This is a startling book for the Riordan Presents series which usually is aimed at children in the ages 9-13/middle grade bracket. I failed to notice that this one is aimed at high school students (grades 9-12, ages 14-18) and I skipped the opening letter from Riordan that does, to be fair, clearly state this book is about sexual violence, so I know a lot of this is on me but….holy crap, there is SO MUCH RAPE. Starting at around the 20% mark rape of all types (m on f, m on m, forced rape of another, even *knife* on male) become increasingly common. Some rapes are referenced or threatened, others are completely and clearly depicted. In many instances, women are willingly sold by men (or other women) to rapists for express intent of violating them. In one community the main character visits the practice is so common female children are fed increasingly less diluted poison in hopes that when they are raped, their attackers will absorb the poison during rape and suffer some consequences. It’s really a *lot* and often not dealt with very deftly. There is also tremendous violence aimed at women and girls that is not sexual, including multiple scenes of beatings and mutilations for infractions as small as voicing opinions or “rebelliousness.” The violence is constant to the point of meaninglessness, seemingly thrown in for shock value or to ham fistedly make the same point over and over and over again (namely, rape & violence is traumatic for the victims). As Riordan Presents moves into older and more graphic content I’m going to have to rescind my blanket recommendation for the Riordan Presents series. Hopefully there will be some sort of visible logo difference between the middle grade friendly books and those intended for older audiences.

The story itself is a reimagining of the Medusa myth in an Indian-lore inspired fantasy universe. The plot is pretty simple, Manisha (Medusa) is a naga who is forced to live in secret among normal humans until she is violently raped and nearly murdered. Instead she survives and leads a sort of resistance crusade against the king and patriarchy on behalf of girls who are constantly raped, beaten, and abused in this kingdom. A tepid romance with the Slayer, a supernatural hunter who is enslaved by the king, provides a secondary protagonist whose sole function seems to be to provide a male character that is not an appalling predator of women (for all he is a predator of monsters, for which he suffers a fantasy psychic torment that should be interesting but isn’t explored enough to actually be so). The tone vacillates between between high fantasy and contemporary teenage novel, with fantastical descriptions of mythic monsters met with teenagers proclaiming the ferocious beasts “lame.” It’s clearly meant to be a feminist retelling but for me it falls short and the ceaseless often pointless violence, sexual and otherwise, is exhausting and off putting.

Such a great book! I love this take on the Medusa origin story. It's wonderfully written and the changes to the story were thoughtful and fitting. I loved the converging timelines between the two main characters, and both are very likeable main characters. I went into this novel thinking that it was a standalone book, but was so happy to discover that there would be a second book for her sister. Thank you so much to Negalley, Sajni Patel, and the publisher for allowing me access to an early copy for my honest review! It was an absolute pleasure!

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974


This is a retelling of Medusa's take from an Indian mythology lens. Two people bound to serve their people. One is the King's sword and the other is a simply fulfilling her destiny until she is assaulted. This is a darker mythology story, not as light hearted as some of the other Riordan series. However it provides balance and an alternate way of viewing the parts of mythology that are not so fun.

I adored Manisha and you will too.

Trigger warnings: snakes and sexual assault

I requested this due to my love of Rick Riordan Presents. However, I have a severe snake phobia and didn't read the sypnosis closely enough- obviously this hit major trigger points for me and I couldn't get too far into the book. I know this will be a big hit, though!

This is definitely a darker one of Rick Riordans presents book out of what I've gotten my hands on and it's definitely intended for an older audience, but it's so good. Definitely read the authors note in the beginning to watch for triggers because I would have had some trouble with this book if I hadn't seen those and wasn't prepared.

I highly appreciated that some of the darker elements of the original medusa story were included in this but oh how this book pulls you in. So often the SA of the original story is left out but in this book it made our character do the impossible. After she is pushed off a cliff into a den of vipers she refuses to die despite hundreds of snake bites and instead becomes a powerful nagin who turns men to stone and has incredible powers.

The king sends someone to kill her but things get complicated when that man discovers she was who he planned on marrying. Drama!

This was the first Rick Riordan presents book I didn’t enjoy. At 53% through the book, I was still waiting for the story to really pick up. I know this is meant to be for an older audience than most of the presents books as well, but it was so much darker than I am used to. I wish it had focused more on the mythology aspect. I think the story had great potential, but didn’t quite reach my expectations.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. I like how Manisha stays true to herself, how she keeps fighting regardless of whether she’ll get killed or not and how she tries to right the wrongs. This looks like another great series in the Rick Riordan universe and I can’t wait for the next book.

This was such a fun read! I really enjoyed the characters and the journey they went on. There were heart pounding moments and I loved the plotline. I will be recommending this book to all of my family and friends.

Sajni Patel takes the Rick Riordan series in a fascinating direction for slightly older readers. I enjoyed Drop of Venom for the artistry, the mythic elements, and the very real and human message of the story -- and I hope to read more books like this in this series, especially for older readers who have grown up with Riordan's work and want to continue digging into stories that are relevant to them.