I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. I really enjoyed this book. It was really well written and it just had you trying to solve the mystery. I look forward to seeing what’s next from this author.

This is a stunning novel of Greek mythology through a feminist lens. I loved reading about the hero Perseus from the lens of three women and how that drastically changed whether the title of hero even applied. Such a masterful piece of literature.

I'm starting to think I don't really enjoy retellings. There wasn't anything wrong with this book per se. It was well-written and there was no extra fluff, each new POV getting right into the meat of their story. But I still found myself not very compelled to keep going. I can't quite put my finger on it so I'm going to assume it's just something about me (sucks to be a mood reader sometimes) since I can't point to anything specific. If mythology and/or retellings are your jam, I'd still say it's worth giving a shot to see if you like it.


Note: I received a free electronic edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank them, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to do so.

I have a lot of mixed feelings on this book. On one hand - there's absolutely nothing wrong with this book. Fans of mythological retellings or just mythology in general will have a good time reading this. It's a good retelling of Persus and Medusa, but told through the women's perspective. I always love getting the female side of things for retellings because so much of mythology is all about the male perspective. It's written very well and it's easy to follow.

However, on the other hand, it doesn't feel like a myth is being respun. In fact, it almost washes all aspects of the fantastical elements that make the story of Persus a good myth. I can almost guarantee those with no knowledge of Persus or Medusa would not know it was originally a myth. This could be a good or bad thing - it's always nice to be able to put them side by side to compare but also it's nice to have them read as their own entity.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but it wasn't a 5-star for me. Others may enjoy it far more than I did.

The ending wrap-up bumped this up a star for me, reminding me of the famous line in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding - that the man may be the head, but the woman is the neck that ultimately has control of how that head turns. Quite a clever re-telling and re-working of this mythology. For some reason I've always been drawn to mythology, and even though I didn't really connect to any of the three heroines drawn up along the way, in the end I related to the line spoken by Danae that "so little of my life has happened as I thought it would." The story-telling kept me wanting to read forward, and it was relatively clean language for young readers despite all the gore and heartache portrayed.

The Shadow of Perseus is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a good mystery. Heywood has written a compelling story filled with suspense, intrigue, and unexpected twists and turns that will keep readers hooked until the very end. Highly recommended!

theres nothing wrong with this story. its a feminist recounting of the tale of perseus, narrated from the perspective of the three women in his life. i am all for retelling greek myths with a feminist view, but there was just nothing that excited me about this specific book. i think this particular type of retelling has just become so overdone in recent years that its difficult to really add anything new to the genre.

In this stunning reimagining, Heywood turns our understanding of the Perseus myth on its head and gives voice to the remarkable women closest to him—his mother Danae, his conquest Medusa, and his wife Andromeda. Instead of painting Perseus as a hero, we come to know him as an impressionable, deeply flawed boy who was largely shaped by the wise women in his life. Heywood shifts the focus to these fascinating women of mythology who’ve been traditionally submissive, vilified, or ignored. A deeply immersive story that immediately grabs hold of you and will not let you go.

If you want a review that delves deep into the ins and outs of the real legend; that's here but its not this one.

I like any retelling pretty much and/or one from different perspectives. Is it completely accurate? No. But it's interesting and maybe will have people think on the tales of the others a bit more. Enjoy!

This started so strong - people are complicated. I appreciated something dark lurked in Perseus, not to mention being terrorized by the village kids as a child. I felt like the author took it too easy on him. And I wanted more of the women - especially Medusa.
Dinae forced into a room by her terrified father. The sound of her lyre bringing a kind and lovely young man. She finds solace, friendship and love in her dark room. Medusa, a Gorgon, killed by a man. And of course Andromeda - stolen and raped.

3/5

This retelling follows the story of Perseus, told through the eyes of 3 key women in his life (Danae, Medusa and Andromeda). I was not actually familiar with his story (beyond the version in Percy Jackson), so I was really intrigued by this book. It however, fell a bit flat for me.

The first part, as told by Danae, I actually really enjoyed. Coincidently, this was the only part that Perseus did not actually exist in. I found his character to be borderline insufferable. I am yet to look up the 'true' version of his story, so perhaps this was intentional and and actual reflection of what the original myth describes? The following 3 parts left me less and less interested, unfortunately.

I did, however, enjoy the writing, and as a lover of greek mythology I would pick up other books by this author.

“The Shadow of Perseus“ by Claire Heywood is a novel about the Greek hero, told by three of the women in his life.

Danae, his mother, was banished from her kingdom when she became pregnant because an oracle foretold her son would be at the death of her father. Perseus grows up and meets Medusa, who sees him as an injured boy and tries to help. In return, Perseus takes her head. Andromeda just wanted to help her family out when Perseus finds her tied to a rock and takes her from her family. In all instances, there is the Perseus we think we know and the deconstruction of that legend.

There is a current trend in literature to remake Greek heroes from a feminine perspective. Some of these retellings are pretty good. This one is pretty average. I enjoyed it, but there are better versions of these kinds of tales out there.

A free eARC of "The Shadow of Perseus" by Claire Heywood was provided by the publisher Dutton by email in exchange for a review.

I did read Claire Heywood's "Daughters of Sparta" beforehand to get familiar with her writing and note if there was a sort of series going on behind the scenes, while I did like most of "Daughters of Sparta" it was not without it's extra cruelty to Helen and Klytemnestra heaped onto the side already weighed by plays and myths that are not kind to them.

I can't say I enjoyed "The Shadow of Perseus" which follows Danae, Medusa and Andromeda as Perseus largely acts as a boy wanna be man throwing the tantrum of natural disaster proportions and wreaking havoc in these women's lives but, oh no, it's not his fault, it's theirs, of course and they have to "handle" him with care, walk on egg shells fearing for their lives and his "good soul" protected by his temper and bronze blade.

I'm sorry I lost my stomach for it and my interest in finishing it for almost half a year. I'm not sure what the author was trying to show here, is the true monster here Perseus? In the end nothing is done about him, he is off to live his best life with his raped wife Andromeda and widowed but pregnant mother Danae who's husband her son outright murdered. These two women and the murdered/ martyred Medusa are all somehow blamed for the "shadow" of Perseus upon them.

Retellings of myths that skip gods and monsters as mere made up stuff and don't realize that the cruelty of gods, monsters, is the cruelty of "nobility" and ancient powers of people lording it up over weaker people -women and slaves, more often than mere explanations of the natural world and it's disasters, are far from "the truth" and making historical sense of a story. It's offensive and more so because the deviations made go against the myth in obvious and sometimes outright outrageous and offensive ways.

So let's start with Perseus dad? I think the first joke is that the name Myron, who in the book was a bakers son (Perseus being the bun in the oven as he climbs into Danae's bronze chamber reverse Rapunzel prince style) but Myron is the historical name of a bronze artist who's works don't survive but for a listing of sculptures and Roman copies, one of which may have been Perseus.

Acrisius is shown as getting along with his twin brother Proetus and sharing a kingdom, thrones and court with him, raising their children together.

Uhm, sure, let's ignore that myth says these two quarreled in the womb.

No attention is paid to why a Oracle may not want Acrisius to trust or raise a grandson/heir (his being founder of the Delphic amphictyony) or to Danae's mother Eurydice (A Spartan princess, sister of Amyclas so you see where I thought there may be a connection to "Daughters of Sparta") or Aganippe, or her sister Evarete, wife of Oinomaos.

So never mind myth in this Seriphos, Dictys dies (in myth he and his wife Clymene survive to rule the island after Perseus turns the Gorgon head upon his brothers supporters, but oh well) - his household which had been keeping Danae and Perseus as a kind of servant/sister/daughter, dissolves, split smong his sons and wife and his brother Polydectes decides he's going to marry Danae - never mind the pretenses of marriage to Hippodamia, daughter of Oinomaos (yes the same Oinomaos in myth who Danae's sister married- so Hippodamia is her niece/Perseus cousin) and making a wedding gift of Medusa's head.

Medusa in this retelling is something like a priestess Peter Pan of a tribe of lost girls, in other words a Amazon. She gathered together women abandoned by their tribes/men/people and they become sisters in a found family that grows by adopting orphans.

So fun fact on Perseus....

There.
Are.
No
Amazons.
In.
His.
Myths!

None.
Never happens.

Perseus is one of the rare Greek heroes who does not go to war with, or encounter, any Amazons at all. None the less this was actually my favorite parts of the book and if it had just been worked into the story of the Nymphai/"daughters" of Themis instead may have worked out better as oracle/guards of a grove or garden, Hesperides even have a dragon/serpent protector of Hera's apples!

There are many things Medusa could be, but not a Amazon, come on.

The only women Medusa had about her were her immortal sisters, the Gorgons, Stheno and Euryale. She was not a monster who turned her gaze on mortals or immortals, she was a raped and impregnated person who wanted to be left alone at the edges of the world. Her only other kin nearby were the elderly Graiai (Grey Ones) swan like elderly women at birth who had one eye and one tooth between the two or three of them.

As well to make Andromeda come from a nomadic people out of Egypt who retained only one God (Ammon) who had two Wives (the Sun and Moon, who when one isn't in the sky the other resided in a pool of water to explain water being cool at daytime and warm at night...), yeah, hm, that felt very Abrahamic religious and was really the only time characters mused upon any gods and their stories.

Myth makes Andromeda and her family writ large in the stars and I hate that she's raped here because Perseus in myth went to her parents and asked for marriage before he saved her, in Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria he mockingly uses perhaps Euripides' Andromeda where she calls upon Echo for help. Echo, few realize, had reasons to hate rape. As well if this Andromeda was as competent as Euripides' Helen, Perseus would have been as in love and as foolish as Menelaus. Perseus is perhaps one of the only men in Greek myth loyal and in love with his wife, Hermes perhaps being another lover.

The utter lack of gods probably saved me from any longer rant about Athena and Hermes who in myth helped Perseus in this journey and Atlas and his Hesperides daughters (or the three Themeides - Nymphai/"daughters" of Themis) happily ignored entirely and gifts of gods kept safe in their garden.

Little things like that popped out all the time and made me roll my eyes out of my head. No care was taken to retell it in a way that myths may use was given.

When Perseus takes Danae and Andromeda "home" to finish his fate, to kill his grandfather, they are first welcomed by Proetus who offers a kingdom and mourns his wife and the death of one his daughters....Bellerophon who would later ride Pegasus (Medusa's son) lived in the kingdom of Proetus and his wife who would lie about the hero raping her and get him sent away to Iobates and his quests. That's supposed to happen still but oh well! It won't now!

I'm sure that this was meant as a accurate to history as the author know it retelling of Perseus that instead makes him a monster out of patriarchy that needs coddling instead of killing.

I actually started to count the ways he could have died. Still wishing he had died, I might have like it better had he died by the Gorgo head or by Megapenthes as myth has it. In the end no step was taken by these women to get out from underneath the shadow and burden put upon them by terrible men. Their suffering continues without consequences because there are no heroes.

A female-centered retelling of the Perseus myth focusing on three separate but converging tales. The story begins with his mother, Danae, followed by Medusa, and culminating in the story of his wife, Andromeda. An interesting story that flips the old myth on its head, re-envisioning the mythological hero as instead a violent, gaslighting abuser. It removes the magical and mystical elements from the historical style tale and instead explores the potential "truth" behind the stories.

The writing in this book is beautiful and Heywood does a fantastic job of creating her characters. There was a lot of strong emotion tied to each of the sections of the story and I loved the deft way in which she managed to instill messages of feminism, autonomy, and misogyny. The underlying current of the book carried home the lesson that history is written by the victors...in most cases by white men...and as a result we aren't always necessarily given the truth in the history we have learned. Yes, this is a retelling of a myth, but all tales have some basis in fact and it's good to consider how this tale may have come into being.

Key takeaway: perspective matters. It is always good to question what the story is from the opposite point of view. Humans are not great at admitting their faults and, historically, writers have tended to want their characters (or themselves/their side in cases of nonfiction) to be seen as faultless, valiant, and in the right. Heywood's imagination in this case created a LOT of moments where I really paused to consider how the tale's core truths would be altered based on who was the teller and which characters wished to be seen in the best light. An intriguing read.

If you enjoyed Daughters of Sparta, you will love The Shadow of Perseus. In a sea of Greek retellings and new stories emerging from female voices, Claire Heywood stands out . Will read anything she puts out!

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

The Shadow of Perseus by Claire Heywood is a lush re-imagining of the Greek myth of Perseus and the slaying of Medusa. The story is centered on Perseus but comes at the story from the perspective of the three women who shaped him: his mother, Danae; his wife, Andromeda; and his victim, Medusa.

Danae is a princess of Argos. When her father hears a prophecy declaring that Danae’s son will be the death of him, he locks her away to keep her from ever marrying. Mythology would have it that Zeus impregnated her. But in this novel it was a local young man who found a way to sneak into her prison. Furious and terrified when he learns she is pregnant, Danae’s father attempts to have her killed by putting her in a small boat and setting it adrift. Danae is rescued – and Perseus is born.

Medusa is a member of a small tribe of women, the Gorgons, who have been abused by men and sought refuge away from the world that leaves women powerless. They are self-sufficient and content. Snakes are their guardians. Medusa is not a monster. She is simply one of the most highly regarded among the women. But one day, the 18-year-old Perseus, desperate to prove himself a man, comes across the women.

Andromeda is the youngest daughter of a wealthy nomad. Just before she is to be wed to a kind local man, a sandstorm blows up. The priest says the gods are angry. To appease the god, Andromeda offers herself. She is to be lashed to the rocks on the seaside for a night and a day. The winds are already slowing when Perseus spots her from the ship he is on. He “rescues” her against her will.

The novel shows Perseus in a very different light than the old myths. Far from heroic, he is an insecure, boastful coward who constructs his own untrue story after demonizing Medusa and forcing his will upon women whose own wishes he ignores. Heywood does a wonderful job of showing Perseus’ own trauma, so that he is not a one-dimensional villain. Nevertheless, it is the women who are heroic in this tale.

Claire Heywood is very quickly becoming one of my favourite authors in regards to the retellings of myths. I love greek mythology and having the lens turned to the women in the story has really painted the picture in a different light. I will say I am here for all of the Perseus slander. I look forward to seeing what Claire Heywood does next!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

I wanted to enjoy this one a lot more than I did. I liked the writing but I felt like the original plot that was on the synopsis wasn't accurate to the book and it didn't spend enough time exploring the women's stories and instead lingered too much on Perseus and the men.

Perseus was one hell of a crybaby and a narcissist. He wasn't meant to be some prince or king. He was meant to be her mother's son and focus on his hobbies. Government, military, or order weren't his cup of tea. Not ever boy in the Hellenistic period was meant to be mighty kings and warriors. Perseus would have been a great farmer, shepherd, artist, merchant, etc. But not someone in power.

His notion of power was cruel. He thought murdering people, tricking them in to believing you, and gaslighting them was the way to go. He did not want to use that chickpea size pink organ in his cranium for a second to think. When he didn't get what he wanted, he threw a tantrum. When people talked back, he killed them. While his personality must had hidden all these qualities (I mean look at his grandpa), but he could not be blamed for all. He was nurtured into that character.

None of these women meant to be under Perseus' shadow because Perseus was no more than shadow of a man. I don't want to consider this book as a rise of a villain and consequent redemption arc but more of a women having enough of spoiled brat's tantrums. He annoyed me. He just annoyed me so so much.

I think this might be the first Greek Mythology I've read that I didn't really like the "Hero," and while it did take me a few to get used to this retelling of Perseus, I actually really liked the story. Now if you are a diehard mythology lover, this story might be hard for you because it turns the myth into more of a historical fiction read. While the Greek gods are mentioned, everything that happens is due to the hands of man, and it took me awhile to get used to that. I really loved the way the author writes though, and while I felt so bad for the women in Perseus's life, I believe it's pretty accurate to how women were treated back then, and if I were to be honest, the way some women are still being treated today.