ARC copy provided by NetGalley.

What to say about Medea.

I am allergic to Greek myth retellings. They give me hives. Something about them feels wrong. There is almost always a thrust-on politic that is donned with the idea that the source material's politic must be modernized. Look at these barbarous ancient Greeks! How like them we can sound.

Medea suffers from this, and suffers heavily. Eilish Quin's writing is bracing, riveting one to the page, and she clearly loves Medea, as the reader may come to as well. The problem is that she cannot seem to love Medea the monster the way she loves Medea the avenging angel.

This preoccupation with the idea there must be a single, identifiable root cause for someone's otherwise unthinkable behavior seemed lacking to me (to the point of arguably making up a pedophile that is not contained in any source text...). Greek myths are often about embracing the monstrous, loving it even as it kills you. It is also just not realistic. People who fracture and shatter like this - of which there are many, every day - do so because of a million small horrors, moreso than they do because of one event, long ago. A catalyst, sure, but not the sole cause, or they would likely have snapped then and there. Medea does not need a made-up pedophile to hate men; Aeetes is right there if the reader longs for a "reason."

This version of Medea...it felt like she lacked teeth. Especially while reading Euripides' Medea alongside, Quin's Medea felt like she had everything to prove, up until the very last word. Euripides' Medea is shrewd, cautious, alive, and yes, monstrous. It is this mix of traits that draws the reader into her; she assures us we are in good hands. Quin landed on shrewd and cautious and then seemingly stopped short of making her human - which is to say, monstrous.

More of a petty gripe, but she was constantly comparing herself to other women in the novel - and while I understand that insecurities exist, the barrage of "they were so pale and beautiful" felt gratuitous, tonally inconsistent, irrelevant to what Medea herself actually cared about, and it was unsuccessful hand-waved away by a short, single sentence implying Medea experienced attraction to women. It felt lazy. Why bring something like that up with no intention of exploring it? (The answer being that it was narratively billed as part of Medea's monstrosity, which - not to belabor the whole point of this review - Eilish does not seem interesting in addressing in any real way.)

Overall, a fine book, but definitely reaffirmed my suspicions that these popular myth retellings are not for me, and no amount of beautiful writing (of which there was a significant amount!) can make them so.

Wow. What a wild ride this book was. I absolutely love Greek myth retelling, and I regard myself as being fairly well-versed in the stories after years of reading them. Medea's, however, is one that I was completely unfamiliar with, so I was very excited to receive this arc! Given that it is a Greek myth, I knew that it would end tragically, but I did not know how and avoided googling it. I wanted to enter into this book blindly and fully embrace the shock and chaos. I think Quin delivered fabulously. This book is beautifully written, the lyrical prose a stark contrast to the gruesome devolution of Medea's character. Her story is like a bad trainwreck that you can't look away from, but it is completely undeniably hers. Too often women in myth are cast as the villains or the meek; so rarely are we given the opporunity to live in their point of view for a while. This book executed this goal so well. It was poignant, it was intense, it was emotionally conflicting. I had so much fun with it. I would absolutely recommend to anyone that is familiar with Greek tragedies and myths, and I would love to read more of Eilish Quin's work.

4.5 ⭐️

I’ve said it plenty of times before and I’ll say it again: I will always enjoy Greek mythology retellings, particularly those with a feminist perspective. Medea was no different. I really enjoyed this book! Medea isn’t really a character I had ever explored in my reading previously. She’s always been more a background character in the other stories I’ve read, so I really liked getting to see her story from her perspective in Eilish Quin’s Medea.

Medea is quite a tragic figure in Greek mythology. She gets a lot of hatred thrown her way, so I enjoyed reading a retelling of her myth that humanizes her. Despite her actions, I think it’s quite easy to feel sympathy for this version of Medea. She goes through a lot in her life before we even meet Jason and endures even more trauma after meeting him.

The writing style was very reminiscent of Madeline Miller’s Circe, one of my favorite books, so of course I was a fan. It’s very lyrical in a sense which I find extremely fitting for Greek mythology. It helps draw me into the story more. Medea was a strong read for those interested in Greek mythology retellings, and I would highly suggest grabbing a copy once it releases on February 13, 2024.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Eilish Quin for the advance reader’s copy of Medea. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

This review was made possible via an ARC through NetGalley

Medea by Eilish Quin is a Greek mythology retelling of the story of Medea’s life, starting in her early childhood with a focus on introspection and how Medea feels separated from the rest of the world.

Medea’s genealogy (which I was vaguely aware of before but hadn’t known all of it) gets a decent amount of discussion as she is the daughter of a son of Helios, the sun god, and an Oceanid and how her divine blood doesn’t make her immortal but does grant her some magical skills. Medea is trained by her father in potions and magic, creating parallels between her and her aunt, Circe early on despite her father’s hatred of Circe. When Medea’s mother leaves, Medea is left behind to care for her baby brother and to try to navigate her father’s temper and courtship.

Quin stitches together the various myths that intersect with Medea and her immediate family’s story, from the golden ram to Jason and the Argonauts to the Titanomachy which makes it a great read if you’re really into Greek mythology or have some knowledge of it and want to see how those stories actually weave together in the life of one person.

One thing I really liked was Medea having dark green hair and her family members being compared to the sun. The juxtaposition of the sea and sun was quite well-written and I enjoyed how they are used to describe the characters and manifest in the story.

Content warning for moderate depiction of sexual harassment of a minor.

I would recommend this to Greek mythology fans, readers who enjoyed the Greek play Medea, and readers looking for more feminine retellings of classic stories.

Thank you for the ARC!

Ireally wanted to LOVE this book, so I went in very excited. It turned out to be just alright for me.

To start with the good, the author eventually finds herself in the prose as you continue reading on. At first, the writing style was just lacking some authenticity and was overly flowery to the point where I would have to re-read certain portions of text to comprehend the intent of the words strung together. This becomes less of a problem as you get past the first third of the book. The author does a really good job of writing in such a way that builds suspense and anticipation. But unfortunately, for me, the call for action is never truly answered because the critical scenes lacked emotion and a certain /oomph/ to make the reader feel like “Oh, shit’s hit the fan.”

It would’ve been nice to have more dialogue rather than the majority being internal narration by Medea, who is very sterile and cold in this retelling. I would’ve loved to see some character embellishments to make her a real woman with real complexities and her own mind to navigate through them. In this novel, I had no real meaningful connection, sympathy, or understanding of her. In this category of novels, I think you need to be able to make it your own in every available manner for it to make a lasting impression. I think the author has the ability to do that based on this reading experience, but it was not done in this book.

If you’re not so well versed in Greek mythology but want to start getting into retellings, this might be a good starter book for you.

Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Medea is the second child to King Aeetes of Colchis and the sea nymph Idyia. Granddaughter to Helios and niece to Circe, Medea has a natural inclination to sorcery. As a child, she lives in the shadow of her older sister and is neglected by her parents. Aeetes is hateful and never pleased, and Idyia abandons her children for the sea. Medea finds true companionship in her younger brother Phaethon, and will do anything for him. When the hero Jason arrives on the island of Colchis in search of the golden fleece, he enlists Medea’s help to complete his quest. Medea will do anything to get Phaethon away from their abusive father and find peace. But even she cannot escape fate.

The tone of the narration is very similar to Circe by Madeline Miller. I enjoyed it since it occurs in the same time period and has overlapping events. I appreciate how this retelling doesn’t attempt to make Medea a hero, but fully encompasses the complexity of her character. The story of Medea is a tragedy, and the author does an impressive job of portraying this. Her slow descent to madness is disheartening to read, as she will do anything for those she loves. “I do what no one else is willing to do.”

From the beginning we see foreshadowing that alludes to her eventual downfall. Idyia has the power of prophecy, and therefore knows what will befall her daughter. Her mother treated her with revulsion even though she was a child, causing her to feel unloved and unnatural. When Idyia eventually shares the prophecy of Phaethon with Medea, it starts her down the path of necromancy. Medea is consistently let down by the men in her life starting with Aeetes and ending with Jason. There is only so much someone can take before they snap. All in all this was a riveting read. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance reader copy!

Medea is a middle child, fruit of the marriage between King Aeetes of Kolchis—a son of the Titan Helios—and the Naiad Idyia—daughter of Titan Tethys and Oceanus, God of the Sea. Idyia, gifted with prophecy, sees that something is not quite right with Medea, which emphasizes her veiled rejection of the child, especially after the third sibling, Phaeton, is born. By the time the little prince comes along, Medea has already begun practicing sorcery under her father’s tutelage. When her mother reveals a prophecy of Phaeton’s death by violence, Medea makes sure that, if that ever comes to pass, she’ll be ready to bring him back from the dead using her own acquired knowledge of necromancy. Little does she know that threads from the Golden Fleece of a flying ram on which her future brother-in-law arrives in Kolchis will aid her in this endeavor.

As Medea comes of age, her father begins entertaining potential suitors. Her heart will be captured by Jason, captain of the Argonauts, an exiled prince on a quest to find the Golden Fleece to ensure that his uncle surrenders his usurped throne peacefully. Medea helps Jason to win the Golden Fleece, not before making him promise that he will help her escape Kolchis by securing hers and Phaeton’s safe passage aboard the Argonaut. Before escaping, Medea commits an act of violence so egregious that she will need her aunt Circe to cleanse her spirit. Unfortunately, Jason’s quest to reclaim his throne will be inextricably linked to every subsequent act of violence that Medea engages in.

Medea, along with Medusa and Circe, is one of the most vilified females of Greek mythology. She is a sorcerer, a princess, a lover, and, above all, a murderess. This retelling doesn’t rectify those facts but it does a good job of providing perspective for the character and her motivations for evil doing, as well as serving as a reminder that Medea lived in an age of monsters, she was even related by blood to some notorious ones.

Medea the novel is narrated by the eponymous character from childhood all throughout her eventful life. It is easy to read, with flowy prose that keeps the story engaging even if there are some lulls in the plot and tedious repetition from time to time. I found hard to believe that this is a debut novel. My only quibble was that the protagonist seemed fixated on self-analyzing how “unnatural” she was when the only indications of that from the female archetype perspective is that she didn’t want to get married or procreate. It seems that despite her feminist inclinations, this Medea is intent on internalizing patriarchal stereotypes of womanhood.

In summary, I found Medea a worthwhile retelling. It’s engaging, well written, tedious and repetitive at times, but enjoyable overall.

Thanks to the publisher for granting me access to a free digital copy via Netgalley.

If you love mythology and retellings, then this one will probably work for you! Seek out those 4 and 5 star reviews and then grab this one!

For the longest time, I didn't even try mythology. I find it reads more like a fable and less like a novel. I find myself bored because I don't know the gods or goddesses connections, powers, or stories and so I get lost and confused easily. Sadly, that's what happened for me here.

Although this was told from a female perspective, the story still felt at arms length. The MC seemed more like a narrator and less like a person I cared about. Chunks of time would jump - we would go from her sister have 1 kid to 4 in a blink of an eye. I just never got sucked into the story so I didn't enjoy it.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

An interesting take on this retelling, and even though I knew what happened, this was still compelling. I found the use of the gods/goddesses to be a little uneven, and I think the pacing could have been adjusted a bit..., but overall I was very impressed by this book!

As a mom, reading a story in which Medea is our narrator...well, it can be hard to let go of the way this myth has been told to us in the past. I think Quinn establishes Medea as fully realized in a way that I really appreciate.

What I liked: A well written retelling of the sorceress Medea’s story from Greek mythology, with a feminist perspective. An impressive debut novel.
What I disliked: The pace of the story noticeably speeds up once Jason arrives. The second half of the book moves so much faster than the beginning.

As a die-hard fan of Greek mythology retellings, I am over the moon having just read Eilish Quin's Medea. Thi is my first Medea retelling and I fell head over heels in love with this woman who has had such a difficult life. First as a child living in the shadow of her pretty sister and having no such luck of being raised by loving parents. I fell for this woman who kept diminishing herself because she has never been surrounded by people who ever lifted her up. I so enjoyed witnessing the development of her relationship with her brother; unconditional love really exists, and Phaethon was the first character I recall defining it with word is such a poetic manner.

Jason's character seemed like a depiction of men in general. I hated him and I might have taken vengeance on him the way Medea did.

The episode of Medea taking her children's life was very difficult to read. But the author's words were an effective conduit to make me understand the way Medea had felt, or at least what pushed her to do it. I am not going to say that I understand why she did it, but I can see how women can be at time pushed beyond their limit by men. Men don't care because seldom do they suffer the consequences of their acts, unlike women.

I can't praise this book enough, and I can't wait to read it again and again!

Eilish Quin’s debut novel ‘Medea’ is a gripping, moving, and tightly paced reimagining of the tragedy of Medea. I emphasize that it is a reimagining, not a retelling, because it takes significant liberties with the story told in the original myth.

Euripides’ tragedy of the same name presents a truly unthinkable act and forces audiences to grapple with its motivations and ramifications. It challenges us to empathize with something unconscionable. The impossibility of understanding or justifying Medea’s actions is why I love the play so much, and why I was so excited to read a feminist take on Medea’s story. In Quin’s novel, unfortunately, this grappling is tidily circumnavigated with the addition of a plot not found in the original mythology. I was left disappointed by the way that the tragedy of Medea’s story is dampened rather than more thoroughly explored in all its horror through the novel’s feminist lens.

That said, I spent 90% of the novel certain it would be a 5* read, and I did thoroughly enjoy my time with ‘Medea.’ I would recommend it to anyone not familiar with Medea’s story, or anyone able to set aside prior knowledge to experience ‘Medea’ as though it were a wholly original story. 4*.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing this e-arc.

Overall it was very well-written, but to me it really struggled with pacing. It felt like things didn't ever happen, and when someone significant did eventually, it was sped through. I felt very disconnected from every character that wasn't Medea, which isn't necessarily a criticism - she is, after all, ultimately disconnected from them herself by the nature of her being. It served as a good insight and deep dive into a character who doesn't get as much attention as she should, and I did enjoy the framing of the retelling to paint her in a more sympathetic, tragic light.

This was a beautiful poignant novel. I feel I missed a lot of the story because I was not familiar with the myths of Madea before reading. Which is sad because I’m sure this book is very impactful to those who know more than myself.

As a fan of Greek mythology retellings, I had to pick this one right away and this being focused on Medea, one of the despised makes it even more interesting. I hadn't read much on Medea so far so it was very informative and it showed her in a very humane way. i liked her approach to magic and sorcery and the way it was portrayed here rather than previous stereotypes. Medea's relationship with Jason seems a bit under developed as it also came off but confusing. I am always for feminist takes and this one delivers it.

Thank you Atria Books for my free ARC of Medea by Eilish Quin — available Feb 13!

Read this if you:
🏛️ can't get enough of mythology retellings
🧙‍♀️ prefer your FMC to be a badass, but also realistically flawed
🐏 ever feel like the black sheep among your golden siblings

Medea grows up the middle sibling of the royal family in Kolchis, but her dreams all revolve around improving her sorcery, not being a wife to some other royal. When she sees her chance for freedom, she takes it, even though the cost to make it happen is extremely high. Poor Medea is not in the clear yet, as she'll be backed into several more tricky corners and need to use all her wiles to survive. When her children are on the line, how will she keep them safe?

You may already know the story of Medea, which would make my cloaking of the synopsis kind of silly. But I can confidently say, you've never heard Medea's story from this perspective before! I'm a big fan of feminist mythology retellings, and I have pretty high standards for them. I loved this particular story because the writing is beautiful, Medea is a stunningly complex and empathic character, and the pacing of the story is great. The only bit I struggled with was her romantic relationship, as Medea's connection to Jason seemed very superficial. This could be due to some divine interference? Unclear. Either way, it was a little "meh" for me, but everything else I loved.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a book I was very excited about and I’m so happy it lived up to the hype in my head. I knew very little about Medea other than being the wife of Jason and a sorceress, but it was very easy to be swept away in her story. It’s a more sympathetic take on Medea from what I gather, but at the same time, I liked that she was written as a very complex woman. She made mistakes, she made bad decisions, but she wasn’t necessarily a bad person. I think any fan of Greek mythology retellings and reimaginings will enjoy this one. Since, as I said before, I didn’t know much about Medea, the story was very much a surprise for me and I liked that. I loved seeing her go from a young, anxious girl to a woman with cunning and resourcefulness. I highly recommend this one, but definitely check the content warnings at the bottom of my review. I cried several times.
TW: death, violence, murder, animal death, animal experiments, child abuse, child death

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

Medea… who is that, you ask? Well, she is one of the characters in Greek Mythology – so buckle up for a wild ride of a life story. Medea was born of King Aeetes (brother to Circe) and Idyia (a goddess of the sea) and grew up on the island of Kolchis (some spell Colchis). Medea grows up to become a powerful necromantic witch and uses her abilities to keep herself safe after a traumatic childhood. In traditional Greek Mythology, she helps Jason steel the golden fleece from her father and escapes with him, in love (all while her new lover kills her brother). This is not how it happens in this novel… A long and perilous adventures awaits Medea as she sets sail, in this story, as she searches for a life of peace and freedom.
I can see a lot of people having beef with this novel… saying it rides on the back of Madeline Miller’s “Circe” and “The Song of Achilles” (only because they happened to be published before this novel. However, Greek Mythology has many varied stories for each character, and, I felt, this novel paid great Homage to Medea’s story.
This story was incredibly well done – and it is a debut novel! I was immediately enamored by Medea’s tale and didn’t want to put the book down. This novel does fore Medea, what Miller’s Circe did for… well, Circe! It gave a humanistic story to why Medea did what she did (with a bit of a spin ). It was heart-wrenching and hopeful as I read through Medea’s journey to find peace and I loved how Quin revealed how heroes do many things to achieve their aspirations (some not so kind).
My only qualms are with a couple of plot line issues – some parts of the story did not line up (ex. When Aegeus was present in Kolchis, he must have seen the events that occurred – but then seemed unaware of them). It is possible I missed something, but it felt off.


Content Warning: Death, dismemberment, attempted sexual assault, descriptions of sex, witchcraft, death of children, emotionally abusive and manipulative behavior, child abandonment.

Would I Recommend: Yes! Anyone who loves Circe, Greek Mythology, etc.

4 Stars

(FULL REVIEW):

I’m a sucker for anything Medea related, and so when I heard that this book was coming out, I couldn’t wait to read it! 💚

This book, in good and rather odd ways, left me stumped for words when describing my thoughts of it. I did enjoy the softer more vulnerable depiction of Medea, but at the same time, the way she narrate situations left me questioning her motives as either ruthlessly pragmatic or just not well thought out in general. This Medea left me feeling like she was conundrum as her intelligence obviously noted when it comes to her witchcraft and knowledge of plants, but her actions make me feel like I’m not reading about a plotting witch who knows her next move and has her exit strategies in order. 🤨

Her relationship with Jason is also something that left me scratching my head at at times. She’s not overly in love with the hero, and I liked that idea of her never loving him in the first place, but just using him as a means to an end. But the back and forth of “I don’t like being around him” to “he makes me feel safe/good” was just a bit too much for me. 🫨

I also found the choice of storytelling odd here and there. From the use of castles to pages to the odd visualization of the map of the world, it took me out of the setting and story here and there. 🗺️

Now, not everything was a negative for me here. Other than a softer portrayal of Medea and a “not-really-a-relationship” stance with Jason, I really enjoyed the idea of Medea being experienced in the necromancy side of sorcery. It added a level of her magic usage that I never really thought of this infamous witch before. Also, I really love Quin’s detailed descriptions of “pharmakon” as primarily plant based and not just godly magic elements. As someone interested in folkloric uses of ancient magic, this was a treat for sure to have! 🌿

In general, I thought the lyrical prose was nice, and the beautiful depiction of sibling bond wonderfully done. This should definitely be for fans of Jennifer Saint’s writing (which is a hit and miss for me) and her debut, Ariadne. I can see this Medea and Saint’s Ariadne being the best of friends and cousins. 🤝🏼

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for accepting my request in exchange for an honest review, and to the author, Quin, for writing a different perspective of this wonderful witch. 🧙🏼‍♀️

Publication date: February 13!

Overall: 4/5 ⭐️

3.5 stars?

The measure of a good mythology retelling to me is usually, "does this narrative of a story I already know keep me turning the page to see what happens next?" And while the answer here, is yes it does, I'm not sure it does so in a satisfying manor.
Medea, for all the horror usually associated with her, is one of my favorite mythological characters. I'm fascinated by the different interpretations of her motivations and actions. So while the choices the author made here in regards to the main crimes laid at her feet make sense to me, there's still something missing. The love for her brother is the most real thing in the entire book. I really like how that section and their escape from Kolchis was handled. And as much as it saddened me, I think the escape from Korinth also works.
What I struggled with is Medea's relationship with Jason. Especially since the author seemed to want to take her in a queer direction and then veered away. To be honest, I wanted to see more passion, more angst, emotion; I wanted to really feel their turmoil. And it all felt very sterile and cold to me.
And that's kind of how the book left me: feeling cold. While I did like some of the narrative choices, I couldn't FEEL them. Plus, there's some nitpicky stuff about Theseus and Aegeus that kind of drove me insane.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own.