I liked the premise/idea of this, and from the beginning I could tell that it had many elements of a successful retelling. Where this falls flat for me is in the characterization--I never really connected with Phaedra or felt anything except for a vague annoyance at her continued naivety. The story is told from multiple perspectives, but one of them felt extraneous. At first, I was excited that this person was included, but they didn't seem to actually do much of anything. I felt most connected/invested in two of the more transient character perspectives, which were more compelling than Phaedra. Although certain aspects of the myths are compressed to make for a more condensed plot, I appreciated the descriptions of the labyrinth and aspects of Cretan life. The beginning is stronger than the middle and end, however, I did like the sense of closure achieved by the character perspective chosen for the last chapter. If this author writes more Greek myth retellings, I would be interested in reading them.

It’s hard not to compare this book disfavorably to Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne (and in some ways Madeline Miller’s Circe) which similarly highlights the greed and ambition of Theseus and the plight of the women in his orbit but in a much deeper and more nuanced way. In general, I didn’t enjoy the writing itself and found the author’s choice to change up well-established elements of this myth, distracting. For example, in this book the Athenian tributes are not brought to Crete to die in the labyrinth but to just hang out in there safely for a few hours and then live a life of relative plenty as servants, which apparently is a step up for their lives in Athens. The labyrinth is also not that hard to get in and out of. Perhaps it seemed like a cool twist on this well known tale but in practice it upends all the logic underlying the myth. I enjoy these types of retellings of well-known myths and have read a lot of them, but this one was not one of my favorites.

Summary: Phaedra the younger daughter of Minos, sister to both the Minotaur and Ariadne, and eventually wife to Theseus gets to tell her side of things in this retelling starting from Theseus entering into the Labyrinth and ending with Phaedra married and miserable in Athenes with Theseus’s son Hippolytus and the drama and that unfolds with them.

Thoughts: I am loving the retelling and the feministic take on these myths, the women of these stories had been vastly ignored and it's always fun to see things from their side. Phaedra is just a young girl in the beginning and she doesn't really understand how the world works but she is very aware of one thing and that is that the Gods will punish basically anyone and everyone and she knows that Theseus will get his after betraying his hosts and killing the Minotaur. I really like Phaedra and felt really bad for her she was really stuck with a horrible choice and no right decision to make. I just wished we saw more of her with her sister and Theseus, he's gone for most of the book and so while we know that he's a horrible husband he doesn't really treat Phaedra super badly, he just ignores her and so naturally she starts noticing his age appropriate son. The story is one I was well aware of so the ending while tragic is not unexpected to anyone family with the myth though I did like how much the ending was explored. I also liked how the chapters began with a summary by the chorus. the chorus/ muses summaries in the beginning were super fun and my favorite part of the book I would read was written just as their summaries. overall a fun retelling of the myth with no real surprises.

I wanted to love this novel. I have adored all the retellings of Greek Myths that have come out recently and I was excited to add another to my list. I was not gripped by this story. I didn't really feel like the change in POVs advanced the plot and I found it difficult to become invested in them. Her writing style wasn't my cup of tea and that's okay.

3.5/5 stars

This was a good Greek myth retelling that tracked the life of Phaedra, certainly the forgotten Cretan princess in most retellings. While the book was difficult to read at some points, it was really interesting and wove together a number of stories about Theseus, Ariadne, Hippolytus, and Phaedra.

One area I did struggle with was the assumed changes to classic Greek myths in the book. Here's what I mean: in this novel, the tributes sent from Athens do not die in the labyrinth, but are rather kept in Crete as servants/soldiers. I didn't mind this change but I would have perferred it was explained and examined more. It felt like a throw away plot but it changes the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur quite a lot. As does the implication that the Minotaur was a regular human being (potentially with a visible disability if I understood the implication correctly). In these cases, I felt that the changes need explanation (not why they were changed but what that change meant broadly for the story).

The story of Phaedra has always been a story of second-best. Second-best to her sister, second-best for Theseus, and second-best in storytelling. I am always intrigued to see how her story is interpreted, as it never made sense to me that she would go with Theseus. I always assumed she was the standard woman viewed as property and a means for heirs. This retelling took Phaedra's story and loosely wove around it.

Firstly, I can't enjoy any mythological retelling that implies the gods were not real. Greek Mythology stems from a genuine culture and belief system that may seem unrealistic to us now but was still a huge part of Greek history. I don't understand why authors feel the need to rationalize and explain the gods away with circumstance and socialist/feminist commentary. Without giving too many spoilers here, I will say that Shepperson took MANY liberties with Ariadne's story, the Minotaur, and the characterizations of centuries-old figures in Greek myth. It started feeling like "So why does this all matter?" and "How is this feminism?"

This novel did a better job of actually being a more feminist retelling than other novels similar to it. It wasn't just the same old story of Theseus repackaged from a woman's view. However, the parts that really shone (like the Night Chorus or the trial against Hippolytus) left me wanting. It was a wave to #MeToo that stopped at emphasizing women's powerless when I felt it could have continued on to women's power as well.

All-in-all, this was more interesting than most of the recently released adaptations I have read but fell short for different reasons. All I want from historians-turned-authors is to write a complex retelling that includes the culture of the time instead of trying to explain around it.

in this retelling of the classic method of Phaedra, we are given the points of view of our main character but also points of view from the supporting cast of characters in her story. This includes, but is not limited to, an Athenian pledge who is sent to Crete and gets lost in the labyrinth, a bull jumper, Phaedra’s maid, and an Athenian adviser to the king.

This retelling seems to be pretty true to the original story, and I don’t feel like there was much added to the original content matter- except for a potential answer to a death and the other points of view. It is there that I am left a little unsatisfied by this novel.

I want to preface by saying that I am pretty critical when it comes to classic Greek mythological retellings. I think that a retelling needs to be either absolutely perfect or it needs to offer a new perspective to the old stories. What Madeline Miller does so well is that she takes characters that we think we know their story and she flips the script. I don’t feel like that happened here and I don’t feel like the retelling was picture perfect enough for it to just be 98% of the original source material.

Additionally, with a story about a woman, especially one who is treated so poorly historically, I expected and hoped that this book would have a feminist narrative or would show our main character as the captain of her own life. Technically, one could argue that that happens at the end of the story but it seems too little too late.

This story hinged so much on a female suffering and there wasn’t enough female empowerment or a female power in general that it just left me feeling empty, a little upset, and just unsatisfied. That’s not to say that every story needs to be a happy story, but I think we could’ve still gotten to the same end goal with Phaedra‘s fate while also seeing her step into her own power a little bit earlier in the story.

This was also true with how Medea was written. She is an incredibly powerful woman, who at this point in the story already became the captain of her own ship, but in this retelling she just seemed weak and forgettable.

The writing was good. I enjoyed the night chorus and how the novel was set up by acts. I’m sure that many people will really enjoy this retelling, but I just wanted a little bit more.

Based on the Greek myth of Theseus, Hippolytus, and Phaedra. A feminist retelling of the story. Theseus killed the Minotaur and first took Ariadne, the older sister, then Phaedra, the younger sister as his bride to Athens. Athens was a terrible place for women. Night after night, Phaedra listens to the night chorus of women in the palace who are raped and beaten. When Hippolytus, Theseus’ beloved son and heir rapes Phaedra and leaves her for dead while Theseus is gone campaigning for democracy, she decides to fight back. Using Theseus’ new found democracy, Hippolytus is put on trial. The verdict changes everything. Great read for feminists and myth lovers alike!

After finishing this book I want to know who on the editing team thought this was well developed enough to make it to being published. As the book went on the writing quality became increasingly juvenile until it was almost unreadable. Various POV chapters from random characters have no meaning to the story and instead made reading disjointed and confusing.

This book is more of a Greek mythology fanfiction than a myth retelling. Characters spoke, acted, and displayed modern values and language. The sparse descriptions of the setting and lack of world building made me question is the author knew anything about Ancient Greece before writing.

One star because I'll read anything Greek mythology related.

Being a huge fan of Greek mythology retellings, I was immediately drawn to the title and the description given for this debut. The sister to Ariadne and wife to Theseus, my prior knowledge of Phaedra was very basic, and I was eager to learn her story. I have since seen complaints that the story strays from the legend and that it is received negatively. I am not bothered by this in the least, as it's my perception that an author is giving us a work of fiction and has every right to take liberties in exploring alternate paths and possibilities.

As I began reading, I quickly discovered this was not to be the straightforward telling of Phaedra's life that I had been hoping for. I was unprepared for the long list of POV's, their own individual stories, and the overlying weighted focus of the indignities forced upon women. Now, I'm not saying this is a bad thing. It just was not at all what I was expecting to engage in.

The massive point of views in this book caused some problems for me. The ever changing of perspectives left me feeling disconnected from Phaedra herself. Her character fell flat, and was not really fleshed out enough for me to care about her. The story was moving around so often, it seemed there was not enough time taken to dig in and make these characters come to life. The tensions between Hippolytus and Phaedra were being told to me time and time again, but due to the lackluster character development, I unfortunately couldn't actually feel any of it. That was disappointing. The last issue I had was the actual choice of POV's itself. While I understood what the author was trying to do, The Night Chorus just did not work for me at all.

This book was bringing a lot to the table. It gave me the impression of being underdeveloped and all over the place. There are a plethora of issues and back stories that the many characters in this tale experience, that are solely their own. And as previously stated, I perceived the theme of the book to be centered around the atrocities committed against females in that time and place. Important? Yes. A book focused on Phaedra as a person and her journey for justice? Not so much.

That being said, I didn't feel it was a bad read. For the most part, I did enjoy the book. The pacing was on point, and the latter half really moved quite quickly. I found the histories interesting and was engaged to the end. I would recommend this book to others, but with an explanation on my thoughts of the true synopsis; a crusade for women's justice. I'd also be interested in checking out future endeavors by this author.
My rating: 3.75

Thank you to the author and Alcove Press for the digital ARC, via #NetGalley, for my honest review.

I've recently become interested in the Greek myths and find the current fashion for retelling them entirely compatible with the oral tradition in which they were passed down to us. The author has clearly done her research. It's just a shame that the editing was so poor: there are anachronisms in language ("blowing a raspberry", "processing information") that sound false in the mouths of a Xenethippe or a Phaedra. There are also just some unfortunate mistakes, like saying Phaedra wanted to go back to Athens, when Crete is clearly meant, or confusing "anymore" (no longer) with "any more" (no more, as in quantity). Otherwise it would have been a four.

Phaedra, the main character of the story and several familiar Greek mythology names, Hippolytus, Medea, Trypho, Theseus. Representation of ancient women Greek when being challenged and in the flip side taken advantage of. Not familiar with Phaedra's story but I felt this novel hasn't given me enough characterization of the main players of the story.

Overall, I give it an average read.

Thank you Netgalley & Alcove Press for the ARC.


3.0/5 stars

I enjoyed this book, it gave me an insight into Greek mythology that I hadn't read about before. I was familiar with the name Ariadne, but not Phaedra. This book was difficult to read in parts with the rape and abuse and neglect but it was very well done.

After reading multiple Greek retellings this year I was looking forward to one from the perspective of Phaedra, daughter of King Minos, and sister to Ariadne. The author took a unique approach to the story and the plot was different than what I initially expected. The author mentions in her Author Note how these stories were spoken over and over again, allowing for variations to the original tale. This definitely was refreshing to find something unique in a retelling

Apart of the unique perspective and storyline, I did find a lot of the book fell flat for me. There was little to no description and constant dialogue. This book is written in multiple characters perspectives, and at times it was confusing trying to differentiate a unique voice between them. A lot of the language was repetitive and there was very little character development. I found the most well-rounded character to be Theseus, and found myself wanting a chapter from his perspective as well. The Night Chorus was also an interesting part as it gave a voice to the women of this time period and their sufferings at the hand of men. Phaedra herself was labeled as naive and had few traits to make her likable.

There also were a few things that disoriented me from the time period that seemed oddly placed and almost modern. Such as clothing description or certain dialogue between the characters that didn’t seem to fit.

This story truly does have the tone of a tragedy and it did deliver on that.

As a content warning, rape and suicide are very prevalent throughout the second half of the book.

I think this would be a good read for those who enjoyed similar works such as Circe or Ariadne, but I do feel that it falls short in capturing the audience.

I received a complimentary e-arc from NetGalley and opinions expressed in my review are my own.

Phaedra is a retelling of the titular character's story. She's known as sister of Ariadne and daughter of the Creten King Minos. She was taken from here homeland to Athens as the bride of Theseus. Unfortunately, Phaedra naively believes the gods will watch over her and no harm will befall her in her new home.

I'm normally a huge fan of Greek myth retellings which is why Phaedra piqued my interest. However, this story fell short on multiple fronts.

This book was supposed to be a feminist retelling but there wasn't much womanly empowerment on Phaedra's part, or most of the women in this story for that matter. She sat around doing absolutely nothing to help herself or her situation other than praying and hoping for divine intervention. Even when her handmade Kandake tried to rescue Phaedra, she just sat there and dumbly listens to advice from a man she doesn't even know. Phaedra took no active part in making her situation better for herself and just let life happen to her. The other women in this story were just nasty to each other and were only looking after their best interests. Again, no women uplifting other women.

The story is told in multiple POVs, but it added nothing to the overall plot. None of the characters were particularly interesting or notable, especially Phaedra. I don't normally mind having so many POVs but in this case, everything just felt so disconnected. There were no full circle moments. It was as if each character was providing input on what they saw, and their thoughts and feelings but did nothing in furthering the plot.

I guess this book is for people who'd like to read a story from a woman's perspective and how dark life can get for women in court, and uncovers the grisly underbelly of mistreatments and abuse women face. It was also still nice to read about a character who doesn't normally have a huge presence in the original myths.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press Publishing for providing me with an eARC of the book for my honest review!

I'm one of the Circe inspired "feminist take on myths" fans and can't resist yet another. All are not created equal Even in its earliest forms there are two versions Phaedra - as the shameless and lustful wife of Theseus, the King of Athens or in a much kinder light, as a noble and virtuous queen. If you are a completest, you may enjoy the slightly different angle of view shifting among first person narrations.

Phaedra is possibly one of my now favorites pieces of Greek mythology and Greek tragedy. It is beautiful, dark, and compelling, and so stunningly written with such care on such sensitive and triggering topics. I fought with myself to devour it in one sitting, or to take my time with it.

I am glad I decided to take my time with this book. The heavy topics needed their time and space to be read and felt. They were beautifully written in such a way that left no doubt of their weight to the characters in this book and to the reader while helping you to process the feelings this book invoked. And truly this book invokes so many feelings.

Phaedra is the youngest daughter of King Minos, and has no idea the drastic changes the group of tributes from Athens are going to bring into her life. It is told from multiple point of views, which only add to the world building, and lyrical story telling of the book!

“Phaedra” is a powerful, well told tale of a minor character from Greek mythology whose story will matter a great deal to the reader.

Set in the time of Theseus, Medea, Minos, and other ancient Greek figures of myth, this novel moves swiftly, and Laura Shepperson’s prose is astonishingly crisp and clear. Indeed, the clarity and unsentimentality of her words are what lift this book up among the current crush of novels about ancient myth and folklore.

Phaedra is young, a pawn, and doing her best in a world that is brutal—it’s important that readers know that Shepperson does not shrink from telling how hard it was for women in ancient Greece. But as I read it, at times deeply unsettled about just how badly women fare in the Athens of Shepperson’s imagination, I thought, well, based on what we know of women’s status in Ancient Greece, the depictions in “Phaedra” are pretty plausible. I appreciated the feeling of truth this book had, despite its being grounded in myth. (Note: Rape and sexual assault are a point of focus in this book, but it is not gratuitous and is handled carefully. The book is also not a depressing read, despite its subject matter.)

In this book, you’ll find mystery, tragedy, loss, myth, bull jumping, artistry, intrigue, bravery and treachery. All of the characters and plot lines work well together. “Phaedra” captured me and held my attention the whole way through. I’m glad I read it.

Woah this novel was intense! I wasn't familiar with Phaedra and her tragedy but Laura does an amazing job of really making it feel real and super feminist's power. I would highly recommend if you are fans of Circe by Madeline Miller, it really shows how difficult to be a woman was during this time

With so many Greek myth retellings coming out these days, I am now a little wary when approaching a new one. This retelling, however, was wonderful. It was beautifully written, gripping, and shed incredible light on both the original myth and our modern society. It also shows how all of these myths overlap: those of Ariadne, Phaedra, the minotaur, Theseus and Hippolyta, Medea, and Zeus and Europa. My only quibble would be that the UK title of "The Heroines" would be far more fitting, as it is all of the women's voices combining in this novel that makes it truly powerful as they take the narrative back from the "heroes".