Savage Beasts is inspired by the Greek myth of Medea. I found it really helpful to find out what that was before starting the book. It tells the story of Meena who is the Nawab’s abused daughter and what happens when she falls for James Chilcott, the nephew of Sir Peter the much-feared leader of The East India Company. Meena finds herself going from one brutal situation to another. She really can't win and it is tough to see how horrible she is treated. I found the characters very well written, most being awful people. The settings were really spectacular and whether it was the muggy Bengal city or the tight claustrophobic quarters of a ship, the author nails it. This is definitely one to check out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

When Meena meets James, everything changes. Her father forbids her to be with him, so she runs off to Cape of Good Hope with him. But it's not everything she thinks it will be. She becomes pregnant and starts to learn that James and his shady Uncle are not what they seem.

This is a Medea retelling but to be honest I'm not familiar with that story. But I really enjoyed this story in its own right! I also liked that it was set in 1757, Calcutta, a time period and land I don't know that much about. It was an enthralling story, and I kept paging through wanting to know how it would end. I'm looking forward to the author's next book!

This book is based on the Medea Myth. This does not mean anything to me as I have never heard of the myth let alone come across the story.
It starts off in the 18th century in Calcutta where we meet Meena, daughter of the Nawab in India. Meena often sneaks out and does things that would not be approved of but she doesn’t care. Her father and his guards abuse and beat her regularly. On one such outting she meets James Chilcott and she falls in love. They end up running away together to England where Meena discovers that life there is a nightmare and things are only going to get worse.
Up until the end I enjoyed this book, then the final few chapters ruined it completely for me. I can’t recommend this book as I currently feel depressed from the ending even though I finished it 3 days ago.

Thank you NetGalley & the publishers for giving me an e-copy of this book.

The book starts out very interesting and follows a nice journey. Going into this, I wasn’t very aware of the Greek mythology that this debut novel relates to. That being said, I think with my lack of knowledge it was difficult for me to get through, therefore I wasn’t able to complete this book. Overall, the author has a beautiful way with words and building a picture for the reader to imagine. I’m sadden that I wasn’t able to fully commit myself to this read but nonetheless I’m glad I got the opportunity to try.

Rating : 3.5/5

Thank you to publishers and NetGalley for this ecopy.

I really enjoy retellings and thought this had promise.
The writing on a whole was really creative, the descriptions were well placed and created a great scenery, the dialogue for me didn't hit the mark, it felt a bit disjointed.
The characters were greatly created and each for me had something that I disliked which created a realism to them.
If you take away the small negatives then you are left with a good Greek mythology retelling.

Thank you, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book! It had been on my list for a while, and I was thrilled to be able to get the arc. I'd always loved Medea as a child-- how she was betrayed, and how she refused to let that be the end of her.

Transporting Medea from Colchis to Bengal during British colonialism very much flips circumstances Medea-- Meena now-- starts out with, and makes Meena's need to stay on James's good side, while showing exactly how much he relied on her for everything. In the myth, she gives him weapons and protection and secrets. In Savage Beasts, there's no pretension of how much he does on his own; Meena has already made it possible for anyone to do as he does. Maybe because the song is only new and trending, but Paris Paloma's new song, <i>Labour</i> is one that's easily matched to Meena:<i> All day, everyday/therapist, mother, maid/Nymph, then a virgin/ Nurse, then a servant/Just an appendage/Live to attend him/So that he never lifts a finger</i>

Meena is lied to, time upon time again, new to betrayals that we knew were to come. But that's the tragedy of it-- we as readers know she's Medea; Meena is living her life, bowled over with new hurts and taking matters into her own hands. Too, by transporting her in, readers review the horrors of British greeds-- the thefts, the murders, the killings and arrogance that everything is theirs.

Too, Rani Selvarajah includes text from both the myth of Medea and excepts of British colonialism, as slow reminders of the legend we're rereading, and recent history we cannot forget.

Taking the myth of Medea and setting it in India was a choice that works well in parts, but sadly not in others. An enjoyable read nevertheless

Greek mythology is one of my favorite things, so I am always thrilled for a good retelling, especially one that’s about a myth that many don’t really know much about. I was thrilled to be able to read this retelling of the story of Medea. The setting in India was particularly interesting! It gave it a much different flavor than the original myth. I feel that the author could have used the setting a bit more and been more evocative in the world building. I was looking forward to fantastic descriptions of the world the characters were living in, so that fell a little flat for me. The characters were, for the most part, well fleshed out and interesting. It was a quick read and overall enjoyable.

Unfortunately I not able to connect with the characters.

I found the writing style to unlikely. Meena meets James, and immediately intervenes on his behalf with an issue. Found this very unlikely especially if she is has sneaked out of the Palace. Talk about blowing her cover.

The flow and context of the novel didn't flow for me and unfortunately its a DNF.

*Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review*

TW: Gore, slavery, abusive partner, abusive father, abusive brother, subtle rape

Medea meets Pocahontas in this fantastic debut novel by Rani Selvarajah. I devoured this book in a couple of days. Medea was the daughter of Aias and Hecate. She learned the art of witchcraft from her aunt Circe. When Medea fell in love with Jason, she helped him to retrieve the golden fleece.

This story of Meena and James is the exact Medea's retelling based on Colonial era circa 1750, in India and then in England. 17 year old Meena is the daughter of Nawab (the Indian emperor and dictator). When she falls in love with him she endures all kind of things from her father and brother. As she tries to leave her abusive father and brother, she commits unforgivable crimes in the name of love.

I really loved this story. The world building and the characters, were excellent. The only problem I had was that Meena was 17 years old and at first I couldn't connect with her. Her drive came from years of abuse but instead of liking her, most of the times I felt like I wanted to punch her.

But in a world where women weren't suppose to talk, or dream she managed to do both..but nevertheless at a terrible cost.

A powerful and evocative re-telling of a Greek myth,
I have to be honest and say that I don't know a lot of Greek myths and legends - I know the famous stories but that's about it and I haven't read a lot of Indian set historical either. So I wasn't sure what to expect, but I am so pleased that I took a step out of my comfort zone to try this and wow, what a beautiful magical book!
I am in love with the vibrancy of the writing, and the richness of the story, it's a spelling-binding debut which will capture all readers' interest and attention.
A wonderful debut, I will certainly be reading more from Rani Selvarajah, this is a must-read for fans of the genre!

I don’t know the Greek myth of Medea so cannot compare, but I did enjoy this book very much. Meena is the daughter of a Nawab (a Nawab defined as a royal ruler often of a Southern Asian state). She lives a privileged life in some ways with her father and brother. However with her mother dead she suffers badly at the hands of both her father and her brother. Her father a dictatorial tyrant, and her brother a bully, Meena might have all of life’s riches but she certainly doesn’t receive much in the way of love or kindness.

She is forbidden by her father, but also by culture to venture out alone without a chaperone, but Meena is a defiant, strong character so takes every opportunity to sneak out and go for walks and make a break for freedom from time to time. Whilst out on one of her trips down to the docks she stumbles upon a British sailor. After talking to him he introduces himself as the nephew of the head of The East India Company, he seeks an audience with Meena’s father and he has a proposition for him, valuable inside information of his Uncles intention to colonise Bengal. Meena agrees to help James, partly in a bid to help her father and save the people of Bengal but also because she has fallen for his charms.

From here we’re taken on a long and eventful journey with Meena and what proves to be a turbulent relationship with James Chilcott. She starts out as a tough character, whose loyalty and love for James will lead her to make some grave errors of judgement. As you read on through the book, it becomes apparent that James isn’t quite the knight in shining armour that he first set out to be. There are times when Meena feels ever more betrayed by James but by now he’s taken her away from everything she knows. She is completely reliant on him and has nowhere else to go.

It’s an eventful and absorbing story which has you feeling great empathy for Meena whilst developing an increasing contempt for the whole Chilcott family. In fact once you have read the authors acknowledgements and her motivation for writing the book I felt not only contempt for the fictional characters in the book but for colonialism itself. The entitlement that Europe exerted over India and the way we treated the people and their resources never fails to shock me. It’s an entertaining read, but at the same time provokes thoughtful reflection on some of the morals of the story.

**To be posted to my blog nearer publication date**

The novel is the retelling if the Greek myth Medea. I enjoy retellings and especially those with different settings. This one was set in India. I was looking forward to in-depth descriptions of the area and customs and was a bit disappointed the author did not give us more. The love story could have also been more, just more.
The story was good, but everything just fell flat for me. It just needed more.

Sadly three stars for me.

The book had a captivating start but then it kind of lost me. I don't like stories where they fall in love so quickly and a lot of time the story was not realistic for the timeframe it was set in. This had a lot of potential but lacked something I can't quite put my finger on.

I am a big fan of Greek stories so when I am able to find retellings told in such a fascinating way I can't help but read it. Savage Beasts is a wonderful read. Meena is a likable character and you feel for her as you read of the abuse that she goes through from her brother and her father the Nawab. The East India Trading company is coming for their home. Then Meena spies a handsome sailor she finds herself intrigued by and with one act of grace by saving him she ties her tumultuous future to his. A future filled with deceit, bloodshed, murder, abuse and so much sorrow. Meena must learn to be strong in a world dominated by men where her Indian skin makes her considered a savage.

I want to thank #Netgalley for the opportunity to read #SavageBeasts in return for an honest review.

Many thanks to the publishing team for my digital copy for review
This was a quick read and I really enjoyed it. Out of my normal read but the writing style and was very engaging and keep me invested.
I wasn't aware of the Medea original story so had to read that up as there some re-tellings elements of that and this is one aspect I like of books that make you go off and do some research as you venture out to something new.
But overall a good plot with characters that were layered and had both good and bad qualities about them.

Plot
Set in 1757, Calcutta is on the brink of war and the East India Company, led by the fearsome Sir Peter Chilcott, is quickly advancing. The Nawab’s neglected daughter, Meena, is desperate to escape her gilded cage and when she meets the intriguing James Chilcott, nephew of Sir Peter, she finds herself falling under his spell.

James is different from the white men she has been taught to fear, and the lovers find themselves fleeing Calcutta with blood on their hands and stolen gold in their pockets. As Meena finds herself in a foreign land with no one to turn to, she is forced to find out what she is willing to sacrifice when love turns to hate.

Review
I was lucky enough to be invited to join the cover reveal for this upcoming release. I was so excited when I received the proof copy as I love me a good myth retelling. However, I unfortunately can’t say I loved it.

The story is pretty faithful to the myth of Medea and the settings definitely give it a fresh feel but I felt that maybe Meena was slightly too unhinged and James just too horrid to be believable. I’m not bashing the horrific things she went through but it seemed the fights were repeats of the previous ones with the same lashing out and screaming at each other and everyone around them. The constant reminders of what happened I felt were not needed either. Towards the end they just felt like caricatures of what they had started out as.

That being said it is a quick read and there are clever uses of the myth throughout the book. Naming the ship Argo for example is a really good move. There are triggers a plenty in this one though so go in with caution.

All in all I liked it but didn’t love it but would like to see what the author comes up with next.

Rating
3/5

Recommend
Not really sure.

Thank you to One More Chapter for an advance copy in return for an honest review

3.25/5 stars! This is the debut novel by author Rani Selvarajah. This is a Medea re-telling set in India in 18th century. The descriptions of the world were well-written, but a lot of the dialogue didn't. I think there was a disconnect between the time and world and the characters. If you can look past this, (or don't notice), I think this was a really enjoyable read. A bit predictable, but good.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

This novel is based on a rather interesting tweak on the current vogue for rewriting Greek myths: give it an East India Company twist. (Though you might also say: why not update some of the big Hindu epics instead? Or the Tamil ones?) It could work - it could work so, so well given we're talking about women and empire and invasion, and love and doom. Unfortunately - and I really wanted to like it - it fell down, for me, with the stilted style. ('Walnut hue', for skin colour, lost me about five pages in.)

Savage Beasts by Rani Selvarajah compelling retelling of the Greek myth, Medea.
I was truly captivated by this story and enjoyed everything about it.
The characters have personalities that I would think they would have and real life modern times and the book is so well written and easy to read.
If you love mythology stories, or just an epic story you won't be disappointed!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You Netgalley and One More Chapter for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC.