Giving this one a 3.5 out of 5 stars for female rage and sapphic longing. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

The premise of this book really intrigued me because it took the popular mythology retelling genre and added a historical mystery to it. You alternate between timelines to learn about how Thelia was cursed, how she came to the Roanoke colony, and her future.

At it's core, this is a story of pure female rage that is primarily directed towards men. The story does briefly delve into a "not all men" subplot that I wish had been delved into more, especially given that there are moments where this female rage is rightfully directed back to other women. Thelia ultimately realizes that "evil is made, not born," but her epiphany gets steamrolled by other plot lines.

While in theory this book checks off a lot of the boxes for things I look for in books, it took me longer than expected to get through it. Especially in the middle, I just kept waiting for something to happen and I began losing interest in the story. I was close to DNFing this book but wanted to see it through (and I am glad I did).

Unique take on a Greco-Roman myth with a lot of violence.

This was a beautiful book and I was into it from the first page. The mythology was well done and not too complicated, it was full of adventure and longing and love. The alternative timeline story was Intriguing and I ate it up. Beautiful.

5 Star (rounded up from 4,5)

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, did I enjoy this book! What a refreshing change of pace from some of the other books I’ve been reading. The writing style is so well done and so beautiful. I found myself highlighting words on every page just to celebrate the beauty of the prose.

The story itself is extremely captivating and righteously divine in its feminine rage. I feel the beginning was a little slow, but once the “domino fell,” I was gripped. I read the last 50% in a single sitting.

The romance was such a believable slow burn. I loved the justice and retribution in this tale. I would strongly recommend this to anyone who enjoys books like Circe, or feminist historical books.

I requested an arc of this books based on the cover and general synopsis. After reading it, I can say that I would recommend it to readers who enjoy a complex character and complicated choices. The first few chapters were a bit slow, however, I found that sticking through and allowing the plot structure to settle in made for an enjoyable reading experience. Readers with a hyperfixation on folklore across generations and continents will find much to enjoy in this mashup of myth.

The writing itself was well done but it needed more Indigenous representation. I felt like this was a very one sided tale, even with the multiple POVs.

Thank you to NetGalley and PRH Ballantine for giving me an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review!

I loved to much about this novel— the myth/history retellings, the sapphic yearning, the unapologetically (for a time) evil women, the winged women, did I mention the sapphic yearning? It was beautifully and lyrically written, and I binge-read the last fifteen percent of despite telling myself at the end of each chapter that I *really* should go to sleep.

What I didn’t love about this book was essentially just one thing— the misandry. At first, it felt warranted— then it felt gratuitous. It would have been different if at the end of the story Thelia had unlearned her misandrist ways, but we didn’t really ever get that. She met *one* good man, but other than realizing that women can also be evil, she never really got to the other side of the coin— that men can also be good.

This book was, at its core, about the wrongs done to women at the hands of men, so I absolutely understand why Thelia’s realization of “monsters are made, not born,” wasn’t really dwelt on, but it still felt disingenuous to her character growth to not give that growth room to breathe. The misandry absolutely had a place in the book, it just felt like it was taken a bit too far.

This was a good read and it used the source material well. I had never read the combination of myth is that were brought together in this book and it makes me want more like it!

I enjoyed this book, but I found that I struggled to really delve into it at times. The author certainly has a beautiful writing style, and I think someone who is an avid enjoyer of mythology will get some enjoyment out of this book. That being said, sometimes I was a bit bored! The story didn't resonate with me as fully as I had hoped, but I think it's still a very acceptable story with a very decent narrative.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Dell, Shannon Ives, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

In Those Fatal Flowers, Shannon Ives weaves Greco-Roman mythology with historical fiction to retell the story of Thelia and her sisters, handmaidens to Proserpina (Persephone), the goddess of the spring. When Proserpina is captured by Dis (Hades) and taken as his queen to the Underworld, Thelia and her sisters are punished by Ceres (Demeter), transformed into half-bird, half-woman monsters and banished to the island of Scopuli.

The story is told between two alternating timelines - Before, on the island of Scopuli, and After, in the City of Raleigh, the ancient lost colony of Roanoke where Thelia must carry out a plan to free herself and her sisters from their curse.

I was really intrigued by the idea of combining mythology with early American history, the underlying theme being bad men doing terrible things. I found the alternating timelines easy to follow, and actually adds to the suspense of the story, trying to figure out how the two timelines come together.

Thelia’s story is beautifully written, the way she grapples with her own monstrosity while seeking to punish the men for their wrongdoings, and trying to reconcile the guilt she carries about her role in losing the girl she loves.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Greek or Roman mythology retellings, specifically told from the perspective of women.

I think this book will either be loved or dnf’d. I came in somewhere in the middle. I thought this book had such potential at the beginning but by the middle I was forcing myself to stay to stay interested.

This one is hard for me to write a review about. If it wasn't an arc, I may not have finished it, but I'm glad I did because the last 15% of the book was the best part. The story has some good lines about how tragedy can turn people into monsters, but aside from that I wasn't particularly moved by it. Maybe my opinions of this will change after some time has passed, but as of right now it just doesn't really sit right. Maybe it was the extreme hatred of all men that went as far as including an unborn baby that rubbed me the wrong way. That was a wee bit too far for me.

A very interesting retelling of the story of Proseperina's handmaidens, who became the Sirens. This story centers the story of women - and highlights the many ways they had/have to pay for being who they are. Ives draws vivid scenes and characters, and we're drawn into their lives as if we were part of the story. There's an interesting angle and connection to colonial-era America as well, and I appreciate how Ives tied together the ancient Greek tale with much later history.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher (Random House) for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this novel. I recommend this read if you like stories of strong women, enjoy mythology and appreciate speculative fiction.

🌸✨ "Those Fatal Flowers" by Shannon Ives is an absolutely mesmerizing read! If you’re into stories where mythology meets historical mystery with a twist of sapphic romance and fierce female power, this one’s for you. Thelia’s journey from cursed siren to her adventures in Roanoke is so gripping—I couldn’t put it down! Ives’ writing beautifully captures the longing, rage, and resilience of women, and the dual timelines are handled masterfully. It's like Madeline Miller's "Circe" meets Jennifer Saint's "Ariadne" with a touch of Natalie Haynes’ wit. A must-read for anyone craving a fresh, empowering take on myth and history! 💫📚❤️

I enjoyed Those Fatal Flowers much more than I expected to. While I love Myth retellings, I'm not sure I'd classify this book as one since it doesn't focus on that aspect of the characters history. I wasn't sure how the plot would work, but surprisingly it came together well. This was a relatively quick read with an interesting premise that contains strong feminist undertones.

I did not finish this book. Some of the reviews about glamorizing colonization were a bit concerning so I stopped reading.

I am so into retellings of greek myths right now, and this was up there with the best of them. Fans of Circe, Stone Blind, troy, and others will love this.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC copy gifted in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Publishing for the ARC.

Not bad but just not great...it was hard for me to become engrossed in this story. Idk what it was because I enjoy Greek mythology. The book is a short and easy read and maybe the next person will enjoy it more than I did.

The author of this book says in her ending notes that she didn't include a central Indigenous character because she felt that "wasn't her story to tell". Yet at multiple points, she attempts to draw a line between the suffering of the white women within Roanoke under the patriarchal colony leaders and those same leaders' enslavement and slaughter of Indigenous women. Beyond a single line of dialogue, there is no commentary on the specific racial dynamics behind the history of this. She is clearly hesitant to question whether even her "good" settler characters should be here at all, often waving it aside with that they were forced to by their husbands and it therefore doesn't matter what role they're playing in the theft of native land - even going so far as to frame the portion of forest lived in by a woman who is exiled from Roanoke as being 'hers'. I would ask where on earth the sensitivity reader for this book was, except I suspect any such reader would have told the author what a disastrous premise this is. The lost colony of Roanoke was a colony, and it does not exist divorced from its subsequent legacy of colonization and genocide. Letting white women have revenge while the only Indigenous bodies on the page are corpses who their actions killed isn't any story about "female rage" that I find compelling or subversive.

Those Fatal Flowers by Shannon Ives was really interesting! I enjoyed the writing a lot, very good book.

The story flows well and keeps the reader invested in the main character's journeys. While hesitant about the two interwoven timelines, I ultimately found that they provided intrigue and the right amount of background knowledge. I also recommend reading the Endnotes for an explanation of specific Greek names used within the Roman mythological story.