Wow. Just wow. If I had more stars to give this book, it would get them all.
I, Medusa was a life changing read for me. It told the story of Medusa’s journey from maiden to monster in four parts, each leaving you with a growing sensation of discomfort and distrust, which crescendoed into an ending that will stay with me for a long time. The viciousness of the gods is not understated in this retelling at all.
Additionally, this book is a huge reminder for me of how important it is to intentionally pick up books written by BIPOC authors. In this retelling, Medusa is depicted as a Black woman with locs, and when she makes her journey to Athens, she is met with a hostile energy by many. The visceral discomfort I felt when someone reached for her hair has lingered with me since. This author’s perspective turned an ancient myth into something that holds cultural relevance, and this gives underrepresented readers the chance to “find themselves in our collective past,” as Ayana Gray stated in her Author’s Note. I love this and hope to find more retellings like this with important perspectives to add to my TBR!
Overall, this is an emotionally impactful journey about envy, anger, and rage; and it’s also about embracing the monster others made you to be. I, Medusa has the potential to be my favorite read of the year. I cannot recommend it enough!

Ayana Gray’s I, Medusa is a breathtaking reclamation of one of mythology’s most misunderstood figures. With lyrical prose and searing emotional depth, Gray resurrects Medusa not as a monster, but as a woman wronged—betrayed, brutalized, and silenced. In Gray’s hands, Medusa becomes a symbol of righteous fury and fierce resilience, her voice sharpened like the serpents in her hair and her gaze unflinching in the face of patriarchal violence.

This book is not just a retelling; it’s a reckoning. Gray strips away the layers of myth to reveal the raw, aching humanity beneath. The storytelling is both intimate and mythic, weaving trauma, rage, and healing into a tapestry that pulses with urgency and power. Medusa’s transformation from victim to avenger is nothing short of electrifying.

I, Medusa demands to be read in one sitting and then lingered over long after the final page. It is a thunderous declaration of womanhood, vengeance, and the right to one’s own narrative. Ayana Gray has given Medusa her voice back—and it echoes like a war cry.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for blessing me with a copy of this incredible book! I cannot wait to get the physical book when it comes out on November 18, 2025! Trust me, pre order yours now!

First, thank you Netgalley and Random House publishing for this Arc that I received for my review!

I was so excited to get this arc for the origin story of Medusa and I was not disappointed. This book really has you feeling every emotion. The story was so heartbreaking to watch Meddy just trying to be the best version of herself and want justice when things are not so, but being taken advantage of and abused from people in powerful roles.

If you're interested in the Greek mythology story lines then this is definitely one to add to your list. It really showed the cruel backstory of why Medusa became the "villain" that people perceived her as.

4.5. Okay, wow this was so good. This retelling was tragic, yet so addicting. It made me become obsessed with Medusa all over again. Meddy is mortal, compared to her two sisters and her dad and mom, who are gods. She’s always been use to other people having power and not her. While her sisters get to live forever, Meddy only gets a certain amount of time and she dreams of leaving her family’s island to live a life of her own. When goddess Athena takes interest in her she’s too naive to realize that not everybody in power is a good person. When she gets the chance to train to become a priestess at her temple in Athens she jumps at the chance to see what life is like outside her family’s island. Just as she’s settling in and getting comfortable, a violent night alters her fate and future forever. This story was so rageful and emotional and I loved it. People are gonna eat it up when it gets published. As always, thank you Random House Publishing Group for a gorgeous earc.

WOW!!!!!! I haven’t read a Greek Mythology retelling this good in a while. Lyrical writing vivid imagery. Strong characters and growth.

Amidst the countless mythology retellings and the various takes of the Medusa story, this book stands out due to its fascinating lead character and the world that Ayana Gray has created. Based upon the famous tale of the figure whose gaze can turn anyone into stone, here we meet a young Medusa, innocent and yearning for adventure.

Along with her sisters, Medusa is to be married off now that they are all old enough. When a visiting prince chooses her gentle sister - and then hurts her - Medusa, or Meddy as she is called, acts out of protectiveness and then is chosen by the goddess Athena herself to be one of her priestesses.

But the gods are as fickle and cruel as they are magnanimous and resplendent, and they play games where mortals like Meddy are usually the ones who pay the price.

Even though I know well how this story ends, I read this in one sitting, compelled by the storytelling and seeing Meddy go from innocent pawn to serpent-haired avenger. This is one retelling that will stay with you.

This book truly encapsulated feminine rage and the helplessness a lot of women feel in a system not designed to their advantage. 5 star book! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book!

I already was aware, as many folks that will read this book, of the basics of the myth of Medusa, a priestess of Athena who ended up cursed to be the monster we associate with Medusa today after an affair with Poseidon. This story, however, brought an interesting new life to this old myth that highlights the struggles of being a young woman dealing with men, especially powerful men. Most of the men in the story are, at best, condescending, at worst, abusive, which is a lot of men who don't have to consider how oppressive the system is. This is really exemplified by the many men who comment or are described as liking how young Medusa is. This was also one of the least likable Hermes I have seen in a retelling so far (in the most positive way as this was very intentionally following how the author is writing men that live in this society). The only exception was her best friend Theo, who likely is more understanding due to being a slave. His being turned first was all tears for me. Athena was such an interesting character as a powerful woman living within this system. She took out any powerlessness she felt on other women, which is very real. And the scene with Poseidon threatening to SA her was so powerful. Additionally Poseidon in this story was truly a masterpiece. His orchestrating seemingly random encounters and saying just what she wanted to hear, to going cold to "punish" her after the first rejection, and ultimately the assault and discarding of her and lying to ruin her reputation. Wonderfully written. I really appreciated this aspect as a SA survivor.

Amazingly written. One of the most well written books I have read this year!

I wanted to love this as I have a deep fascination with retellings of Greek myths, but this just fell a little flat. I love the back story of Medusa and how she was raised and became a priestess but it just felt like she never grew up or gained strength. I kept waiting for some big monumental event to occur for her and it just never got there for me.

Amazingly well-written tale of Medusa and what could have been her origins. An innocent human girl, with no knowledge of "intercourse", is wronged and then turned into a "monster" by her beloved goddess Athena as punishment.

Despite my previous knowledge of Medusa, this was an original, beautiful and succulent novel that humanized the person behind the myth! This is a novel that I will purchase and re-read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read in advance. It's a masterpiece!

I am in awe of this book
I have been telling my friend about it every step of the way because I couldn't put it down
and already preordered a physical copy of it!
incredible!!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!

Thank you to Netgalley and to Random House Publishing for the gifted copy.

Absolutely obsessed with this retelling! I am a big Greek mythology fan, and this was no less up my alley! I have read so many retellings of Medusa and each one has been different or slightly different in its own way. Most people that have never read up on Medusa think that she's someone to fear. A woman who has serpents for a head of hair. A woman who can turn men into stone, but she was way more than that. Her actions had so many consequences, but I don't think that it made her a bad person. Trust is so easily given, but also so easily broken. I can't wait to have a physical copy of this book on my shelf!

I...I am shocked. This was such a triumph. I have loved Gray's YA books, and you can tell that this was the book of her heart that just yearning to get out! What an incredible reframing of such a well known myth giving Medusa--and all abused women--the agency they deserve. I cannot wait to talk about this with everyone! An absolute masterpiece!

"You are not a monster. You are only what they made you."

Get ready to ache in the best way. I, Medusa is a gorgeous origin story from one of the best voices in fantasy today. Gray's writing style evoked classic mythological story-telling in a way that was approachable, fresh, and immersive. It was impossible not to fall in love with Meddy and identify with her struggles as the sole mortal in a family of gods. From her desire to protect her loved ones while navigating the cruel whims of those who would exploit not only her naivete, but her innate strength, the moral complexities of Meddy's decisions were heart-wrenchingly believable and made all the more tragic by her maintained protective and merciful nature.

Thank you to Ayana Gray, Penguin Random House, and Netgalley for the ARC. It was an absolute pleasure to read this beautiful book!

Get this in the hands of readers who are new to mythological retellings, readers who love YA (I know this is technically adult, but it feels quite YA in places), and readers who knew Medusa was done dirty. Medusa apologists, rise up.

[NOTE: Unless otherwise stated, my NetGalley feedback is not a blurb or endorsement. If a publisher wishes to use any part of my comments for promotional purposes, please contact me or my agent via email. I would prefer not to include star ratings but NetGalley won't let me post without one, so all will be 5 stars.]

✨3.75

Oh Meddy, so naiveeeee

First, let me thank NetGalley & Random House Publishing for the ARC. (Pub Date Nov 18 2025)

Let me start by saying I was attracted to this book because of the cover, I can't even front lol. I know that this was the author's Adult debut, so give her some grace, but it did feel a bit YA at times. Also, I do not have much prior knowledge of Greek Mythology, but this was pretty easy to follow, and any mention of something I didn't know, I just hit the googs.

Meddy, aka Medusa's story, starts as a 17-year-old who is VERY sheltered. She is the only mortal in her family, so although the expectations of her is low, the protection of her is very high. Meddy was still very easy to love and root for. She's just a girl who wants to learn, explore, and see life outside of the island where she was born. Her love for seeing justice and helping others leads her into a world of trouble.

Though the writing can feel a bit YA at times, there are still mature themes/relationships through this book that I actually wish were explored more. I really wish the book was a bit longer, honestly, to flesh out some stories, more specifically the tension between Meddy's mother & Athena. I would have also loved to see more of Athena & Posiodon's relationship, and their fascination with Medusa could've been more fleshed out for me.

Overall, this was a heartbreaking tale of Medusa and how she was turned into the "monster" and myth we know today & I did enjoy it for the most part!

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of I, Medusa by Ayana Gray.

This was such a beautiful story about a girl with hope in her heart and dreams that spanned the length of the universe, and the unfortunate way that powerful people use their power for evil.

Ayana did such an amazing job of writing a young character who was realistically flawed, as she was a seventeen year old girl with little knowledge of how the world outside of her homeland looked.

I of course knew the ultimate outcome of this story, but the journey was breathtaking. I felt so many differing emotions over the course of the book—hopeful for her future, angry at those who stood in her way, happy because of the friends she made along the way.

I already know this book will stick with me for a long time and I can’t wait to read more books by Ayana in the future!

Very thankful to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! Let’s get into it:

I have always been fascinated by Greek Mythology so this was a win for me from the get. The writing itself is great- I love how vivid this story is! The descriptions of the gods, the island Medusa is from, the Sea Court, Athens, the Acropolis, the Agora, the Panathenaic Stadium and chariot races, etc are all so picturesque, I felt like I was really there. It was so easy to imagine, so immersive, and everything felt so beautiful. The authors descriptive language and scene setting is excellent, short and sweet without sacrificing on detail. The prose is also super easy to read and understand- sometimes mythology retellings get very wordy and lyrical which is something I don’t enjoy at all, but Ayana Grey is not one of those authors and I appreciated it a lot.

I also loved Medusa’s character- the scene where she decides she does not want to be like her mother, does not want to be in competition with other women or be threatened by other powerful women… it struck me light lightning. I loved it. I live for the short profound moments like that within works of fiction. That’s the kind of stuff that makes a story great and it’s the kind of thing that makes us want to be better people. Alternatively, Medusa is a little spoiled and does think that her intellect and eduction makes her better than others or above certain duties. I also like this bc it keeps her nuanced and real. She is not a perfect person, and she’s not right all the time. She is the victim of injustice but she also perpetuates injustice herself. She wants to right the wrongs she sees, but doesn’t know how to do that without committing a wrong herself. She wants to do the right thing, but continually chooses the wrong one. It makes her interesting and it makes this story compelling. It’s a classic example of “do the ends justify the means?”

I also loved the side characters- Apollonia was immediately endearing and sweet and I just wanted to hug her all the time. Theo was everything a man should be. Kallisto is the root of all evil and I hate her guts with the fire of a thousand suns and Athena and Poseidon aren’t far behind.

Now things I didn’t love about this book:

I had a big issue with Medusa’s naïveté and the general 1950s era morality standards everyone seems to have, as it felt very unrealistic and awkward. This is constantly brought up and honestly it’s just really weird. Medusa walks in on Poseidon with a nymph at the very beginning and repeatedly thinks that she has no idea what’s happening, despite seeing pretty explicitly what was going on in a fairly drawn out scene. This felt ridiculous- she’s the daughter of Titans. This is a Greek myth where everyone is the product of incestuous relationships and debauchery is a given. There’s no way she would be isolated from this (which is why I guess this strange 1950s evangelical standard of morality and shame is set up within the Pantheon so it would make sense? Even though it doesn’t). Historically, everyone knows what kind of environment the Greek Gods are said to be in all the time; they’re hedonistic pagans. That’s just a fact. The choice to make it the exact opposite while still keeping all of the infidelity and incest and assault just didn’t really make sense to me. I know this is a retelling, so there is some artistic license that allowed of course, but it felt really illogical to make Medusa (and also her sisters) this naïve. This topic is given the impression of being an embarrassing thing you don’t talk about and it just doesn’t fit. Greek Gods are the epitome of excess- I have a hard time believing a 17 year old demigod living on an island with her Titan parents among gods who have multiple wives, are married to their sister or even their daughter sometimes, own slaves, throw debauched parties etc, would have the knowledge of a ten year old about adult relationships and what goes on within them. She doesn’t even understand the concept of attraction; It’s just not realistic at all, and it’s brought up quite a few times in several different contexts (including prostitution and rape) in a way that feels really uncomfortable. Not only does it feel extremely unrealistic and just generally inaccurate to Greek Mythology and the culture of Athens at the time, it leads to a weird dichotomy of 1) Medusa is so naïve that it feels like that aspect of her character led the author to be extra descriptive in the way she outlines adult scenes/crimes and 2) the way those sexual crimes/trauma are described makes this entire story much more adult despite Medusa being made out to seem very young, sheltered, and ignorant. I don’t like anything about this character trait Medusa has been given, or the way it plays out in the plot (which ends up being very significant). It ended up going from awkward and uncomfortable to downright annoying in the way it became a central tenant to her character arc as well as the overall plot and it felt really unnecessary. Every plot point in the book could’ve been relayed exactly as it was without this weird sheltered innocent child-like girl vibe or the historical inaccuracies.

Because of this and other things, I would not consider this book YA even though I think it’s being categorized that way. IMO YA is considered appropriate for ages 14-18 and I would never give this to a 14 year old. The book opens with a scene of forced intimacy that’s pretty descriptive, leading to Medusa killing the man in revenge; obviously this theme continues as that is her entire mythology, but the story doesn’t pull any punches or describe things in a way that might make it a little more appropriate for younger audiences. (I do think if this was intended for younger audiences, the language used would be different and the trauma/darkness described in a less graphic way and less often. Brandon Sanderson in particular does this very well, particularly in his Mistborn series which does not shy away from things like prostitution, slavery or abuse, but he is also not overly descriptive in the situations arising from that. It’s much less graphic but still gets the point across just fine, which is why I feel like some of the situations in THIS book are fairly gratuitous and rocket this story into a much more adult category).

Now, the protagonist is 17 which generally is a writing rule that lets us know the age of the intended audience. But again, YA books typically are marketed to 14-18 year olds and end up in school libraries, and IMO, 17 would be the bare MINIMUM age this would be appropriate for.

This book is mature in theme throughout so I would personally categorize it as NA at the very least and here is some specific examples of why; *very minor spoilers* There is direct insinuation a visiting prince is a child predator with a descriptive *almost assault, there is an ACTUAL child predator (a priest) who impregnates a 12 year old, there’s some pretty descriptive sexual scenes throughout, and there is a lot of sexual assault, non consent and rape and even abortion. This book IS about rape culture, and the author relates that within her authors note. There are also lots of scenes of severe abuse of all kinds, both parental and spousal and of slaves; some of it might be considered to fall into a body horror category (ie missing limbs, gouged out eyes, bodies and body parts fed to animals, etc). Alcoholism leading to abuse or sex crimes or as a way to cope with abuse is a big theme as well. Not a high school library book for sure, which is why I feel like this is worth noting since it seems like this is going to be marketed as Young Adult and I just don’t feel comfortable with that at all. I’m not saying these things shouldn’t be talked about or don’t have a place in fiction or even that it was inappropriate within the context of this story- if you’re picking up a book about Medusa and you know anything about Greek Mythology at all, none of this is super surprising. I AM saying the audience reading this book should be firmly adult. These are all themes that take maturity to consider and think about and form beliefs about. Not all stories have to be morally good or only filled with wholesome things and honestly, this one isn’t. Theres really nothing wholesome about it. And I do think there’s a place for that, for the harsh realities of life displayed in a very realistic and descriptive way (because we should be honest about the atrocities committed against others, and stories, like life, are only good when they contain both highs and lows) but in my opinion, the place for THIS story is not within the YA genre.

All that said, the writing and the story itself is done spectacularly and very well paced. It’s painful and raw but it’s relatable. It champions the protection of women which I will always get behind. And storytelling wise, I loved the slow descent Medusa makes into evil. Her childhood, her family, the harm done to her by men, and the revelations she receives from her mother along the way, revealing family and generational trauma were done so well. With the exception of her weird naïveté, it all made a lot of sense and you can feel the anti-hero type villain origin story happening in a very logical and organic way as she collects more and more trauma, as more and more crimes are committed against her and other women. It’s very morally grey, dark and twisty, and while I don’t feel that is appropriate for younger audiences it IS a really good story that’s well told with so much nuance and morality to chew on. I couldn’t put it down, and that’s always a win for me! So for me, 4 stars, but viewer discretion is advised.

I, Medusa by Ayana Gray is a great historical fiction that really drew me in.

I enjoyed this rendition and focus on the infamous Medusa, especially the attention paid to her young adult life before being cursed.

The author does project a YA feel at some points during the novel, however she was younger, so that was expected. She also did a great job handling the more serious and adult themes when telling the story of the fascinating and complicated character of Medusa.

4.5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Random House for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 11/18/25.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the e-ARC of I, Medusa!
5 / 5 ⭐
A beautifully written reimagining of the myths, I, Medusa, is the latest iteration of the gorgon’s tale, focused almost exclusively on her time before Athena’s punishment. While it holds the standard tw for SA for any Medusa retellings, I felt everything was handled delicately and was well nuanced. Thoroughly enjoyable read.

This is what I had wanted Stoneblind to be.

I did have to dock a star though simply because the story felt incomplete. There was so much of the story that focused on her life prior to being cursed, but it felt as though a lot of that momentum fell off at that point.

I still thoroughly enjoyed the story, however, and intend to purchase a copy upon release. Thank you to all involved in allowing me the opportunity to review the ARC.