa was still able to turn anyone who look at her to stone. It made her unique. While there were aspects of the novel that fell flat, I am overall impressed with the defined sections dedicated to each woman allowing them to feel like an individual. The descriptions and realism turned this from myth to reality.

The men of myth whose stories are well-known have others in their lives, namely women, whose stories are often not told despite their having a significant impact, but Claire Heywood’s The Shadow of Perseus depicts three women in Perseus’s life and the role they had in shaping it.

Prophesied to have a son that would bring about the fall of her father, Danae is locked away in a cell to prevent it from becoming true, but despite that measure she becomes pregnant by a kind soul who keeps her company; when her father finds out, he casts her out of Argos to sea, leaving her fate to Poseidon. Rescued from the sea Danae winds up in a remote fishing village where she raises her son, Perseus. As Perseus grows, he’s seen as too soft by the men of the village resulting from Danae’s constant mothering and he’s sent off on a merchant ship when he’s eighteen to offer him a chance to see the world and become a man. On this journey, Perseus meets Medusa, who’s leading a group of women gathered from many tribes who reside in peace together known as the Gorgons, not realizing that the fearsome creature he set off to hunt is not at all what he’d been told, but when Medusa refuses Perseus, his actions bring about her demise in a grisly manner. The next time the ship Perseus travels on reaches shore, he spots Andromeda, naked and enduring the weather as a sacrifice to the gods to spare her desert tribe from a relentless sandstorm, which was blamed on Andromeda for her behavior during a recent marriage ritual; “rescuing” Andromeda, Perseus takes her for his wife, despite her being promised to another, not having been in any danger, and a language barrier between them, setting her life on an entirely different path. Reunited with Danae and avenging her being taken by a man against his permission, Perseus, Andromeda, and Danae set sail for Argos so a determined Perseus can fulfill his destiny; with the carefully voiced guidance of Danae and Andromeda, the women help set Perseus on a new path from the violent one he’d been intent on pursuing.

In this retelling of Perseus’s story, the narrative offers a view into what, or more aptly who, built these men of Greek myth, demystifying them and their deeds from what might be considered as godly to simply human. Though a story with a basis in mythic gods, there was no divine intervention to events, leaving only human actions to drive the story, which was a successful tactic to help readers easily connect with and become invested in these women and the experiences they endured as it tended toward the realistic rather than the fantastic. Splitting the narrative between the three perspectives of the women in Perseus’s life, his mother Danae, a brief, chance meeting with Medusa, who he slayed, and the wife he took, Andromeda, a picture of Perseus’s evolution from a kind child to a relentless and violently temperamental young man, to a man pulled back from the brink of destructive tendencies emerges in broad strokes, colored by the things these women see yet dare not voice for fear of his reaction; with men within these myths tending to make the ordinary more grandiose than it is, often in a manner that emphasizes the use of toxic masculine behavior, a shadow is cast over that which underlies an origin of their might, the women who raised, nurtured, or aided them often in silence and from the sidelines, toward the glory being claimed.

Overall, I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The POVs are interesting, and it feels like an original take on the story of Perseus. Unfortunately, I don't see it going over well for our usual patrons. I don't think it's "traditional" enough. I'm not well versed in the stories, but it definitely switched up a lot of elements.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC.

I'm a HUGE fan of Greek and Roman mythology, so I was excited to get an ARC. I suppose I assumed it would be ... a faithful retelling? I would go so far as to say, with women at the center, I thought it would be a feminist retelling. But, no. :-(

I mean there's a reason we still read Homer and Ovid and Virgil. The fantastical elements offer us something the realism of historical fiction simply can't. The ancient poets ignite imagination; they breed metaphor; they enchant us with a glimpse of the power within us. When you strip the legends of their fantasy, you kill the joy.

I'm not talking about magic. I'm talking about ritual, religion, agency. That's why we still read myths. They show us something ineffable and truthful about ourselves, something beyond psychological assessment. Myths help us believe in something bigger than humanity.

But Heywood's story is steeped in realism. She's aimed for historical accuracy -- her notes at the end suggest her research. And she's made her tale sterile in the process. None of the women's stories are gripping. The women themselves are flat, with nothing but victimhood to bind them. There's no cohesive narrative, no aim, no goal. This isn't a story about the women. This is a story about the women Perseus abuses.

There's nothing new about using female characters to expound on the life of a male one. Isn't this what we're trying to get away from? Aren't we looking at the women from these myths to give them voice, life, agency?

Give Danae a means to use Myron for her escape; give Andromeda the wits to refuse to be a sacrifice -- again and again; adorn Medusa with her crown of serpents, for the gods' sakes! Give her the power to turn men to stone! Don't rob her of that, please. She's made ordinary in this tale -- all the woman are -- and a victim like every other female character. These women don't make choices; choices are a luxury they aren't afforded.

Well, no big deal. There's plenty of myth to go around, and writers can do whatever they'd like with it. Be sure to let your reader know what they're getting into, though. A true feminist retelling won't only give the female character a voice with which to narrate a tale. She'll have the power and the will to kick ass and take names, too.

3.5 stars. I love a Greek mythology retelling and have read quite a few that I adored. This one is solidly in the middle for me.

I went into it with the expectation that the story would be female centric and would tell the story of Perseus from their points of view. That is what happened in this book, so that expectation was met.

I did not expect the female characters to be quite so one dimensional. It felt like each of their defining characteristics was that they were all abused by Perseus. And Perseus was completely loathsome, but I’m sure he was meant to be. He was the perfect representation of a whiny, overly aggressive (to make up for being a childish loser) young adult male that are portrayed in all the teenage soap operas. The whole story was driven not by the strength of the women around him or their stories, but all the rage and fake swagger that drove Perseus to continually harm and demean the women in his life. None of them rose above Perseus and his abuse despite being in Perseus’s shadow like I was expecting based on 1) the title and 2) the structure of the story. They just weathered it.

All of this is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the book. I did still enjoy it and I don’t regret the time spent reading it. I just wish there was something more to the women of the story than their misfortune of being in Perseus’s orbit, which is the main reason this retelling didn’t rank higher for me. Especially Medusa. In taking the magic out of this retelling and grounding it more in reality (which I actually found to be interesting and a nice twist compared to other retellings), Medusa ended up being a very lackluster character.

But I did really like the structure of the book and how Claire Heywood gave each section of the book to each main female character. I particularly liked that the book began and ended with Danae (Perseus’s mother) to bring the story full circle. But again, Medusa’s story was too short.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well-written, but so hard to read. The Perseus of Heywood’s reimagining is no hero. He’s a spoiled, emotionally fragile, immature, narcissistic man-child, who turns violent whenever he feels disrespected. He’s abhorrent and his actions towards all three of the female protagonists (his mother, Danae, Medusa, and Andromeda) are disgusting and the ending was unsatisfying. I wanted justice. Instead, I need a shower. That said, this is a fascinating study in how a story differs depending on the perspective of the storyteller. The men who told the original myth, were just that, men. Clearly, they are going to be biased towards Perseus and building up his legend. But what about the other side to his actions? The women who are so often glossed over, named but not studied? Heywood gives them agency and a voice, and that is what I loved about this book, even while I shuddered with rage and revulsion. TW for domestic violence, and rape.

The Shadow of Perseus is a thoughtful exploration of the story we think we know through the eyes of those not traditionally given a voice in mythology. The women framing Perseus' story are often portrayed as passive props of the narrative; this book reminds us that women can actively shape their destinies even when the world tries to take their power and influence away, and offers a much more interesting, nuanced, and real perspective on the choices that determine what your story is.

Violence: High
Language: Mild
Sex: Mild
Drugs: None

This was an incredibly well thought out, female forward retelling of Greek myth. I love that the author placed much of this story in real settings, and her writing of Andromeda in particular encouraged me to go back and reread the myth with a new perspective. I wish there had been more of Medusa, but really thats my only qualm. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this early copy in exchange for an honest review. I will be picking up the authors other work for sure!

Claire Heywood has a bachelors degree in classical civilization, and a masters in ancient visual and material culture - and it is apparent in “the shadow of Perseus”. We are given descriptive elements of locations and historical context that I’m impressed with! This is not, by any means, a quick read- and it is to be enjoyed slowly, thoughtfully, and with new eyes. I adored this book as I adored her previous, Daughters of Sparta. 5/5 stars from me!


*thanks to NetGalley for allowing an arc in exchange for my review, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

3.5 stars
Thank you NetGalley for the copy of this book. This is a retelling of Perseus told from the voice of 3 powerful women: Danae, Medusa and Andromeda. The author left out the fantasy elements of the original myth and that makes it feel much more reliable, giving the women amazing voices. If you enjoy retelling of Greek mythology, make sure you pick up this book. Release date: February 2023.

The Shadow Of Perseus follows the three major female figures in Perseus' life: Danae, his mother, Medusa, and Andromeda. It takes the gods and goddesses out of the narrative and instead shapes the story based on what logically could have happened, with beautiful descriptions.

My main issue with the book is that it tells the story of how monstrous Perseus really is due to his upbringing and the fate that he is set upon. Unfortunately, the book skips over Perseus' upbringing, so we really get no semblance of how it shaped him aside from the somewhat cliche that as a bastard son, he had it rough. We get a very short glimpse of him at twelve, and then at eighteen, but both of these are filtered through Danae's image of her son. We get the idea that he struggles amongst the boys and how to be a man, but it lacks a specificity that would have made the book have a bigger impact.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Welcome to Greek mythology minus the more fantastical details we have become acquainted with. This story is a more believable exploration of the lives of some familiar names etched in the pillars of Greek history.

I appreciate this author’s vision to place what is usually told with outlandish lore into the realistic framework of historical fiction. I really liked the premise, but the overall narrative fell a bit flat in some aspects for me. I still found this novel a worthwhile read.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Shadow of Perseus for my unbiased evaluation.  3 stars

Theoretically I should adore this. It has so many components that speak to my heart.
A classic mythology retelling centering the women of the hero's story rather than the hero.
The "monstrous" female closest to my heart - Medusa.
Perseus - one of the more odious Greek f&%$bois of literature - getting his comeuppance.

But damn. It was just so so bleak, y'all. While I don't "hate" the fact that the author stripped the epic of all its magic and did a wonderful job of grounding her story in a gritty, realistic ancient Greece, she fell short in imbuing her female leads, Danae, Medusa, and Andromeda, with the dignity and strength promised by its "retelling as a female centered story". The story is driven by Perseus' dude bro rage and childish swagger, and the endless victimization of his mother, wife and first love(?) to the point is sometimes smacks of trauma porn. It was just too much for me.

Have you ever wondered what Greek mythology would be like without the supernatural elements? Enticing, right? Heywood’s expertise in and passion for the ancient world are evident in this hugely imaginative and well-researched retelling of Perseus. Told in four parts by the women surrounding him.

My heart is still beating like a drum and pinching on every breath. Seemingly, grieving the loss that every character experienced as if it were my own. That is the power of great writing.

As a Greek mythology enthusiast, I find Heywood’s voice refreshing and exciting. I look forward to reading Daughters of Sparta, her debut.

Read the author’s note and setting at the end. Illuminating and impressive. 👏

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group | Dutton, and Claire Heywood for the exquisite ARC of The Shadow of Perseus!

The cover is so beautiful! I already knew the story, but this was such a good retelling. The writing was excellent!

Thank you NetGalley, Dutton Books, and Claire Heywood for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I really enjoyed the author’s previous work, Daughters of Sparta, and was super excited to read this one. It didn’t disappoint and is truly one of the most unique retellings I’ve ever read!

This novel focuses on Danae, Medusa, and Andromeda and discusses their relationships with Perseus. It’s very different than a lot of Greek retellings that I’ve read and shows a different side to Perseus, which I really found interesting. Everything in the story made sense and there wasn’t any fantasy included, but it instead focused on the strength of women and how these three women lived.

I highly recommend this one for people looking for a unique, feminist approach to traditional Greek myths. I’m really glad that I was able to read it!

Oh wow I loved this book! Claire Heywood tells the story of Perseus as we've never seen him before — as an ordinary man. Very far from a hero, in fact. The story is told from the viewpoints of the three women most central to his lore: his mother Danae, his wife Andromeda, and his conquest Medusa. Seeing Perseus through their eyes tells a very different tale, indeed.

This is a FAST read and I savored every minute of it. There is enough detail to paint the scene for you, and enough depth to the characters to make you empathize with their anguish. I absolutely love mythology retellings like this, where the women are the reimagined as the focal point. The author also does an excellent job of "humanizing" the events, adjusting things in a way to show the reader what could have actually happened, instead of relying on the intervention of gods and fantastical circumstances to explain Perseus' deeds.

Thank you to Claire Heywood, Dutton Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

The shadow of Perseus is a heart wrenching female centered retelling of the myth of the hero Perseus. The story is told through the lens of his mother Danae who is cast away from her homeland in a devastating turn of events, his trophy wife medusa who shows kindness to Perseus, and his wife Andromeda. Even though you might already know the story of Perseus this is a fresh take on the legend showing that Perseus might not have been a hero after all. The story spans a pretty decent amount of time and it’s divided into four sections each section belonging to each woman’s perspective and the final section ending from his mothers perspective Claire Heywood did an amazing job writing the book it was enthralling and I didn’t want to put it down I definitely rate this a five out of five stars and I think it’s one of the best books I’ve read this Year.