I love new twists on myths - I always find it interesting to see an author's unique take on those old tales. Medusa is one I haven't seen often, although I am familiar with her original story. Kasenow did a great job bringing the myth into modern times, weaving in issues that arise in today's world, and you could say some things don't change. The wealthy and powerful can stack the deck, but Maggie Harper is there to try and balance the scales, standing by Medusa and fighting for her in the courtroom. The characters were well-developed, and you could almost feel the tension pouring off the page while reading this. Part retelling, part commentary on current cultural and societal norms, this book shines a harsh light on the way women and those considered "lesser" are treated by the rich and powerful. Highly recommend this one!

Unfortunately I just could not get into this book. It may be one for other readers, but I was unable to finish it.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. This book is a fascinating take on the story of media I recommend for lovers of mythology.

<b><u>1.5 STARS?</u></b> That’s a first for me...

Usually, I reserve my 1-star reviews for books that I just can't stand... and I mean, I didn't completely HATE this one, but I still didn't really like it. I thought the premise was super interesting overall, but it was executed very badly. The book itself seemed like it needed to go through the editing process another time or two. The dialogue was very stilted, often characters would wax on philosophically (in the middle of a normal, every day conversation) and the whole book just felt really... distant and removed to me. I didn't get a clear view of any of the characters, their past, what motivates them, who they are, why they are. Everything just felt super surface-level.

There were a lot of moral, ethical, and political points to be made but I can't help but to feel super uncomfortable this was written by a man. The story is that Medusa was punished for being the victim of a rape, and in our modern-day times, she is trying to get justice and be freed from her punishment. The trial is focused on her -- solely on releasing her from her isolated prison island, there is nothing about bringing the actual rapist to trial. Which, like...?? Also, there was a lot of graphic violence, but the detailing of the rape itself just felt very... graphic for no reason? Trauma porn? Violence porn? There is so much misogyny seeping through the pages, it was very weird and confusing because the book somewhat makes itself out to be this big feminist revenge story, which it is <i>not</i>. More focus was put on Zeus (given a not-subtle-at-all Tr*mpian twist) than Medusa herself.

I would like to read this story, of Medusa getting justice for the horrible crime committed against her, as well as Athena getting what she deserves. But this is not the right book (...or author) to tell this story.

3.5/5 stars.
I found this story well written and quite unique. There are a lot of takes on Greek myths out there but this one was very interesting and different. I did really enjoy it but there were parts that were a bit too violent.

DNF. I really wanted to love this book as I loved the description and premise but unfortunately, I did not enjoy the writing style and could not get into the book.

This book had a lot of promise but ultimately failed to deliver. Several times, the writing showed blatant sexism, which is ironic considering the book is supposed to be a thought-provoking novel and a social commentary on misogyny.

For starters, every female character is described by their body type and is sexualized in some way. They are all described as being "slim, sexy" and is essentially appealing to the male gaze. The only female character who is described to fat...is also “wounded by the reality of [her] fatness.” The male characters, as you can expect, are not described similarly and the focus is never on how muscular they are or how insecure they are about their beer bellies. A book that is supposed to discuss misogyny in society should be treating its female characters with much more respect instead of focusing solely on their appearance.

There were also many, many senseless depictions of violence. I am not one to shy away from graphic scenes of blood and gore, let me be clear on that. I have read and loved Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott, which also details the horrifying experiences of a rape victim forced to live with her abuser. I am perfectly fine with graphic violence IF they serve a purpose in the story or in character development.

What I absolutely do not accept, is violence for the sake of violence. As a survivor myself, my blood boils when I see authors depicting graphic scenes of violence just for the shock factor, just to horrify readers instead of using those scenes to raise awareness about the severity of abuse.

Another note; a book that explores misogyny by depicting a rape trial shows absolutely no emotional scars of sexual trauma. Not once did we get to see the emotional effect of abuse on Medusa's mental well-being; we even see her moving on sexually with a character without any fear of intimacy, which is so unrealistic that it almost made me laugh. Take this from a survivor; when you have been sexually abused, it is NOT EASY to be intimate again, especially without having some difficult conversations about what is triggering and what isn't.

Also did I mention that there was no rapist actually on trial? It's the rape trial of Medusa..but the rapist wasn't even there? I didn't mind the victim blaming in the court scenes, because that is exactly what happens in reality, but I would have expected the rapist to be more present during the court scenes.

It's very disappointing really, because the concept of this book was so promising. I loved the hilarious modern take on ancient Greek mythology and Greek gods, and some of the parodies such as Zeus as a stand-in for Donald Trump was super creative. Kudos to the author for that. But the rest of the book was a complete let down.

Medusa is always the troubled character in Greek mythology. And this story about the rape of Medusa and all the shenanigans by the gods set in modern times was interesting to read. This is an one time read for me. It was good but something fell flat about the boom overall.

This was an interesting story based on the rape of Medusa and how she was punished for it. I especially like that it was set in modern times with the press and public opinions.

Having not much knowledge of Greek mythology I went into this with an open mind and wasn't disappionted.

I absolutely adored this novel. There was just so much to love about it- characters who were wonderfully idiosyncratic, action that was fast-paced, and a concept that is absolutely marvellous. One does tend to frequently wonder what would happen if the old gods were held to the modern standards (their myths do little to flatter their behaviour) and so to drag them, kicking and screaming into modernity was marvellous to see. The positioning of Zeus as a Trumpian dictator who secretly runs the world was really quite something, and I loved that it was done so irreverently. It's not subtle satire, but it speaks volumes and works horribly well.

I think the development of the characters (especially Medusa) was also very good. They grow with the case and you find yourself rooting for them very easily in the face of plain evil. I have to give a special mention to 'The Theatre' as one of the most messed up things I have read about in a long time- this was a standout, delivering something horror novels in recent times have absolutely failed to do. The behaviour of the Olympians is beyond messed up, and I adored reading a book that didn't shy away from that kind of depravity (which, again, is an essential element of the myths). The ending was also wonderful- it is rare that I am so satisfied at the end of a book, but this managed to deliver.


My only critique is that sometimes the dialogue felt a little stunted and didn't always feel organic (strangely, mostly from the human characters in this book). A little adjustment in relation to some of it would go miles (and honestly, make this a five star for me). However, all in all, this was a fantastic read in the vein of the myths themselves and I appreciated it enormously.

I really enjoyed reading this book, I liked getting to know Medusa and thought it was a great justice for her. I look forward to reading more from the author.

I am a huge fan of Greek mythology and this book is exactly what I was looking for. I really loved this novel. Characters were amazing, the story was fast-paced and entertaining. I really liked the portrayal of the old greek gods in today's atmosphere, morality and standards. I liked that I could see and feel the critique of this book.

I recieved an e-arc from netgalley for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to netgalley for giving me this arc.

Sadly I could not get into this book no matter how many times I picked it up. I got to 14% before I dnf this book.

The premise was intriguing and the idea of a story surrounding Greek mythology was definitely a huge plus for me. The parts of the book that I did manage to read showed the public humiliation and story of a girl, Medusa, who is shamed for something that was not her fault nor of her doing. Zeus as always was depicted as a horrible, ego centric man who wanted the publicity of the trial to further humiliate Medusa while letting Poisideon off with rape.

I think this book would be an excellent first for feminists, people who love Greek methology and who want to understand the emotion that victims go through at these types of trials.
I wish I could have gotten into it.

I found this book's idea interesting as well as the characters, and was really looking ofrward to it, but the writing style just didn't work for me, it read too much like a report of events rather than a story. I ended up DNF'ing it.

I was given a copy of this book to review through NetGalley.

3.75

If you know me, you know I am exceedingly excited about reading Greek Mythology and true crime. This book surprisingly brings forth the Greek Gods out of Mythology and into the modern age with the trail of the millennium. I really enjoyed the "journalistic" feel in this writing and enjoyed my time reading this. There were some pacing issues, and the dialogue between the humans felt a bit stiff, but all in all, I really enjoyed this.

Wow- I didn't expect to love this as much as I did, as I didn't really know much going into it. First off, the obvious- there are several trigger warnings before you read this book, so please make sure to check that out before you pick this up. Secondly, I love the way the author took these mythologies/gods, and made them, more "modern." This story really had me consider some of the things I believe and made me research more about the mythology behind this book. I recommend to anyone who's looking for a hard-hitting and heavily insightful read!

This incredibly written book that deals with the what ifs the Olympian gods are alive and well and everything we knew about them was real. It also asks the questions of where would they be now and the ego maniacs that they would be today. We also take a look at Medusa and for once, she is not a villain but a victim of a cruel fate.

Kasenow gives a fascinating look into the modern world and the ideas of the human race when it comes to women. On my show, I have been raving about this book and this will definitely be on our must read selection in our newsletter that goes out every month. When I was reading the book, I was a bit surprised that this was written by a man as the ideas and theories put forth come from a highly contextualised human being looking how things are not that different from ancient times when it comes to the role of women in society. I think for the best way forward with this review that I will break the novel down in two ways, plotting and political emphasis on a study of the human condition.

The novel is well written and well paced which keeps the reader fully engaged throughout its length. Setting it against a modern world and using media as a tool with the plotting to help frame the story, is a huge asset. The circus around the actual trial and the way the media paints this is masterfully done with a huge emphasis on this. The interconnecting story from the multiple points of view, whether this is the Olympian gods themselves, the law team defending Medusa, Medusa herself or the components found surrounding the characters lift the story to something other than what it is.

On another note, the book is a politically charged understanding of the world around us whether it is media and how we are forced with opinion news with very little facts surrounding the trial and a lot of background noise to distract from the actual case. We also have a story that looks at the roles of women and how they are objectified and their roles in society. On another note, we look at how money and influence can buy themselves into society and get away with whatever they would like and there are huge reflections on how abuse can happened if you have the clout behind you.

The characters are very well described and written. The reader is left with a depth of understanding and feelings for the motivations of each of the characters. Medusa is a tragic figure which the heart yearns for justice, whilst the Olympian goes maniacal planning and plotting keeps things going steady forward. The defence team are a team with the rights of the people at the forefront but through their own guilt, complexities in relationships and human frailty gives them that extra edge of realness. The characters felt fresh and three dimensional and it is quite a feat to take characters that everyone has an understanding of and take them beyond their two dimensional character studies from history class.

Overall, this is a highly exceptional read that has excellent plotting, character development, understanding of the world around and asks a lot more questions than what it answers leaving the reader a lot of thoughts to ponder about long after reading the last words. The story truly resonates with the world around us. Kasenow is able to use plotting devices from mythology and weave this into a tapestry for our time and shows that he is an exciting writer with fantastic insight. I really can’t wait to see what he comes out with next. In fact, I am so impressed that this book will be included as our must read for the month of October newsletter which goes out to 895,000 subscribers as I feel this strongly for it. This is a definite must read.

Admittedly it took me a while to get into The Rape Trial of Medusa, for no other reason than I wasn't 'gelling' with the story. However, after a few chapters I was hooked.
The book is based upon the trial of Medusa V's the Greek God's (she doesn't know who raped her) - it details how Medusa became cursed and the lives of Zeus and his family - who are revered as God's but are portrayed as powerful billionaires.

I loved that the book revealed the intricate relationships between the God's and their history and how the lawyers and friends of Medusa forge their case against the accused. There is a great twist at the end which I had not anticipated and thankfully the book did not end once the trial had finished.

Trigger warnings for this review; rape, torture, racism, antisemitism

I don’t like leaving negative reviews but I really struggled with this book and nearly abandoned it on several occasions. I just don’t know who the intended audience of this book was meant to be as it seesaws between women’s rights and senseless violence to women that really doesn’t belong on the page.

My biggest issue, as mentioned above, is the gratuitous violence, largely to women, written on the page. Medusa’s rape itself is violent and devastating to read, going into great physical detail - and yet the same detail doesn’t remotely go into the emotional pain or recovery of a rape survivor, but I’ll come back to this. One moment the author writes paragraphs showing enlightened, researched consideration for the oppression of women, to the point it feels preachy as he talks of the use of women by men, and then the pain and violation of women is used to juice up the book. There is absolutely no need at all to blindside readers in a book about a rape trial of a long misunderstood character (and therefore implying this book is for people who seek justice for survivors) to read such a detailed account of a violent rape. Furthermore, the main villain of the story, Zeus, (although yes, society is largely the main villain, you could argue) has people who displease him brought to ‘The Theatre’, a modern day, underground colosseum where they are tortured and killed for entertainment. There is a graphic, detailed account of a woman barbarically tortured that is so disturbing that it made me incredibly angry, starting with her restrained on a dog chain naked, tongue removed, bruised and bleeding, and ending with her husband and SMALL CHILDREN ripped apart and eaten by boars as she was made to watch. A book that tried to be so self aware had these moments where it felt like it revelled in that violence. Similarly there is no need for the n-word to be used like 3 times, or the anti-Semitic slurs, I fully got that Zeus was a bad guy without this abuse added.

On another note, the appearance of all the women characters is their primary introduction and for some it goes no further, We know straight away that Maggie Harper (Medusa’s lawyer) is attractive, a former model in fact. Jack Harper, her junior partner however has a whole backstory of childhood abuse, getting involved in drugs and gangs and moving into law. That said, he goes from being an immature, cocky man boy on one page, his first reaction to Medusa’s appearance is “Jesus f-ing Christ” and then he has a think about it and his next appearance he’s this thoughtful man seeing Medusa’s true beauty, it’s bizarre. Crystal, Harper’s other partner though is just fat - the largest, possibly only exploration of her character is how she was larger at school, lost weight and guys were creeps, and now she’s put weight back on. Medusa, you would think would have credible character development though, right? No. In fact a point is made that Hardy coming to visit her is the first time she has been alone with a man since she was raped, and yet there is no exploration of her trauma, no talk of her fear of intimacy or of men, she actually appeared to have no problem trusting Jack or of moving on sexually. In most paragraphs when she talks she says “I was raped” and yet you never get to hear of the emotional scars of that. The character remained unheard and I read this book because I wanted to hear her. She also has been isolated for a long time in a cave, away from civilisation, and yet a set of encyclopaedias later and she is fully adapted to people in a modern day society. The loneliness, the fear of what happened to her could have been explored and instead her rape just seemed like a physical violation and the true pain was that she was made ugly.

There were elements I did appreciate. Harper in court had some brilliant scenes and there were elements from her that had satisfying justice, she was a fantastic character. I don’t understand why Medusa needed a lawyer though, the point of the trial was whether she was raped and her punishment of ugliness just or not - however no rapist was on trial. Several of the court scenes are heavy on victim blaming as well which is hard to read. There was also some information that was interesting and well researched, particularly regarding the worldwide inequality of women, heavy on facts and figures, although you don’t have to anecdote all the research you have found and it didn’t really seemlessly slot in at times.
The portrayal of the Olympians started off as a novel touch, Zeus, Athena, Hera, Hades etc integrated into modern day and the abuse of their power. The novelty of Zeus clearly being Trump wore off pretty quickly though, down to Him posting angry, slanderous tweets, “fake news” and grabbing women and getting away with it because you can do what you want when you have power - a subtle nod would have been very clever, this felt like a wink to the audience every time.

Like I started with, I’m not sure the intention behind this book and I was disappointed by such a missed opportunity to give Medusa some justice. I found this book incredibly hard to read. Thank you NetGalley for the copy to review nonetheless.

Thank you to Netgalley & BooksGoSocial for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review

**TRIGGER WARNING** - This novel is based firmly on the rape of Medusa and her subsequent punishment.

I was drawn to the book down to the title - pure and simple. After reading the synopsis I wondered how well could a book set in the present Day but featuring a Mythical Woman would work!

I have to say the writer has done an exceptional job of blending the two together!

This book features current topics around victim blaming and the worlds cultural beliefs around where women ‘fit’ within the world.

This book infuriated me at some points and validated the feelings I have felt myself at other points.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would be happy to recommend it to others.