Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: May 9th, 2023
Pages: 304 (11 Hr. 9 Min.)
Publisher: Macmillan (Flatiron Books)
Narrator: Beth Eyre
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“From the beloved, bestselling author of Elektra and Ariadne , a reimagining of the myth of Atalanta, a fierce huntress raised by bears and the only woman in the world’s most famous band of heroes, the Argonauts
Princess, Warrior, Lover, Hero
When Princess Atalanta is born, a daughter rather than the son her parents hoped for, she is left on a mountainside to die. But even then, she is a survivor. Raised by a mother bear under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis, Atalanta grows up wild and free, with just one condition: if she marries, Artemis warns, it will be her undoing.
Although she loves her beautiful forest home, Atalanta yearns for adventure. When Artemis offers her the chance to fight in her name alongside the Argonauts, the fiercest band of warriors the world has ever seen, Atalanta seizes it. The Argonauts’ quest for the Golden Fleece is filled with impossible challenges, but Atalanta proves herself equal to the men she fights alongside. As she is swept into a passionate affair, in defiance of Artemis’s warning, she begins to question the goddess’s true intentions. Can Atalanta carve out her own legendary place in a world of men, while staying true to her heart?
Full of joy, passion, and adventure, Atalanta is the story of a woman who refuses to be contained. Jennifer Saint places Atalanta in the pantheon of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology, where she belongs.”
My Review:
I am middle of the road with this one.
I loved Ariadne, I’ve still yet to read Elektra but I most definitely want to. This one wasn’t as compelling for me.
I liked getting to see Atalanta grow up and get such an intimate look into what her life was like. But once the epic quest began things started to get really slow. The middle definitely drug from a plot perspective.
I also found that sometimes some of the small side stories of other myths to be more interesting than the overall story itself.
Saint’s writing is, as always, beautiful, with her sweeping prose, vivid imagery, and almost lyrical way of telling events. It’s why I loved her other book so much. She has a talent for drawing you into the story and immersing you into the world. But this story in particular just didn’t click right for some reason.
This one just really lacked that spark that I found in Ariadne. I found some of the men in the book felt like caricatures. I didn’t feel that same emotional connection with the protagonist. And while the events were sort of interesting, they lacked the urgent drive and motivations that would make them feel daring, harrowing, and triumphant to overcome.
It wasn’t a bad read by any means, it just wasn’t on par with my expectations from what I know this author is capable of creating.
I feel it’s generally unfair to compare works, but for this one, because it is in such a similar vein being a mythology retelling, I feel it was fair to expect, at least on some level, a similar experience – and that just didn’t happen for me.
Nevertheless, Saint is still an auto-read for me and I will read anything she writes. As far as the audiobook, I did really enjoy the narrator. I thought she brought the perfect tone and vibe to the story.
Disclaimers:
Huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an early copy of this amazing story! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Have you read this book? Planning to add it to your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
I love a good book discussion. 🙂
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