I enjoyed Natalie Haynes's Pandora's Box. I didn't care too much about a Thousand Ship, but when I saw that she would give Medusa a voice. I took a chance to read it everything came up short. Medusa was a woman assaulted by the sea god Poseidon in the temple of Athena. Right there, your blood should boil at the story, but Natalie gives some insight into the mind of a god along with the traumatized Medusa. I didn't care much about her sisters, and Perseus wasn't my favorite greek hero, and she wrote him just as I would imagine, fumbling along with help from various gods. The air of how unfeeling the greek gods are spot on, yet to give humanity to a woman turned creature was well written, although something was missing; I don't know what, but if you like geek mythology, this would fill your cup until the next read comes along.

A retelling of the Greek myth of Medusa told from various perspectives and centering on the women often overlooked in the traditional telling.

Focusing on minor or demonized women in Greek mythology has been quite popular in recent years, most notably with Madeline Miller's Circe, and also in other stories such as Haynes' previous works A Thousand Ships and Pandora's Jar. Readers who enjoyed those books will most likely enjoy this one as well, especially those who like darker and more "realistic" takes on Greek mythology.

I found the writing in this book to be a bit dry, however. Even though the POV changed often, the "voice" of the narration seemed to remain the same. The massive cast of characters also meant that less time was spent with Medusa than I would have liked in favor of focusing on other characters who, while important to her overall story, could have had their roles reduced in favor of more time with our ostensible protagonist.

An interesting, if not captivating, look into the story of one of the most (in)famous women in Greek myth.