Way to make me mad. The emotion I want through were all accepted. I had to look up more about Phaedra after my reading, to see how much some story from that period were only made to make you sad. The voice, the pain. I can still feel how much people are hard to be make to understand.

A story about a woman from long time ago still resonate with the present. I'm glad that I had the chance to listen to this story. I didn't know about Phaedra and now I can feel her pain. Being a woman come with the fact that we are liars. Sadly. Even until 1900. But the real Highlight is the Voices!! They are a good add on to the story! Reading it, I would have liked it, but not as much as listening to it.

I am a fan of Greek mythology retellings and read Ariadne and enjoyed it. So, when I found out that there was a novel about her sister, Phaedra by Laura Shepperson, I knew I had to read it. The audiobook was very well done and I enjoyed the chorus which is a nod to other Greek Mythology books. I enjoyed learning more about this family and seeing the situation play out from Phaedra's point of view. Many of the Greek mythology retellings support female empowerment at the time, but I did not see this so much in this novel. There were many times when I was annoyed with Phaedra. On top of this, there are many other characters who tell the story from their POV that I did not enjoy as much as I usually do with multiple POV stories.

Overall, a solid read that I enjoyed thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media.

<b> 2.5 Stars </b>

This book could have been really interesting but it suffered from too many POVs and very uneven pacing. The book is separated into 3 acts. The first act started off very fast=paced and was exciting and intriguing. The second act dragged so much to the point where it felt like the plot was never going to move forward. Then, all of a sudden the 3rd act starts and everything is just bulldozed through.

This was an AMAZING audiobook! I LOVE full cast and immersive stories (which are hard to find) and this was wonderful. The cast and background noises helped to set the scene and immerse the listener. I would highly recommend it.

I like listening to audiobooks in the background when doing chores, but this was too much to listen to. The storytelling is very heavy and confusing. I often found myself not knowing who was talking or what was going on.

Love powerful feminist greek retellings. Lately the move to enhance greek female stories has been phenomenal.

This book follows the story of Phaedra, the sister of Ariadne and the wife of Theseus. After the Minotaur is slayed and Ariadne runs off to get married, Phaedra is given in marriage to Theseus. The union is filled with turmoil, which is a fairly well known fact. This book does its best to tackle topics of racial, class, and gender inequality of the time period and that of modern times. It started out strong, but after the first half I noticed the "oomph" seemed to have faded. The writing declined and it all seemed very young or simple. I think, at this point, to follow the trend of myth novels a book need to stand up to stiff competition. This one didn't make a bit enough mark for me. I enjoyed the story, but it isn't a new adventure, and there just wasn't enough of an addition to make this remarkable.
The audiobook was great, and the narrator did a decent job. I was confused by a number of the pronunciations, as they differed from other myth retellings that I've listened to. I am not sure if they were correct or no, but they were jarring in the narration and sometimes seems to take me out of the story.

I enjoyed this retelling of Phaedra. I did find it at times a bit disorientating with the different POVs, and I didn't find it added all that much to the story, but the Chorus was a good addition. This is the kind of audio book that would lend itself well to a full cast because of the many POV.

had to DNF. Might give it another try but it was a lot right at the beginning and it was hard to keep up, plus I wasn't a fan of the writing.

Ok I hated the pronunciations in this audiobook. They were mostly ways I've never heard before and it was irritating. Once of the narrators did like a southern-ish accent and that was weird as hell. I was surprised that none of them were British? They were all American, from what I remember. Though the author is British. I agree with a lot of other reviewers, in that there were a lot of characters and POVs and not enough fleshed out. What do I care about a bull rider who has one scene? I liked The Chorus. I do like the original title, The Heroines, better than Phaedra. Yes, the story centralizes Phaedra and her rape (TW) but there are a lot of women that bring this book together.

I was expecting a fiery, interesting, feminist retelling. But with all of the men being just downright awful, I feel like it misses the mark. Couple that with an overwhelming amount of POVs that all felt underdeveloped, I just don't see any reread potential with this and I'm not likely to recommend it to others.. The narrators for the audiobook, I'll note, did a fantastic job and kept me engaged throughout. The story itself, however, did not.

This was really a disappointment. Usually, I'm a huge sucker for Greek myth retellings, especially if they are women-centered and feminist. So I went into this with very high hopes.

It started off fine. I did immediately feel that it was attempting to ride the coattails of [book:Ariadne|54860614]. I absolutely loved [book:Ariadne|54860614]. It was a perfect book IMHO and was very well-deservedly successful. So, I'm not at all surprised that there seems to be a sudden rash of new women-centered Greek myth retellings. It is one of those things where I'm simultaneously grudging and appreciative that the market is responding to the demand. So I was initially feeling grumbling yet accepting of the fact that Phaedra seemed like a second-rate Ariadne. Gosh, it is even the same story. But it still had the potential to be enjoyable.

With my expectations set, I soldiered on. It was a decently good time. I was enjoying the new interpretation of the different characters and settings. This is a Crete I've never seen before. There was a bizarre chapter that focused entirely on a single character that we only saw in that chapter. Ok, whatever. It was absolutely shameless in copying the way Ariadne had talked about men and women and gods in Greek myths, only in a way more anvilicious way.

The talk about women's oppression was over the top and way too on the nose. Women were raped on the daily and a "night chorus" would lament this going so far as to literally say "me too." Sexual assault of women is a major part of the setting and background. Then there is an extremely violent, gratuitous sexual assault and the rest of the book is about that. Major trigger warnings for that. I was upset about the way the plot went. This wasn't a story I wanted to read.

I'm all for stories that discuss and portray oppression as long as it seems purposeful and sensitive. I thought Ariadne did it really well. Ariadne portrayed and discussed women's oppression while simultaneously being hopeful and portraying women not as completely helpless victims, but as hopeful, dynamic people who were still able to live with some agency. It challenged us to reconsider they way we see "heroes." Phaedra on the other hand, did not. It wasn't nuanced. It didn't invite new ways of seeing things. It did not portray women with any hope or agency. This is a story for anyone who wants to wallow in the hopeless abuse of helpless women.

I'll add in that none of the characters were particularly likable. There were a couple that I liked, but they were minor characters we barely saw. Phaedra herself is naive and bland.

I listened to the audiobook which was done well. The names of characters and places were pronounced differently than I'm used to. Crete was "KREEtee" and Theseus was "theeSAYoos" for example. It was interesting, but did come off a little pretentious to me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio advanced reader copy.

This book was okay and could’ve been so much better. I struggled with the editing, and don’t think I would’ve finished it if I’d had to physically read it. I really didn’t connect with the way Phaedra was written and found it hard to get behind her.

I love that we are in a Greek mythology feminist retelling era. Before diving into this book, I had read a few books about Ariadne but had limited knowledge of her sister Phaedra.

This book has multiple perspectives which I enjoyed in theory but in reality, it made the book hard to follow, especially via audio. I found it a challenge to know which character was speaking so I would recommend this book in a different format. In the future, announcing the character with the title could resolve issues like this.

I wanted a bit more character development from this book, I think it could have benefitted from fewer characters so we could have dug into the main ones a bit more. I really enjoyed Madea but she didn't add as much value as I was hoping for.

There are a lot of trigger warning with this book so be sure to look them up before diving in.

Big thanks to Netgalley and Laura Shepperson for the audio ARC in exchange for a review.

It took me a while to figure out the voices and at first I thought it was dialog of a play, rather than a book.

It's super dark and (I'm assuming, since I don't know the original story) likely follows pretty closely to the original mythology.

It's got a heavy feminist view point, which I loved. Women are punished for crimes committed against themselves even today.

I'm giving 3.5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape for an audiobook arc of Phaedra. I was so excited to dive into this. If anyone has read Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, I would recommend reading this book.

Phaedra’s story in the eyes of Shepperson was — powerful and gut-wrenching. Crete was seen as a powerful kingdom with a benevolent king who cared for his people. It was a prosperous place. Whereas Athens was a more made kingdom with a weak king. The story of 14 youths who had to go to Athens in this story wasn’t seen as a sacrifice. The minotaur was more of a speculative myth than a widespread fear of the creature. Some Athenians even preferred staying in Crete and making a livelihood there after the trial of the labyrinth. They were free to come and go.

When Phaedra is in Athens we see the stark contrast between how life is lived in both places. Especially how it takes a toll on Phaedra in such a short span of time. Although Theseus doesn’t harm Phaedra during their time there, he isn’t seen as the hero he claims to be. He admits to causing the deaths of the minotaur and Ariadne. Instead of Ariadne being married to Dionysus (as her parents believe), she was left for dead. Hippolytus was rude to Phaedra from the get-go. At one point she felt fascinated with him and wanted to get to know him better. That is until Hippolytus brutally rapes her and like her father left her for dead. Luckily she was found by maids and nursed back to health. Unfortunately, she becomes pregnant.

With this ordeal occurring a trial arises. Phaedra wants justice not just for herself but in hoping if she can win, she can inspire other women to come forth with their stories. Phaedra does win but no one really comes forth. There was no justice for her. Hippolytus will be exiled to go back to the amazons (possibly harming them), and in a few years’ time he’ll come back to Athens a “changed man”. Meanwhile, Phaedra will bear his child and have the ultimatum of going to Crete – of course without her child. Phaedra unhappy with the result takes matters into her own friends in a frenzy where afterwords the memories are hazy or forgotten. She “kills” Hippolytus and Theseus demands she is chained onto her bed until she gives birth and then is sentenced to die for her crime. Although shes in this predicament, again she takes matters into her own hands.

Listening to the audiobook was such an experience. I think I’ll recommend the audiobook more than the hard copy itself. It will make more sense with the multiple points of view throughout the story. I loved the way the speakers came together to make the night chorus. It was hauntingly beautiful and very important to the story. The night chorus gave the reality of what Athens was, what kind of men it harbored, and what the women have to put up with/ go through. In their own way, they supported Phaedra when they can, but at times they couldn’t help but to be upset with her for the trial. While Phaedra was trying to get justice, they had to go through the newfound hatred and abused the men inflicted each night.

I found the various points of view to be overwhelming, and some unnecessary. I mostly enjoyed hearing Phaedra (the speaker’s voice was so soothing), Medea, and Phaedras maid khandaki (I hope I spelled this right). Medea’s appearance in the story took me by surprise, but I thoroughly enjoyed her point of view. She’s stuck in Athens seeking refuge after killing her children. But with Aegeus dead, she has to tread carefully around Theseus. She doesn’t speak much about her transgressions but in the way she might hint at when it’s brought into the conversation, or by the sound of the speaker’s voice, the reader can sense or draw their own conclusion on point in the matter. Of her true feelings about what she did. I used to see Medea as a malicious madwoman for what she’d done, but when listening to this book I have to reevaluate.

Overall, it was a great retelling in Shepperson’s unique way of telling it. The hardcore themes shown throughout the book and powerful and need to be heard, and recognized. Shepperson has done a great deal of showing the injustice and hardships women face in a society where men are put on a pedestal, no matter their transgression.

After reading the novel Ariadne, I was excited to read about her sister, Phaedra. I wanted to see the feminist take on her. However, I found the story to be very confusing. This is because of the multiple perspectives told in this book. Therefore, I would have enjoyed it and followed it better if it was told in third person. As for the audiobook, it was hard to tell each character apart. I think it would have been better if there were different narrators. Still, I recommend this for fans of Greek Mythology!

Hey bookbots! I am coming at you today with yet another greek retelling: PHAEDRA by @laurashepperson was yet another thrilling reshaping of the greek myths with a fem lense. Phaedra is portrayed as a conniving, hysterical woman who tried and failed to seduce her stepson and then accused him of assaulting her in the original myths. In this reframing, Shepperson shows how Theseus and his son Hippolytus could have easily used their power as the patriarchal leaders of the family to minimize, suppress and otherwise make a mockery of a very different situation. If it isn't clear, check out your trigger warnings for this one, FYI.

The audiobook is the way to go on this one in my opinion. There is a full cast of folks narrating individual voices and they all did a fabulous job finding the tone for each character.

I found this retelling to be surprisingly refreshing and a much more likely scenario than the original Greek myths that always seemed to portray women in unflattering light. There are so many amazing characters and they are all played by different voice actors in the audiobook that I listened to. I was particularly intrigued by the relationships between Phaedra and Madea and the things that women found they had to do to play in the male arena at that time in the world.

I am absolutely elated by all these retellings coming out and hope to add a physical copy of this one to my library at some point. Thank you to the author, @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for the audiobook ARC.

1/5

There were a lot of characters in this book and a lot of them had no meaning to the story so it made their story lines pointless. It made for a very frustrating listen, the only reason I listened as long as i did was that the narrator wasn't bad.

This was a DNF for me.

I originally wanted to listen to audiobook because I love Greek myth retellings, and especially any with a feminist twist. However, I don't think this was the right time for me to listen to this book. I have lately felt a little burned out by books using or threatening sexual assault/harassment. While I think this is a very interesting conversation to have in the context of this story, I was not able to enjoy it at this time.
I also think I may have liked it better reading it as a physical copy because of the multiple point of views. I think the narrator did a fine job. However, I fell out of the story often because they pronounced the names very differently from how I've ever heard, and it was distracting for me.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this to others. It just was not the audiobook for me at this time.
Thank you to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media