moonytoast's reviews
253 reviews

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Thank you to the team at Atria Books for sending me a physical ARC of this book!

My fellow queer Greek mythology and Frankenstein enjoyers.... DO I HAVE A BOOK FOR YOU!!!!!!

Eilish Quin’s Medea follows the titular character from Greek myth from her childhood on the island of Kolchis, where she begins to learn the art of witchcraft, to the high seas alongside Jason and the Argonauts to the city of Corinth. The book seems to ask: Whose narratives are perceived as monstrous and whose are not? What do the monsters we fear—or hate—most say about us? When monsters can take mythic or mortal form, what do we define as monstrosity? Lush with its writing style and character interiority, Medea is an amazing addition to the growing body of feminist Greek myth retellings.

Content Warnings

Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

3.75

Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes

Go to review page

funny informative medium-paced

4.25

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers for providing me with a digital ARC of this book!

In a time where retellings and reimaginings of Greek mythology are at the height of their cultural relevance—see the current adaptation of Percy Jackson & the Olympians and the continued success of Hadestown on Broadway—Natalie Haynes never fails to breathe some fresh air and new ideas into the public conversation around these myths. This is true of her previous works and of Divine Might, which delves into the goddesses at the heart of many Greek myths... and some who, despite their lack of narrative importance in such stories as the Titanomachy, still held an almost omnipresent space in ancient Greek culture.

Haynes does not just focus on the past importance of these goddesses to ancient Greeks and Romans, though she does excellently examine their roles throughout various poems and epics and their role in the lives of ancient Greeks. She also looks at the way the modern world and media landscape continues engage with these myths and divine figures, our current ideas and values shaping our own perceptions of these goddesses and their stories. (The chapter about Artemis features a brief but delighted mention about the character of Katniss Everdeen.)

The standout chapters for me are on Hestia, Demeter, and Athene, with an honorable mention of The Furies, but every chapter is well written and infused with Haynes' pension for dry humor, candor, and nuanced love for these myths. I always come out of Haynes' works with new eyes for the iconic stories from Greek mythology.

Content Warnings

Baby Dragon, Baby Dragon! by Melissa Marr, Lena Podesta

Go to review page

lighthearted

3.25

read this to gauge whether it would be a good addition to my list of books to highlight during our library’s summer reading program this year, safe to say i think this will be a cute book to share with our younger patrons about adventure and unlikely friendship

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

Content Warnings

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.

This is reminding me a bit too much of my experience reading A Little Friend by Donna Tartt, but without the well-built intrigue—too many characters, too slow in introducing the crux of the plot, and a lack of care I felt as a reader for some of these points of view. If this was only restricted to the POVs of Tova and Marcellus, the Pacific octopus, I think it would be a much tighter story and feel less busy and unfocused.

I could theoretically push myself through the rest of this book until an actual plot develops, but I’m trying to be better about giving myself the space to DNF books.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced