A rich retelling of the Greek myth of the Minotaur, Ariadne is somehow both luscious and fiercely feminist. Ariadne herself notices how the fickle Greek gods play with the lives of mortals, taunting and loving them in turn, leading them astray, only for the women to be punished. This book was compelling, similar to Circe by Madeline Miller. The ending snuck up very suddenly to me, I wasn't quite ready for it to end, but it was very fitting. A great debut!

I feel like this book should be called Ariadne and Phaedra, as the story is split between the two sisters and princesses of Crete. I love greek mythology re-tellings so I was beyond excited to read this. There was a bit of disconnect between the beginning and end in terms of style and tone, but I still enjoyed it and would highly recommend to fans of Greek Mythology.

A great retelling of a lesser known Greek woman. Thoroughly enjoyable and weaves together the stories of two fascinating characters in a human and believable way

Ariadne is a compelling and beautifully written retelling of the story of Ariadne and Phaedra, told in alternating perspectives and so interesting. I think like many readers will be, I was familiar with the original myth of Theseus and the Minotaur and how Ariadne plays a role in his defeat of the beast, however I always recall her role being minimised somehow, so it was great to read this book and see through her eyes so wholly. In this novel Jennifer Saint, centers Ariadne and Phaedra and gives them agency and complexity, akin to the work of Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes, in my mind all of these retellings exist in the same universe, wouldn't that be cool?

Saint's writing is beautiful at all times and has that classical storytelling feel to the language, with sumptuous description and sense of foreshadowing which feels so heavy. I think the characterisation is also so great and Saint is skilled at depicting the differences between Ariadne and Phaedra, how they both have fatal flaws which lead to their undoing as well as the impact of the male figures in their lives and how they navigate these relationships.

Overall, Ariadne is a brilliant retelling and works on the original mythos and makes it her own, I would definitely recommend this to readers interested in female driven narratives, greek mythology and retellings.