"For all the women who have been called 'too much' or 'not enough.'"

Medea is one of my favourite Greek myth retellings, alongside Clytemnestra and the Song of Achilles. I've become a bit sceptical when picking up these feminist myth retelling books since there's just so many of them now, but I think I personally connected to the complicated and abusive family dynamics in this book which made it really hit emotionally for me. It also helps that I didn't know too much about Medea other than the fact that she is a witch, she is related to Circe, and that she is considered a villain, which helped keep the book exciting for me. I really enjoyed reading this book and tabbing it as I go. I ended up have themes which I tabbed: love/infatuation/longing, alienation, power/power dynamics, betrayal. revenge and abuse.

"When I was a child, I turned my brother into a pig."

The book starts with when Medea is eight years old, just after she has turned her brother into a pig. We follow Medea's childhood in Colchis where she lives in the palace with her parents, the King and Queen of Colchis, her cruel brother Apsyrtus and her sweet sister Chalciope. After Medea is unable to return her brother to his original form, her aunt Circe is called in to reverse the spell, and Medea starts learning magic under her.

I really appreciated how the book depicted abuse and how abuse can affect someone's psyche and ability to form relationships later on. The abusive family dynamics between Medea and her parents really resonated with me which allowed me to become sympathetic to her. Her father is a tyrant, and at home he is emotionally and physically abusive towards Medea and her mother, who is very passive.

"You'd think our shared suffering would bond us, but it has only ever driven us further apart."

After Medea's magic manifests, she becomes further ostracized and isolated from her parents and her brother. In her kingdom, people are afraid of her magic and of her status as a witch, as whispers begin to follow her and she is othered. She is left to wonder if her magic, an intrinsic part of her, is good or evil, and in turn if she herself is good or evil. She becomes a scapegoat to her family and feels utterly alone, especially as Circe stops visiting with no explanation. Medea idolized and felt loved by Circe, so this only worsens Medea's desire to be loved and gain approval. When the hero Jason and his argonauts arrive on her shores, she feels certain she may have finally have found love, and an escape from Colchis, at last.

<blockquote><i>I want Jason to touch me.
I do not care how. He could strike me like my father, and I would feel nothing but pleasure for his skin against mine. </blockquote></i>

But of course, not all is as it seems, and Medea is willing to overlook red flags in order to try and make her and Jason's love work. The end result of their relationship will be known to some going into this book, as a result of Euripides' play 'Medea' and/or general Greek mythology knowledge. But if you don't know the story of Medea, or were hazy on it like I was, I would recommend going in blind. Just know that it is dark and sad. For those of us who do know, (SPOILER) we know that after Jason and Medea wed, and Jason is willing to abandon her to marry another woman, Medea murders their two sons. It was truly sad to read about how Medea's mind and sanity deteriorated after Jason emotionally neglects her in their marriage even before his betrayal, especially since her other crimes, ones she committed to try and help Jason, made her alienated once again by wider society. But despite how toxic their relationship is, Medea is desperate to make it work. After losing her relationship with her mother, her sister, and her aunt, Medea is desperate for the one person she has to love her, for Jason to prove that she is not a monster, that she can be good and worthy of love. (end spoiler)

Overall, I really enjoyed this retelling of Medea. She is a flawed and complex character, but this retelling was an extremely thoughtful and sympathetic retelling of her tale and a depiction on how someone can become a villain.

Update: Medea will be releasing in the US under the title 'The Witch of Colchis' in September 2024! Thank you for NetGalley for providing me an audiocopy for review, but I've already read and loved Medea. This is my honest review.

If anything these stories teach us is don't rely on men and don't plan your life relying on them, especially if you are a badass woman. But then again the world is constructed around menso whoever you are, how strong you are it doesn't mean anything.

Was this too deep? My apologies. The narattor did a splendid job. I really enjoyed listening to her voice. My only complaint would be that maybe the story could have been shorter but other than that I enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone who likes Greek mythology.

A very standard feministisk Greek mythology retelling. I would recommend this to those who are interested in Medea, as that is whom this is about.

Having very many of these, the ancient voices seen to muddle, the retold voices have become one, and it is that of female rage. It is a shame, as this is not the immediate intention of the movement of retellings.

The story centers on Madea, a character who is hard not to judge for her poor and immature decision-making. Yet, despite these flaws, her circumstances are deeply relatable. The author presents Madea in a way that makes it difficult to classify her strictly as a protagonist or antagonist. While she’s faced with terrible hardships, her actions are still her own, and that duality keeps you torn as a reader.

There’s one atrocity she commits that, for me, was unforgivable. It was uncomfortable to read, That particular moment made it challenging to continue seeing her in a sympathetic light.

I appreciated the storytelling and the mythology woven throughout the narrative. These elements added depth to the story and made it more than just a tale of personal struggle. Overall, it was a thought-provoking read, and the moral ambiguity of Madea’s character made it all the more compelling.

It's worth the read just because Medea is iconic and Rosie Hewlett a great author. I listened to the audio version which was narrated well except for the parts where Kristin Atherton got a little bit melodramatic for my taste. However she had a good clear voice and enunciated well.

🌿Tropes & Themes 🌿
* Witchcraft
* Feminine Rage
* Morally gray
* Revenge
* Betrayal

Favorite Quotes:
“Though, if I have learned one thing in my life, it is that nobody will hand you your happiness. For happiness is not a gift to be given freely but a prize to be claimed.”

“I also know how they will tell his story. It is the same for any woman who defies their place in this world. Jason will be the hero, and you? They’ll either make you his adoring lovesick damsel or they’ll make you the villain. Those are the only roles they feel comfortable with us occupying.”

✦ Overall ✦
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey the author artfully wove for Medea. Although I was only vaguely familiar with the story of Medea in Greek mythology. The author really expands the world and characters and breathes new life into this story. There’s something rather compelling about Medea that will have you sympathizing for her character who has been through so much and possibly understanding why she might make terrible decisions and commit such violence. The world building was artfully woven into the story and seamlessly blended.
I greatly enjoyed the narrator for this audiobook. She had the perfect voice that just resonated so well with the character and story.
I highly recommend for any fans of Greek mythology retellings!

✦ Characters ✦
Medea was a complicated, complex and interesting character from the start. She only continued to evolve as her journey begins away from home and is faced with challenges, decision, and difficulties.
I loved Atlanta. Part of me selfishly hopes that the author, Rosie Hewlett, does a retelling for her next. I have complete confidence that she’d do a stunning job with that as well.

Many thanks to netgalley for the audio arc of this!

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia | Recorded Books for this ARC Audio Copy!

I am not very familiar with the story of Medea but I really enjoyed getting to know her in this story. Such a tragic story was told in such a beautiful way and this is now one of my favorite mythology books I have read so far. Rosie will forever be an auto buy author for me.

Media is a natural sorcerous who is trained by Circe who is one of my favorite characters from the Greek Mythos and I loved seeing her influence on Media's story. She experiences so much trauma and hate through her life it is not surprising that things end the way that they do. A true villain origin story and I loved every minute of it.

I stand for women’s rights AND women’s wrongs!
This was a beautiful retelling of Medea's story. We follow her from childhood through her dark ending. It is a very detailed story that reveals what molded her into the woman she is.

I was not very familiar with Medea’s story as a whole. I didn’t even know about Jason and the Argonauts and how Medea played into that story. Most of what I knew was through Circe’s story. So, I was very excited to learn about another witch in Greek Mythology.

I read and listened to this book. I enjoyed it, but the narrator made it exceptional.
The narrator kept a great pace throughout the book.
I enjoyed the narration at the beginning of the book. Her voice fit the character, and I felt like she knew how to keep the listener interested throughout the story.
What caught my attention was when we met Hecate. The narrators voice change for each of Hecate’s heads was quite a feat.

What I enjoyed:
We follow Medea from a young age until her ending.
The way the relationship between Medea & Jason is told. It makes it relatable to a wide range of women.
The narrator had a range of voices throughout the story. She kept a great pace throughout the novel.

This book brought out so many emotions in me. I empathized with Medea throughout much of her story. She made many choices that people wouldn’t agree with, but this book provided a lot of the backstory and reasoning behind them.

If you enjoy Greek Mythology retellings, I highly recommend this book!
I highly recommend listening to this book if you enjoy audiobooks. The narrator is PERFECT throughout the entire book.

Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for an audioARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book.

I absolutely loved it.

I don't know what it is about 2024, but there have been some AMAZING myth retellings released this year. Retellings have been all the rage over the past decade or so, but typically, they are only so-so or downright bad.

This year has been the exception that proves the rule. I've read some bad and some average retellings this year, but by and large, the ones I've read have been very, very good.

Of all of them (so far), though, this one has been the best.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a retelling of Medea. Her story is pretty straightforward, and there's really no way to make her a hero or even a sympathetic character to many people. (Not me; I've always felt sympathy and empathy for her.)

But Rosie Hewlett did it. She made Medea more than a sympathetic character. She turned her into someone to actively root for... even after she does something that most people would find unforgivable.

This book was excellent from page 1 until the end. I had exactly ZERO complaints with it. And the narration was spot-on. I reached a point years ago where my library was beyond full. Ever since, I've been listening to audio books and not buying physical books anymore because I just don't have the space.

This one, though, I will have to buy. I want to re-read it. I want to share it. I want to gift it to others.

Grade A, top-class, phenomenal book.

I think Hadestown puts it best “it’s a sad song, it’s a sad tale, but we sing it anyways… to know how it ends and still begin to sing again, as if it might turn out this time.”

This was expertly done and the audiobook was a perfect reading experience. It takes a special author to take a tale this old, keep all of the original pieces, and still make it feel brand new. A true villain origin story.

Okay I’m going to go now and pretend that when Atalanta offered to take Madea away from Jason she went and they lived happily ever after together.

4.5 stars.

I could not be happier that Greek mythology has become a popular topic for modern fiction, and the authors are doing their homework! I found this book fascinating in which gods and goddesses were included in this story and omitted from the classic stories. It had this edgy way of highlighting Medea's choices and actions as her own, unaided, and the repercussions were also hers alone. The character arcs were great, and watching Medea go from a desperate but naive young woman to a cold and confident demi-goddess was fantastic. There were points when Medea wasn't allowed to use her magic and she lived a life of submission and pain, subject to the patriarchy just like mortal women, and my yearning for her to break out of the bindings was so intense that I had to take a break and come back later. I particularly loved the dragon element, how she used her father's most loyal protector and his return. Things veered slightly from the classic stories at the end, but holy cow, I loved this version so much better. The full circle was a thing of beauty.

4.25 ⭐
thank you netgalley, the publisher, and the author for this audiobook copy of the witch of colchis (also marketed as "medea"). this is my first from the author and definitely won't be my last! (i honestly think her Greek mythology books deserve the hype that jennifer saint's get.l because i've enjoyed Hewlett's writing much better.)
if you love Circe, this book is gonna be such a treat! i wish the author took more liberties just so we could see medea in all her glory to the end, but that's Greek mythology for you.

The Witch of Colchis by Rosie Hewlett starts off promising. The beginning is dark and mysterious, and it strongly reminded me of the tone in books like The Witch's Heart. The atmosphere immediately drew me in, and I was excited to see how the story of Medea, the famous sorceress from Greek mythology, would unfold. I also liked the lyrical writing style, which was beautiful.
Also I really liked the narrator. She did an amazing job.

Unfortunately, the story didn’t feel overly original to me. It seemed like just another book based on Greek mythology, one among many. I wasn’t familiar with Medea's story in detail (aside from Circe by Madeline Miller), but by the end, I felt like I could have just read her story on Wikipedia and had the same emotional impact.

Despite the strong start, the book lost momentum for me as it progressed, and the emotional and dramatic moments I was expecting never fully materialized for me. However, I can see how this book would appeal to many readers. Perhaps it’s just me, and I approached the book with the wrong expectations.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance of listening to the audiobook.

The Witch of Colchis by Rosie Hewlett
Length: 464 pages
Genre: Greek myth retelling
Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

Thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for the AAC of The Witch of Colchis. The opinions given are solely my own.

Synopsis:
This is the Greek mythology retelling of the life of Medea, referred to as the Witch of Colchis. Medea is the least favored child of her parents (King & Queen). She is different from her brother and younger sister as she was bestowed the gift of magic from the goddess Hecate. This infuriates her father and causes her childhood to be a torturous existence.

Medea finally sees an escape from her family and homeland when Jason arrives with the Argonauts, seeking to win the golden fleece. Medea falls in love, sending her life on a path that leads to betrayal, murder, magic, and heartache.

Opinion:
This was SUCH a wonderful retelling of Medea's story. It really was heart-breaking how she was basically gaslit by almost everyone in her life. However, she was such a strong, female character and I loved seeing some of the familiar tales from her perspective. The narrator was excellent for this book! Her voice timbre for each character was so believable and really enhanced how I was visualizing the action! I typically love mythology retellings and this one ranked right up there with Circe for me! Highly recommend!

This was a very powerful read. It is about strength, power and being a woman. Of course, in Greek Mythology you can't just be a woman, you need to be the victim or the villain.

I'd not heard of Medea (I've been reading a lot of Greek myth lately) but I have heard of her Aunt Circe who was banished. She is the one who teaches Medea her magic. And, of course, most people have heard of Medea's husband, Jason, with his Argonauts and his Golden Fleece. This story paints him as a narcissist and it's so frustrating the way he twists his words and blames Medea.

Medea is dark and powerful and does horrible things. But with this story, you can see why she does what she does. No excuses, just her reasoning and it's hard not to love her whilst hating her too. A fantastic read but a tad drawn out in parts. I'd definitely like to read more from this author.

A shout out to the narrator, Kristin Atherton. She was amazing. The book flowed beautifully and she did male, female, and some accents really well. Her narration made the book better for me.

3.5/4

This book is also marketed under Medea. I'm not sure why there are two titles but I've checked and it's the same book.

I listened to the audio version which was narrated well except for the parts where Kristin Atherton got a little bit melodramatic for my taste. However she had a good clear voice and enunciated well.

I know the tale of Medea well enough to be aware of the salient facts but in this novel they are fleshed out - sometimes a little too fleshed out. I suppose this is also personal taste but there was a bit too much lingering on Jason's physical attributes along with the frequent seduction scenes. I could have lived without all but the first.

However the story stuck to the myth - Medea is a sorceress, taught by Aunty Circe. Her dad is a nasty piece of work and her brother is no better. Medea is aware of her power from an early age, having turned her brother into a pig before she is even trained. To get away from the horrible dad she throws her lot in with handsome (but deeply narcissistic) Jason, who'd sell his own grandma to be crowned king of anywhere.

As the story continues Medea uses her power to help her husband but, of course, he's a thankless swine and doesn't appreciate her.

I'll warn you now there are several scenes describing Medea's handiwork that aren't for the fainthearted and the book obviously includes fratricide, infanticide, regicide plus physical and mental abuse to name a few. Let's face it though, the Greeks (and especially their gods) weren't known for their cuddliness.

On the whole it is well told but, as I said, very dramatic in parts and there quite a lot of repetition and procrastination which lengthens the story unnecessarily. Otherwise it's good.

I did want Medea to be a little more vindictive than she is ever portrayed and I'm permanently mystified why such a powerful sorceress didn't take more revenge than she did but if you're sticking to the original myth this is what you get.

Thankyou to Netgalley and RB Media for the audio advance review copy.

Hewlett's The Witch of Colchis reimagines Medea's myth with stunning prose and emotional depth. This retelling vividly portrays Medea's complexity—powerful, traumatized, and terrifying—by revealing her troubled upbringing in Colchis. Readers' hearts break as they witness Medea's mistreatment, while Hewlett masterfully exposes her shadow sides, compelling unexpected empathy. The gradual unfolding of Medea's character, alongside strong supporting figures like Atalanta, creates a rich, immersive narrative.

This five-star triumph captivates both mythology enthusiasts and newcomers. For audiobook lovers, Kristin Atherton's narration complements Hewlett's lyrical prose with melodic delivery. The Witch of Colchis stands as an essential read for those who appreciate mythology reimagined with nuance and exquisite craftsmanship.

I loveeeed Medea's story. She has been mentioned in other storylines but you of course never get a thorough detailed story of her life. This book really took us through a painfully beautiful story of a woman who has been repeatedly wronged by those in her life. She has been dealt cards where it doesn't matter which one she chooses, it will always lead to a darker road for her. I really felt for Medea in this story and felt she was very misunderstood. She grows up within an abusive and rough childhood, and has to scheme and fight to find her way out. Where she the believes she has made it on the other-side just to be wronged by the one she has placed all her trust and love in. To then have to fight again and still be lost. Although all of this trouble, I do feel like she grew as a character. We start the story with this scared child and end up with a strong witch/queen. I feel like in the end she finds some peace and resolution. The author did just such a beautiful job with giving us so many sides of her and multiple conflicting/vulnerable moments in her journey. Does she have guilt? regret? I'm not sure. But i do have a sense that she does in a way. She is just such an interesting character!!! This story will stick with me. The audiobook was wonderful.

Medea. If you know her name, you will have a reaction when you hear it. She committed unforgivable acts but why? Was she simply evil? That seems too easy. Misunderstood? No, that's also a cop-out. She's a difficult character to write about with nuance, so how do you solve a problem like Medea? LOL

Rosie Hewlett writes a very interesting portrait of Medea. She's been wronged, hurt, ignored, used, shunned, and shamed- and this is all before she commits her most horrible acts. But Hewlett doesn't excuse Medea for her actions- plenty of people survive abuse and don't turn to murder, so why does she?

This is an excellent, nuanced portrait not just of a woman wronged, but wrong herself. She is someone who resists the darkness within her, until she can resist no more. She has reasons for her actions, but it's up to the reader to decide whether or not she is justified in her extreme measures, or if what she did had absolutely no excuse. Or maybe somewhere in between?

I received a free audiobook copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

A feminist retelling of Medea—loved every minute of this. Great 1st person characterization of the main character (Medea) discovering her own magic and embracing her shadow self. The perfect witchy read for fall. The narrator of the audiobook was excellent!