Overall, this felt like a refreshing take on the legend of Medousa, and examining through fiction how some of the myths about her may have come about. There is experience of madness through essentially the solitary confinement of not being able to interact with other beings. She also learns over time to control both her anger and urge to lash out - both as a human and later as a Gorgon, when she learns to leash her fatal power.

Large amounts of pain and suffering form Medousa’s tale, with times of joy and repose. Sensual without being graphic, there are lovely bits depicting the love, romance and sexual relationship between Medousa and Cynisca as young mortal women. Love, longing, and the sadness of missing an absent lover are major threads woven throughout.

Slavery, and the desire for being able to decide her life for herself are major issues for Medousa early in the novel. Once her freedom is won, she is still constrained through societal expectations, including those who knew her while she was still a slave, and her own ingrained attitudes from living as a slave.

The casual sexual assault and harassment was something I could read through, but the author’s portrayal of Athena’s response to the rape of Medousa in her temple I found really difficult to deal with, due to how I have experienced and heard others recount people reacting to sexual assault and rape in real life. While it reflects Ovid’s telling, (which I had forgotten about in the intervening years), the sheer victim blaming of her words is brutal.

While horrific and hard to deal with, it does remind the reader that the Greek Pantheon of Goddesses and Gods were not only the positive aspects commonly associated and interpetted in beginner neo-Pagan and New Age books, but also the sheer brutality contained within mythology and poetry that tends to get edited out in reinterpretations or versions parsed for high school audiences. (Granted, there is a whole other discussion about male authorship and misogyny in classical Greek texts).

For anyone dealing with issues around experienced sexual harassment, assault, or rape, the victim blaming of other characters (and at times, from Medousa towards herself) may be difficult to read, especially pronouncements from characters on her guilt of simply existing provoking or being responsible for the attack.

What a wonderful little book. This novel follows a recent trend of humanising the Greek and Roman myths (or am I noticing it more because I am addicted to BBC's Troy?) A wonderful literary take on the scapegoated woman, very refreshing.

This was a very interesting take on Medousa, definitely not one I have seen before. This is the story of Medousa written from her perspective. It was fresh and very well written. "Medousa" has all the elements that I am looking for in a book! It was an emotional rollercoaster!

The hardest thing to read was the constant sexual assault and feeling of helplessness I felt for Medousa! The parallel of the victim shaming to society these days was blaring! She is constantly wronged and hurt and the blame is constaly thrust onto her. Though she finds joy and happiness it in a few relationships it is constantly stolen. It was hard to watch the way Medousa was treated and you dearly wanted her to have her revenge.

There was such a beauty to the love scenes, as well. Nothing too graphic! It was so enjoyable to read because you could feel the love in it and not carnal lust. I loved watching her strength rise and then her ability to control that very strength and direct it and harness it as opposed to being owned by it. She shows this strength as a human and also as the monster.

The constant sexual assault was not easy to read, but it was so necessary for the story and for the lesson of it for today! Women are constantly looked at as objects of men's "affection" and always blamed when the situation goes awry. I appreciate any story that explains the emotions of the ACTUAL victim and hope that more people would understand the hurt and confusion that comes with being assaulted. Nobody should feel any kind of punishment when they are sexually assaulted!

This was such a great story, heartbreaking but also very empowering.

Wonderful retelling of a villain whose life and story was so misunderstood. A villain known by everyone, Medousa was once a girl who wanted to love and be loved. Yet she was faced with so much misfortune. But through the tragedy, she continued to fight through and to find herself. This book was so intriguing and told a different side of the story, the side of the villain.

Would recommend to those who love greek mythology

Quite interesting interpretation of Medusa (Μέδουσα), the famous Gorgon in Greek mythology: the story follows her as a young girl whose family is killed in a raid and she is taken as a slave by the Spartans. It depicts her fears and hopes, shows her friends and enemies, and the ordeals she is subjected to, making her become the monster (?) that is known in mythology.
I like how the author rendered the Gods and heroes of Antic Greece, far from the way I used to see them as a child.

Sensitive topics: rape (and I liked that it was accentuated through the text that blaming the girls for being raped is totally not fair); lesbianism

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2365568914?type=review#rating_163852886

This book was a fucking journey. And it completely 180'd my perception of the Gods, Olympians and the legends within Greek mythology.
The story details the life of Medousa, from child stolen to serve as a slave, to young woman battling for self respect and a place within society - all under the watchful eye of the goddess Athena.
It details her dramatic transformation into a Gorgon and the decades that follow - that part of her stream of consciousness was tough to read as you could feel the despair she felt.
It was a wonderful book overall and I'm excited to read others in this vein and more by this author.

*Arc received by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
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This is a retelling of a tale that anyone with any interest in Greek Mythology should read; it really changed my perception of what I had learned years ago.

Medousa was considered less than a human from the time her family was killed and she was mad a slave, only two humans ever treated her with any kindness in the palace and they were unable to protect her. She would have been much better off if Athena had never noticed her. If the Greek goddesses and gods were so powerful, why did she not look into the future of the human who supposedly meant so much to her? After all, a prophet saw this possible future for her and if Athena cared so much she could have kept her away from the sea, she could have made the priestess at the local temple accept Medousa as an acolyte. To punish her as she did for something that she had no control over and then to punish her again once she was dead was too much!

5/5 STARS:

I love retellings so I was intrigued when I heard about "Medousa" and this retelling definitely didn't disappoint.

I liked how Butchin put a new spin on well-known myths, including not only the story of Medousa but also touching on the fall of Troy, Heracles, and the war between Titans and Olympians.

The main weakness of this novel, in my opinion, is that it felt somewhat repetitive at points with characters making the same point over and over again, but the overall story is still fascinating and kept my interest throughout.

I liked Medousa as a protagonist and her suffering and doubts were realistically portrayed and her trauma was never made light of during the novel. The ending was somewhat abrupt but that just added to the story's tragedy.

This novel certainly managed to portray the Olympians in a different light and they were probably the most unlikable characters in the novel, which makes sense in terms of the story, but didn't really make their actions more palatable.

Overall, this is a fantastic retelling that puts a spin on a well-known tale.

I admit, I'm a sucker for a myth or fairy tale retelling done well, and this was a great read. Many people know the story of Medusa, but as it's said the victors write history, and this is a peek into the other side of the story. Medusa was once a girl with hopes and dreams and struggles all her own before being turned into a gorgon, and this is the engaging story of her life. Highly recommend for anyone who loves mythology and alternate tellings.