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I really wanted to love this one, but it was SUCH a chore to get through. I think this would have worked better for me in print, as I really needed to access the character list often and I disliked the author‘s narration. Billed as Medusa‘s story, Medusa is only a minor character in this telling of the Greek Gods & Goddesses. I was surprisingly bored and out of sorts. Disappointing #WomensPrize23LongList #52Books23 #GreekMythology

#BookReport I enjoyed all 4 books this week but especially Stone Blind. It really lifted my mood. I am finally making progress on The Last Garden for #LMPBC and changed to In Dubious Battle for my next Steinbeck on my dad‘s recommendation.

I have never been a fan of Medusa‘s story…because SNAKES…UGH, but I loved this book on audio. It has a cheekiness to it that I adored. I may not remember it down the road but the reading experience was perfection and I can see myself revisiting it in the future. 5 🌟. #WomensPrize #Longlist

My favourite of Natalie Haynes‘ novels so far I think! I really love how many perspectives she writes from and how many mythological figures get to tell a fragment of the story. I also love how she goes very deep into choosing some characters few people have heard of, but it never stops me understanding the story. I really hope this gets through to the short list stage of the #womensprizeforfiction #womensprizeforfiction2023

I struggled with the first half of this - too many characters and different POVs. (The character list of over 30 names almost put me off)

When all the threads began to draw together I started to enjoy it, and it turned out to be rather witty too, as you said @rmaclean4 , but it won‘t be one of my favourites on the Women‘s Prize long list.

#52books23 #featuring mythology
#pop23 #abookwithmythicalcreatures

Very funny and pointed greek myth retelling. I laughed out loud several times. I enjoyed it but would be surprised if it made my top reads of the year. 3.5 🌟
#womensprize23 #52bookclub23 #mythology @LauraReads @KarenUK @britt_brooke @CarolynM @Smarkies @LeeRHarry @Clwojick @BookBelle84 @jennifer80 @Librarybelle @triplem80 @AshleyHoss820 @Read4life @Bluebird @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB @ravenlee @Deblovestoread @jlhammar @MicheleinPhilly

For a book that claims to be a retelling of Medusa, there was very little of Medusa in it. The book's chapters were all different POVs (some had nothing to do with Medusa or Perseus), and yet every chapter read exactly the same. Somehow, Natalie Haynes managed to make the Medusa and Perseus myth so incredibly dull.

I LOVED Pandora‘s Jar, so I was eager to read this. Instead of commentary, this is fiction - a myth retelling of Medusa and Perseus. In this house, we stan Medusa! I think it was a good book, and I was surprised by some twists Haynes made, but I keep forgetting how ultimately sad most myth retellings are. They dig deeper into the characters, exposing different sides, but the ending is ultimately the same. Though Athens‘s ending here is surprising!

What a clever and witty retelling of the Medusa myth! I love when a book can make me laugh and feel sorrow all with such lovely prose. Medusa and her Gorgon sisters are the sympathetic figures here while Perseus and the Olympians are hilariously petty, vain and whiny. Definitely recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A witty reimagining of the tale of Medusa, as seen through a feminist lens. Medusa was raped by Poseidon in Athene‘s temple… and Medusa is the one who is punished. Athene curses her to turn every living thing she sees into stone. Multiple points of view are employed, including the understandably wrathful voice of the Gorgoneion, the head of Medusa that has been made into an amulet. Audiobook read by the author shows her passion for her subject.

Apollo has always had a weak spot for trees. Ask Daphne, she‘ll tell you. Well, no, I suppose she won‘t tell you because she turned into a tree rather than be raped by the archer. And even then, he couldn‘t resist tweaking her leaves. Trees have a word for that sort of behaviour.

Athene planted the rest of this olive grove to celebrate her victory. In case you didn‘t know, victors in competitions in Athens are still given olive wreaths as prizes. We are the most jubilant of trees.

Seems a good time to start my library hold that came in!!

Saturday morning vibeπŸ“–β˜•οΈβ€¦priceless ❀️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Picked up today at library definitely starting this the weekend!!

It‘s taken me ages to finish this but I did really enjoy although not as much as her last book. It‘s beautifully lyrical and with multiple narrators and perspectives feels both old and fresh at the same time. My one slight regret even in this telling Medusa is still not quite her own woman.

All these stories about women fascinate me so much. I think it is really a great power to write such a moving story, when there's only the male point of view to go from. My favorite characters were the Gorgon sisters. The book also made me think about "monsters" and about who decides who is called a monster.
Some of the POV's were not really my cup of tea. But the snakes on the other hand made the most emotional chapter.
I'm glad I read this book.

5/5 πŸŒ•πŸŒ•πŸŒ•πŸŒ•πŸŒ• Beautiful writing βœ’οΈ. I was very surprised by how much I loved this #greekmythology #medusa #perseus #poseidon #retelling #greekretelling

This fairly true-to-mythology retelling of Medussa was a compelling look into the life of one of the most interesting figures from Greek Mythology. Featuring a wide array of POVs, we get to see the entirely of the story, though the narrator is always sympathetic with Medusa as is good and right. I particularly loved the intersections from Medusa's beheaded head who is full of indignant fury. TW for lots of rape, because, you know, Greek gods.

These were the books gifted to me from my son. I look forward to them all.

This wasn‘t exactly what I expected it to be; I was expecting it to be more focussed on Medusa‘s POV. Instead it takes in the whole story of how and why Medusa turned from beautiful woman to decapitated gorgon, wholly as a result of others‘ petty squabbles. I can‘t quite equate Haynes‘ petulant Athene with a goddess of Intelligence and Wisdom, but it does provide a theory as to why Athene chose to punish the victim, not the perpetrator.

#BookReport for last week - Finished Pandora‘s Jar, and I‘m c60% through Stone Blind, both by Natalie Haynes.

#WeeklyForecast I‘ll finish Stone Blind either today or tomorrow, and start on A Terrible Kindness; the latter is my book club‘s choice for a next meeting in early December, it‘s centred around the Aberfan disaster of 1966.

@Cinfhen

Starting this one today 😊

Gorgeous venue for a session on Natalie Haynes' latest book.

They fear us, so they call us monsters.

I'm wondering if you still think of her as a monster. I suppose it depends on what you think that word means. Monsters are, what? Ugly? Terrifying? Gorgons are both these things, certainly, although Medusa wasn't always. Can a monster be beautiful if it is still terrifying? Perhaps it depends on how you experience fear and judge beauty.

They had looked forward to her talking. But now Sthenno felt there should be more time between a child beginning to speak and a child asking questions of every single thing she could see or not see, from the birds in the sky to the wind in her hair. Why, why, why.

My very shiny (covered by the library) copy of Stone Blind.

The only good thing about Zeus's sexual incontinence, his wife Hera had often thought, was its extreme brevity. His desire, pursuit and satiation were so short-lived that she could almost convince herself of their irrelevance. If only it didn't invariably result in offspring. More and more gods and demi gods...

Fascinating, more sympathetic portyral of the making of the more famous Gorgon Sisters (an ancient Greek version of Keeping up with the Kardashians? πŸ€”) As told from Medusa's POV.

#Teamslaughter

#StoneBlind was the perfect book for my holiday on Corfú. It‘s Haynes best book so far. We get multiple perspectives and everyoneβ€˜s background and the gods are actually portrayed as immortal & powerful. Great writing and storytelling.

#greekmythology #retelling #nataliehaynes

Just perfect.

Beautifully written and full of depth and richness in terms of both character and plot.

At times it is heartbreaking and rage inducing and at other times it is funny and touching.

Incredible

Thanks to the British Library - my online date card for the autumn is filling up! πŸ‘πŸΌπŸ‘πŸΌπŸ‘πŸΌ