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A review by anitaxlit
Argo by Mark Knowles
Did not finish book. Stopped at 65%.
Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I'd like to start my review saying that this is a well-written book and that I truly believe others will enjoy it. I was very excited when I got approved to read it. This is the first time I see a novelization of the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, and though I'm no fan of Jason I'm a sucker for all things mythology so I really could pass on this one.
Argo is packed with adventure but doesn't neglect lyricism, including the right measure of poignant descriptions of the landscape. As I read, I was truly curious to see where the story was going, but every time I went to pick up the book I had to convince myself to do it. At first I wasn't sure where my hesitation was coming from, but when I reached the 60% mark I realised that this book simply holds no emotion. The events taking place are tragic, as a reader I would've expected to be in tears several times but instead I felt nothing towards what I was reading. Jason experiences traumatic situations that you forget about a few pages after they take place, until he recalls them later with, again, very little emotion.
Another issue I had was with the way the characters spoke. It felt anachronistic and it completely took me away from the story. At certain points the characters seemed to recall they were living in Ancient Greece and spoke accordingly, but otherwise the dialogues felt too present-day-like.
Finally, I did not appreciate how women were written in this story. They are treated poorly and most of them are mean or forgettable. Perhaps it's because lately I've mostly read books written by women, but I simply could tell that the story had been written by a man with every page.
These are my personal reasons for dropping Argo. Again, it is well-written and I'm certain others will enjoy it, I hope readers will give it a chance! With that gorgeous cover, I'm sure it will attract people's attention.
I'd like to start my review saying that this is a well-written book and that I truly believe others will enjoy it. I was very excited when I got approved to read it. This is the first time I see a novelization of the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, and though I'm no fan of Jason I'm a sucker for all things mythology so I really could pass on this one.
Argo is packed with adventure but doesn't neglect lyricism, including the right measure of poignant descriptions of the landscape. As I read, I was truly curious to see where the story was going, but every time I went to pick up the book I had to convince myself to do it. At first I wasn't sure where my hesitation was coming from, but when I reached the 60% mark I realised that this book simply holds no emotion. The events taking place are tragic, as a reader I would've expected to be in tears several times but instead I felt nothing towards what I was reading. Jason experiences traumatic situations that you forget about a few pages after they take place, until he recalls them later with, again, very little emotion.
Another issue I had was with the way the characters spoke. It felt anachronistic and it completely took me away from the story. At certain points the characters seemed to recall they were living in Ancient Greece and spoke accordingly, but otherwise the dialogues felt too present-day-like.
Finally, I did not appreciate how women were written in this story. They are treated poorly and most of them are mean or forgettable. Perhaps it's because lately I've mostly read books written by women, but I simply could tell that the story had been written by a man with every page.
These are my personal reasons for dropping Argo. Again, it is well-written and I'm certain others will enjoy it, I hope readers will give it a chance! With that gorgeous cover, I'm sure it will attract people's attention.