Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my opinion.

"That's the curious thing about monsters. The worst ones don't bother hiding in the dark."

I will always love Medusa, a girl who’s only crime was being a girl, not even a woman yet. She was deceived by those who were supposed to guide her, which is just cruelly unfair.

Ayana Gray did a fantastic job telling Medusa’s story, and my love for Meddy grew tenfold while reading this. The pacing of the story was the perfect speed, not too fast nor too slow, and there was a great deal of action to keep my attention throughout.

I really liked this book. It was a good retelling of Medusa and I loved going on her journey with her. I loved we met back with Apollonia in the end for a short bit too!

This book tells the story of Medusa as a misunderstood villain. This new take on her origin story is very thought-provoking and sad.

This book is really well-written and well-thought out.

First of all I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing for providing me an eARC of I, Medusa in exchange for my honest review!

*4.5 stars

“Men with power are always the first to be believed.”

I absolutely loved this book! Ayana Gray did a fantastic job of writing a Greek Epic in an extremely digestible and connectable way. I felt so seen by Medusa and her thoughts and experiences. I love seeing women take stories that historically paint women as the villain and turn them into an analysis of culture’s interpretation of the challenges they overcome.

If you’re looking for a typical cookie cutter romantasy romance this doesn’t fit the typical structure but I highly recommend it regardless as it is such an important look at problematic power dynamics and manipulation between powerful men and susceptible young women. I additionally enjoyed the abuse of power by the Gods and Goddesses of this story a narrative that I’ve seen other authors dull.

The choice to make Medusa and her sisters Black added nuance to a story of prejudice that emphasizes the diversity of historical cultures that is often erased in their retellings. Her experience as a foreigner in Athens can be paralleled to any young woman and/or person of color facing prejudice. Additionally her relationship with her hair and it’s connection to her family further contributes to the classic story of Medusa’s curse.

Not only was there elements for young women of any race to connect to additionally Gray tied in queer representation and from my personal perspective as a bisexual woman it was done in my favorite way. I find that the inclusion of sapphic relationships in fantasy is best done when it isn’t the focal point of prejudice. It helps illustrate how sexuality is fluid and that attraction to anyone is a natural experience. I especially thought it contributed well to the plot points surrounding many men’s exploitation of women throughout the story.

Every character in this book is fascinating and very complex, regardless of Mortal or Immortal status no one had a black and white personality. On top of this, the plot was extremely compelling, the only reason this wasn’t a five star book for me was that for the first half or so it was a bit of a slower read, it took me some time to get into the plot with such a small setting. Although looking back it did make me appreciate the expansion of the setting to Athens even more!

This was my first book by Ayana Gray but I can’t wait to go read her previous ones! Mark your calendars for November to give this a read. Perfect for fans of Circe who are looking for something with a little bit more of a modern twist in both representation and story telling.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this book!

This is the story of how Medusa became the mythological human we all admire. We get to know her as a girl, born mortal to two Demi gods, while her sisters are immortal. The bond between Medusa and her sisters is carried through the story as she learns more about herself and what her purpose is. We see from the beginning that Medusa has a rage that is festering deep inside of her from an early age. We see this manifest as a protective nature toward the ones she loves most. We also see her battle with this rage in trying to be better, to do what’s expected of her, what she believes is right.

I loved the symbolism the author created between the love and care for Medusa’s locs, her sister’s bond together, and power in reclaiming their strength when Athena curses them with snakes for hair.

This Medusa retelling starts off strong and ends strong, but the middle is pretty lackluster. Often times while reading this book, I felt myself struggling to keep going, which was disappointing. The writing style fell flat and there were several gaps in the plot that I felt deserved more attention.

Overall, I would still recommend it because the last 20% of the book was so empowering and really highlighted the rage we feel as woman when we are not believe, listened to, or taken seriously.

I really enjoyed Medusa by Ayana Gray. It’s such a cool twist on the usual myth—we get to see Medusa not as a monster, but as someone who’s been hurt and is trying to find her strength again. I liked how the story gave her a real voice and made her so much more than just a symbol. Some parts in the middle were a bit slow for me, but overall it kept me hooked. If you’re into Greek mythology or just love strong female leads, this one’s definitely worth a read.

I, Medua by Ayana Gray is nothing short of a masterpiece—a lyrical, razor-sharp reclamation for one of mythology’s most misunderstood and maligned figures.

the prose is breathtaking and Gray gives us something that a lot of other retelling have not: an unflinching origin story. Medusa is more than a monster, she’s a girl shaped by betrayal, love, rage, and divine injustice. in this story, our lead, medusa, is ambitious, human, and heartbreakingly real. her relationships—especially with her sisters—anchor the story in love as much as vengeance. Gray spares no detail in exposing the cruelty of the gods, but even more so, she reveals the unbreakable strength of a girl who refuses to stay broken.

this book belongs on every shelf and in every heart—especially given the state of the world.

"People don't like for women to have rage, but I've found it beautiful. I've always found your rage beautiful."

I love a good female rage story. There are few things more satisfying these days. Although, at its heart this feels more like a story of sisterly love and the lengths they would go to protect each other. Which makes the ending all the more tragic. Justice for Meddy.

The biggest thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When I submitted a request from NetGalley to read, rate and review an ARC of ‘I, Medusa’ by Ayana Gray, I thought I’d be reading a simple modern mythological retelling of the monster, Medusa, whose vigilante cold hard stare turned men into stone. I needed a moment where I could step away from my other favorite genres. In doing so, I had absolutely NO idea I’d be picking up (what I’m compelled to tell readers of all genres) IS ABSOLUTE GOLD.

This being my first book by Ayana Gray was so, so, soooo much more than I ever expected! I had no previous author information; yet, I am emphatically in awe of what I read! From beginning to end, there was not one word or sentence wasted on dull or flat writing. Immediately, I was transported to this vivid, reimagined world of gods and goddesses and the cruel games and trickery they play with humans. I was reeled in when I realized this story would follow Medusa as ‘a human’. From a feminist perspective, it chronologically follows ‘Meddy’ from her early years being raised on a very remote island with her family, then to her training as an Acolyte for the Goddess Athena to become a priestess, and everything prior to her monstrous transformation.

‘I Medusa’ explores themes of love, (especially for her two other Gorgon sisters- Stheno and Euryale), friendship, newfound family, explosive rage, retribution, victimization and empowerment. It does a spectacular job of humanizing an iconic mythological villain. Readers will find her trials and tribulations, remarkable and relatable on so many levels. If like me, once you reach the end, you’ll be left with so much to process you’ll not only want to share your thoughts with anyone who’ll listen, you’ll want to keep a hard copy as a forever book on your top bookshelf and recommend it for years on end.

In my humble opinion, ‘I, Medusa’ should be regarded as a very important work of literary fiction and worthy of critically high praise and many literary awards! Many thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion, and to Ayana Gray for this undeniably profound reading experience.

I received this book as an eARC from NetGalley and Random House publishing in exchange for an honest review (thanks, besties), and WOW I absolutely loved this book. I was captivated from the dedication in the beginning of the book, and didn't want to put it down.

Dedication: "For my sister: I'd turn a thousand men to stone to keep you safe."

This is a story that we have all heard before, but rarely from Medusas own perspective. Ayana Gray has such an excellent way with words and reading this story of how Medusa, the mortal girl, became Medusa, the "monster".

We follow her journey from being the 17-year-old mortal daughter of two lesser gods, to an acolyte in Athena's temple, to a disgraced priestess, who is punished and vilified for attempting to speak her truth in a society where women aren't allowed a voice. This is a story of a woman taking the power back from people who stole it from her. This is the story of sisterly love, and how far you are willing to go to save them. This is the story of a girl who just wanted to make her family proud. This is a story of a girl who just wanted to please her Goddess. This is the story of a girl who never learns how to please herself. Reading this book felt like a love letter to my younger self, and I am so glad I read it.

It is important to know that the subject matter in this book can be very triggering for some people as there are elements of SA in the story, much like in the original myth, so read carefully.

My heart. My heart. This story is so emotional and tragic. It hurt so good. Medusa is also one of my favorite storylines and this one surprised me so much. Bring the tissues when reading.

This book is chef’s kiss 🤌🏾💋! Everyone knows the tragic story of Medusa, the beautiful girl who seduced Poseidon and got the wrath of Athena… but this book, it gives Medusa more depth of character and true insight to the turmoil she suffered.

I, Medusa gives you the humble backstory of the titular Gorgon and how her choices brought her to the “monster” as the world knows her. There’s longing, perseverance, love, loss, wrath, and sorrow all wrapped in this retelling. Ayana Gray gives all us Greek and Roman mythology lovers a great tale while adding colorful depth to all the characters we have come to know and love. And also making Medusa a POC with locs was a beautiful twist as it allows more people to see themselves in her.

5 stars across the board!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for access to the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely LOVE Greek mythology and have recently began to explore books again. This helped my dive and it was powerful and breathtaking! I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a mythology fix, but also wants an emotional story.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy!

5/5 stars.
Ayana Gray beautifully reimagines Medusa’s story, as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in her novel I, Medusa. I really enjoyed it for a few reasons. It’s a unique retelling—one that doesn’t center on romance, revenge, or status, but instead focuses on Medusa as a young girl who was manipulated by people in power.

I would like to start by offering a warning that Gray uses this story to examine rape culture from several angles, and it can be difficult to read. One of the most powerful moments is when Medusa is believed by her sisters. That moment of recognition and support is deeply moving. The focus on sisterhood and the relationships between women was one of my favorite aspects of the story.

Another thing I enjoyed about this novel was that there wasn’t just one obvious villain. Athena and Poseidon were both awful in their own ways, but in Athena’s case especially, Gray explored the complexity of her character. Athena is portrayed as someone shaped by her own difficult existence as a goddess in a patriarchal world. I also appreciated that Gray brought in the complexities of race in Ancient Greece—a perspective that’s rarely explored in mythological retellings.

A point that has stayed with me long after finished the novel was the author’s note. Gray explains that she purposely left out Perseus’ name, just as Medusa’s own voice and agency were left out of the classical versions of her story. That decision felt like a quiet but powerful reclaiming.

The writing itself was clear and succinct—refreshingly free of the overly flowery prose that mythology retellings often lean into. I also liked how the story was divided into distinct parts, each representing a new phase in Medusa’s journey. The pacing was excellent; I devoured the book in a single day.

I would like the thank Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5/5

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced reader copy :)

Where to start? First, the good. I enjoyed being (mentally) back in Greece for a time. I liked the modern take that depicted Medusa and her sister were dark skinned women, showed people of all kinds of skin tones and backgrounds as citizens of Athens. I loved spending time at the acropolis and the “3 tests” to become a priestess. The atmosphere of the book made this an enjoyable enough read.

My concerns start with this: I think this book is yet another example of an author trying to appeal to too wide of an audience. This book is written from a YA angle, which makes some sense since Greek Mythology has had a huge YA audience ever since Rick Riordan popularized it for kids in the early 2000s, but much of the content of the Medusa story is not something I would encourage a younger audience to read. Most people who are at least a little familiar with Medusa’s story know that depending on who you ask, Medusa was famously caught in the act of sexual relations with Poseidon (some accounts say this was consensual, some say it was not) in Athena’s temple, by Athen herself. Athena then punished (or gifted) Medusa for this by cursing her with snakes for hair that turn men to stone. Medusa has become such a feminist hero to women living in a man’s world, she has been so special to women who have felt helpless, stuck, scared, and -most importantly- angry. Athena, too, has been regarded with such reverence among shackled women, I was hoping that this author would be telling a strengthening and beautiful story of women helping women, be them god or mortal, and the incredible perseverance of the female spirit, especially when in community with her sisters.

That is not what happened in this book. I do think there was intent to do something like that, but in my opinion it fell a bit flat. I was looking forward to identifying with our heroine, 17 year old Medusa, but I found her deeply unlikeable. This books’ version of Medusa was naive, ignorant, even out of touch. This Medusa, “Meddy,” spent her first 17 years isolated on an island. Her parents, now lesser old sea gods, never paid her much mind, but she was unflinchingly close with her two older sisters who adore her. With little to no adult supervision, Medusa finds ways to kill time, like teaching herself from scrolls she has found laying around their palace. Otherwise - Meddy has never experienced much more than her family, their slaves, and their island. Even with all of that said, Medusa and her 2 sisters lived their whole lives knowing and understanding that their purpose (made clear by their mother and father) was to become marry-able and bring some clout to their family’s name. With 2 older sisters, and marriage being the only thing explicitly expected of any of them, surely you would think Medusa would have at least some understanding of sex/sexuality or at least a desire for closeness. Its ANCIENT GREECE, SEX IS THEIR WHOLE THING. But no, we find out early on that Meddy is comically unaware of any of that birds-and-bees stuff. In the first few chapters she watches 2 people have sex and internally monologues “I cannot see, but I know he is touching her in a private place. That strikes me as odd. She doesn’t seem to mind, but I don’t understand why.” It feels 1. Unlikely that a teenager in Ancient Greece, even a very isolated one, would be that naive and 2. the writing surrounding sexual acts in this scene and as the book progresses is distinctly not in the same tone as the rest of the book, it feels deeply out of place.

Most upsetting to me, is that the writing of Medusa’s character seemed to miss a lot of opportunities to bond with the book’s audience. Throughout the first half of the book we get some really incredible glimpses of the internal battle Medusa is growing with. This anger towards powerful people who abuse that power (often men) and as a sort of response to that, Medusa’s rage. She seems to consider wanting to do the right thing, the good thing, the thing that truly is fair and just, whatever that may be. Does that mean punishment? Is cruelty a fair response to cruelty? I was hoping we would get to dig deeper with Medusa into these questions, but often it seemed like Medusa so quickly returned to a two dimensional anger just for anger’s sake, and then lashed out like a child. I couldn’t find an explicit moral compass in Meddy, which is disappointing given the the Medusa who has been celebrated through history has been very rightful in her anger, her rage has been earned and respected. The beauty in the story of Medusa is that her rage comes as retribution. It settled a score. When anger is pointless and self serving, that anger belongs to men, now women.

I also wasn’t seeing any of the “Medusa” that women have come to identify with in Meddy in regard to how she treated other women. She treated her only female friends quite poorly, and even abandoned her closest (only?) female friend in a city that Meddy herself was unexperienced in and knew to be dangerous. This resulted in horrific consequences that Meddy couldn’t even appreciate because she still didn't yet know was sex and rape was. The scenes where Meddy abandons Apollonia in Athens to canoodle with Poseidon made me feel like her character was not thought out at all.

Now the ending, another review said “The introduction of the queer story late in the book was equally baffling. I don't love the idea of mobilizing queerness as an antidote to male violence, and that's kind of what it seemed like happened here” (thank you Erin W!) and I could not have said it better myself. If the plan was to have Medusa turn a female friendship into a romantic relationship, there should have been more (or any) groundwork for that laid way earlier in the book. Throwing it no at the end just felt like the author needed one more twist to feel good about closing the book. And it really de-values queer stories to use them as something people turn to only when their heterosexual prospects are no longer viable. A lot of things just didn't make sense by the end of the book, so it lost points with me.

This one was a slow burn in every sense — and while that can work for some stories, it just didn’t fully hit for me.
The writing was lyrical and had some truly powerful moments, especially when it dove into themes of womanhood, rage, and reclaiming power. I loved what it wanted to do.
But the pacing dragged in places, and I found myself waiting (a little too long) for the story to pick up. Medusa as a character had depth, but I didn’t always connect with her journey. It felt more like an idea than an immersive experience.
If you’re into slow, poetic retellings and don't mind a heavy atmosphere, you might enjoy it more than I did. But personally? I wanted more fire from the flame.1

I was not expecting to be grieved at the end of this book but I am, I am pissed! While I've watched plenty of things that depicted Medusa none really give her main character energy and she is easily forgotten. This book show the making of a monster and how sometimes others choices effect you greater than your own.

The conversations around rape in this book was perfectly showcased. 2 separate instances described differently but ultimately the same thing. I loved that.

I also feel somewhat ecstatic that her murderer is named...becasue 🖕🏾 him for real.

Villain origin story + Greek Mythology + retelling = GIVE ME MORE!!!!!! I am super into Greek mythology so this read was a no brainer, I especially have a soft spot for Medusa. The rage just radiates through the pages and keeps your turning for more.

I am new to the fantasy genre, however, Greek mythology has always been fascinating to me. This retelling of Medusa was absolutely fantastic. The character development and imagery truly allowed for the reader to immerse into the tale, and I couldn’t put this book down!

Being a part of the black community, and reading about character features we are often scrutinized for (i.e. our hair) being used as a sense of power for Meddy was so beautifully done. This is definitely one of my top reads of 2025!

Medusa has always been a fascinating story no matter what version I read about her. This plot was a new version of the ancient story. This did not let me down.

This gives Medusa origin story that fits perfectly for the old tales about her. It’s full of female rage that is immensely written.

Recommended to any who are interested in Greek mythology and like stories about justified female rage.