Reviews

I was surprised by this book; there were a lot of times where the author went in a totally different direction than I was expecting with the story. I appreciate that the vagueness of Greek mythology allows for a lot of leeway for stories like this! If you enjoyed Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes, you will love this book too!!

stefs1974's review

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adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

gturner's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

justinecharpenel's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense

4.25

Content Warnings

sidhes_reading_again's review

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I came close to DNFing this, but read other reviews saying it got better so I stuck with it. Kind of wish I hadn't bothered.
Bear's prose feels forced, and her title characters, ostensibly the main characters, come across as one-dimensional, their development more a side effect of formula than a true character arc. In attempting to convey the collapsing of time from an immortal perspective, Bear ends up reducing the would-be protagonists to a pair of cameras: one first-person, naive, and active, the other third-person, bitter, and passive, but neither constituting a complete character.
To me, the best parts of the book were the weaving in of other myths, like Semele and Orion, because when it's just the sisters, it feels interminable. I did appreciate, too, the

queering of Medusa and Athena--Medusa's transformation has new emotional resonance when presented as the result of Athena's jealousy and protection of her own reputation

. However, the fact that the best parts of the book are the ones less focused on the titular sisters reinforces my main issue with it, that Stheno and Euryale fell so flat.

kadinrae's review

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adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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