Well, thanks to you guys, I was able to find a reputable fellow who will be able to undertake my corrections! Thank you all! What’s more, the proofreader and editor I found used to do work for CreateSpace, so he’s even familiar with their format.

Of course, what really brings me to today’s post, are two new reviews I happened to spot just today. They aren’t stellar, as in five star reviews. But three star reviews that are honest and actually grok the themes of my work are even more valuable to me. It shows the reader was really paying attention, not just throwing out any old scores.

Devann, reviewer at GoodReads rated it: liked it

Shelves: z-18-netgalley, z-18-05-mythical-may, 3-star, a-adult, c-arcs, g-historical-fiction, sg-mythology

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley

This was actually a very impressive book, both in terms of the story and the sheer scope of it, but although I did enjoy it I also can’t really rate it higher than 3 stars for a couple of reasons [although your mileage may vary because it really is such an interesting project]. The first was just the length of the book. This book is very very long and I have a very very short attention span. I know a lot of people like longer books, but most of what I read is about half the length of this so it was definitely a bit of struggle in that regard.

It makes sense that it is so long because it covers Medousa’s entire life from the time she is five until she dies, but at times I found myself wishing things would hurry along a little bit. Something I did really like is that it included a lot of other characters from Greek history / mythology. For example, Medousa is friends with Helen as a child and the Trojan war takes place during her lifetime. She also spends quite a lot of with the Amazons and other people/creatures you will recognize. This makes for a very long story, but it is also interesting how the author combined all of these things from different eras into one story.

The summary of this book says that it goes “from a brutal childhood of slavery in Sparta, to [Meouda’s] death at the hands of the hero Perseus on a remote island at the end of the world”, and I just really want to focus on the word BRUTAL there because it was just hard to read sometimes. I mean I thought I had prepared myself because I knew the whole rape thing with Poseidon was going to be in there, but Medousa was basically dealing with sexual assault and rape threats her entire life up until that point and it was just very heavy and I wasn’t entirely prepared for it.

I will say that it was all handled, I think, as respectfully as possible and also with the right message in mind. If you’re a woman who reads a lot of fantasy you will know what I mean when I say that sometimes you are reading a book by a man and there’s a rape scene that absolutely doesn’t need to be there at all and it definitely seems like he’s enjoying writing it WAY too much. THIS IS NOT THAT BOOK. The narrative actually spends a lot of time focusing on how Medousa realizes that what happened to her wasn’t her fault, and the author spends a lot of time in his author’s note talking about why he wrote this book and how horrible it is that thousands of years later women are still being blamed when they are attacked or raped.

It was definitely an interesting story and I’m glad that I read it, but I also struggled with it a lot both in terms of length and subject matter and I think it ended up taking me over two weeks to read it. I think it’s one of those books that you definitely can’t read all in one go and is better if you pace yourself.

Katie.dorny’s review May 06, 2018

really liked it

bookshelves: 2018

This book was a fucking journey. And it completely 180’d my perception of the Gods, Olympians and the legends within Greek mythology.

The story details the life of Medousa, from child stolen to serve as a slave, to young woman battling for self respect and a place within society – all under the watchful eye of the goddess Athena.

It details her dramatic transformation into a Gorgon and the decades that follow – that part of her stream of consciousness was tough to read as you could feel the despair she felt.

It was a wonderful book overall and I’m excited to read others in this vein and more by this author.

*Arc received by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Graph: READING PROGRESS

April 18, 2018 – Shelved

April 18, 2018 – Shelved as: to-read

April 29, 2018 – Started Reading

April 29, 2018 – page 2

0.3% “I got the arc and I’m so intrigued I want to finish it before starting the others i have.”

April 29, 2018 – page 108

16.27% “I think there could be .. lesbians. This is a twist i am so glad i did not see coming.”

April 30, 2018 – page 172

25.9% “This is such a beautiful and loving lesbian relationship. Why the fuck it gotta be torn apart. I know the bullshit is around the corner.”

May 2, 2018 – page 271

40.81% “The lesbians are thriving I’m happy to report.”

May 5, 2018 – page 380

57.23% “Medusa’s inner monologue of turning in a gorgon is hurting my heart.”

May 6, 2018 – page 527

79.37% “This is probably my favourite Greek mythology re-telling book so far!”

May 6, 2018 – Shelved as: 2018

May 6, 2018 – Finished Reading