Review - Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

 

 Title: Ariadne

Author: Jennifer Saint

Pages: 400

Publisher: Wildfire

Release Date: 29th April 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur - Minos's greatest shame and Ariadne's brother - demands blood every year.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods - drawing their attention can cost you everything.

In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition?

 

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My Review:

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Headline and NetGalley*

Princess Ariadne and her sister Phaedra are the daughters of King Minos of Crete. Beneath the palace is the Labyrinth, home to the Minotaur, Ariadne's brother and Minos's source of power.

Every year the city of Athens is forced to provide sacrifices to the Minotaur and this year one of those is Theseus, the Prince of Athens.

Ariadne falls for Theseus and decides to help him kill the Minotaur and escape the labyrinth.

Betraying her family changes Ariadne's life in ways she could never have guessed.

Will Ariadne's future be what she dreamed?

As a fan of Greek mythology I wanted to read this book as soon as I heard about it.

Ariadne and Phaedra were both likeable and relatable characters. I enjoyed their stories, as much as anyone can enjoy Greek myths which are usual pretty tragic.

The plot was interesting and held my attention, but I wasn't gripped and I didn't feel very invested in what happened. I'd heard of Ariadne in regards to the Minotaur and the Labyrinth, but I didn't know anything else about her or anything about her sister Phaedra, so I did enjoy finding out more about them.

The writing style was easy to follow and I would read another book by the author.

I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more, but I think my expectations were quite high given all the hype surrounding the book.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.