Anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE mythology fan and a lover of retellings that center women. So it’s a no-brainer that Ariadne has been on my list since I first saw it announced.

Though many largely know Ariadne from her role in helping Theseus defeat the Minotaur (her half-brother), this retelling wraps up that storyline within the first 100 pages. It was a pretty slow start for me, with lots of background and focus on Theseus, but it opened the door for a much richer and more heartbreaking story fully focused on Ariadne and her sister Phaedra that had me fully enraptured.

Early on a young Ariadne decides that if it came down to it, if the gods tried to punish her for the actions of a man, she would be like Medusa: “I would wear that coronet of snakes, and the world would shrink from me instead.” Throughout her life we se this resolve impact her decisions and her beliefs, forever changing her own life and the life of her sister.

I finished this one about a week or so ago and it’s been sitting with me ever since. It’s a tragedy. To read that resolve and determination early on and then watch Ariadne and Phaedra experience the choices that they made for themselves, the choices that were taken from them, their divergent journeys into womanhood and empowerment, and their endings…it’s a slow heartache and sparks some anger/frustration to say the least.

This book is powerful in its commentary on the fate of women and the pain that is often endured because of the hubris and mistakes of men. The “heroes”, gods, and “great men” that have been the focal point for so long are critiqued and shown without the glamour that is often afforded to them.