I don't read many books about greek mythology but this was a good read! I was surprised how quickly I got through this- it was interesting to read more about the classic myths and how they intertwine! Recommend

I admit, I'm a sucker for a myth or fairy tale retelling done well, and this was a great read. Many people know the story of Medusa, but as it's said the victors write history, and this is a peek into the other side of the story. Medusa was once a girl with hopes and dreams and struggles all her own before being turned into a gorgon, and this is the engaging story of her life. Highly recommend for anyone who loves mythology and alternate tellings.

I did not care for this book. I know that it was from Medousa's point of view, but this story just did not resonate with me. I felt it was flat, and unconvincing.

To each their own!

I love retellings so I was intrigued when I heard about "Medousa" and this retelling definitely didn't disappoint.

I liked how Butchin put a new spin on well-known myths, including not only the story of Medousa but also touching on the fall of Troy, Heracles, and the war between Titans and Olympians.

The main weakness of this novel, in my opinion, is that it felt somewhat repetitive at points with characters making the same point over and over again, but the overall story is still fascinating and kept my interest throughout.

I liked Medousa as a protagonist and her suffering and doubts were realistically portrayed and her trauma was never made light of during the novel. The ending was somewhat abrupt but that just added to the story's tragedy.

This novel certainly managed to portray the Olympians in a different light and they were probably the most unlikable characters in the novel, which makes sense in terms of the story, but didn't really make their actions more palatable.

Overall, this is a fantastic retelling that puts a spin on a well-known tale.

This is a retelling of a tale that anyone with any interest in Greek Mythology should read; it really changed my perception of what I had learned years ago.

Medousa was considered less than a human from the time her family was killed and she was mad a slave, only two humans ever treated her with any kindness in the palace and they were unable to protect her. She would have been much better off if Athena had never noticed her. If the Greek goddesses and gods were so powerful, why did she not look into the future of the human who supposedly meant so much to her? After all, a prophet saw this possible future for her and if Athena cared so much she could have kept her away from the sea, she could have made the priestess at the local temple accept Medousa as an acolyte. To punish her as she did for something that she had no control over and then to punish her again once she was dead was too much!

5/5 STARS:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2365568914?type=review#rating_163852886

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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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.

Gave it up at the 24% mark. I just couldn't bring myself to go any further. The plot was okay, but the writing was ridiculously trite and "junior high"ish. The dialogue between the characters was, at best, worthy of great eye rolls and, at worst, so horrible and unbelievable it made me want to throw the book across the room. Plus, the book was just SOOOOOOOOOO SLOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW. I wanted to finish it; I really did. There have only been maybe two times in my entire life that I didn't finish a book that I had started, and it killed me to add a third to that, but this book just really, Really, REALLY wasn't for me.

Quite interesting interpretation of Medusa (Μέδουσα), the famous Gorgon in Greek mythology: the story follows her as a young girl whose family is killed in a raid and she is taken as a slave by the Spartans. It depicts her fears and hopes, shows her friends and enemies, and the ordeals she is subjected to, making her become the monster (?) that is known in mythology.
I like how the author rendered the Gods and heroes of Antic Greece, far from the way I used to see them as a child.

Sensitive topics: rape (and I liked that it was accentuated through the text that blaming the girls for being raped is totally not fair); lesbianism

Wonderful retelling of a villain whose life and story was so misunderstood. A villain known by everyone, Medousa was once a girl who wanted to love and be loved. Yet she was faced with so much misfortune. But through the tragedy, she continued to fight through and to find herself. This book was so intriguing and told a different side of the story, the side of the villain.

Would recommend to those who love greek mythology

This was a very interesting take on Medousa, definitely not one I have seen before. This is the story of Medousa written from her perspective. It was fresh and very well written. "Medousa" has all the elements that I am looking for in a book! It was an emotional rollercoaster!

The hardest thing to read was the constant sexual assault and feeling of helplessness I felt for Medousa! The parallel of the victim shaming to society these days was blaring! She is constantly wronged and hurt and the blame is constaly thrust onto her. Though she finds joy and happiness it in a few relationships it is constantly stolen. It was hard to watch the way Medousa was treated and you dearly wanted her to have her revenge.

There was such a beauty to the love scenes, as well. Nothing too graphic! It was so enjoyable to read because you could feel the love in it and not carnal lust. I loved watching her strength rise and then her ability to control that very strength and direct it and harness it as opposed to being owned by it. She shows this strength as a human and also as the monster.

The constant sexual assault was not easy to read, but it was so necessary for the story and for the lesson of it for today! Women are constantly looked at as objects of men's "affection" and always blamed when the situation goes awry. I appreciate any story that explains the emotions of the ACTUAL victim and hope that more people would understand the hurt and confusion that comes with being assaulted. Nobody should feel any kind of punishment when they are sexually assaulted!

This was such a great story, heartbreaking but also very empowering.

What a wonderful little book. This novel follows a recent trend of humanising the Greek and Roman myths (or am I noticing it more because I am addicted to BBC's Troy?) A wonderful literary take on the scapegoated woman, very refreshing.

A not so classic tale of the great MEDUSA.
I have always been intrigued by the story of Medusa, what causes her to become so vile? What ancient curse changed her life? Was she always evil?
This fresh new story of one of the most popular Greek Gods, MEDUSA , answers all these questions plus much more, it takes you on an adventure into the life of Medusa, through her perspective. This is her story and she's here to tell it.
This book reads as an epic novel, it starts from the beginning of Medusa's life. As a young toddler her family was murdered & she was sold of as a slave. It follows her adolescence where she finds love as a handmaiden to a Princess. Her life continues as she trains to become a high priestess in ATHENAS TEMPLE. Soon after she is thrown into a life filled with betrayal, rape, heartache, injustice & deception. As Medusa endures tribulation after tribulation, she becomes vengeful , her heart hardens & is filled with hate .
I thoroughly enjoyed this book although I must admit I found myself becoming irritated by some of the writing. It sometimes read as if two high school teenagers from 2018 were having conversations with each other instead of two Ancient Greeks. Some of the language was so modern it felt so out of place- I found myself skipping conversations between Medusa, Cynisca & Helen.

Overall, this felt like a refreshing take on the legend of Medousa, and examining through fiction how some of the myths about her may have come about. There is experience of madness through essentially the solitary confinement of not being able to interact with other beings. She also learns over time to control both her anger and urge to lash out - both as a human and later as a Gorgon, when she learns to leash her fatal power.

Large amounts of pain and suffering form Medousa’s tale, with times of joy and repose. Sensual without being graphic, there are lovely bits depicting the love, romance and sexual relationship between Medousa and Cynisca as young mortal women. Love, longing, and the sadness of missing an absent lover are major threads woven throughout.

Slavery, and the desire for being able to decide her life for herself are major issues for Medousa early in the novel. Once her freedom is won, she is still constrained through societal expectations, including those who knew her while she was still a slave, and her own ingrained attitudes from living as a slave.

The casual sexual assault and harassment was something I could read through, but the author’s portrayal of Athena’s response to the rape of Medousa in her temple I found really difficult to deal with, due to how I have experienced and heard others recount people reacting to sexual assault and rape in real life. While it reflects Ovid’s telling, (which I had forgotten about in the intervening years), the sheer victim blaming of her words is brutal.

While horrific and hard to deal with, it does remind the reader that the Greek Pantheon of Goddesses and Gods were not only the positive aspects commonly associated and interpetted in beginner neo-Pagan and New Age books, but also the sheer brutality contained within mythology and poetry that tends to get edited out in reinterpretations or versions parsed for high school audiences. (Granted, there is a whole other discussion about male authorship and misogyny in classical Greek texts).

For anyone dealing with issues around experienced sexual harassment, assault, or rape, the victim blaming of other characters (and at times, from Medousa towards herself) may be difficult to read, especially pronouncements from characters on her guilt of simply existing provoking or being responsible for the attack.