4 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2025/09/03/review-no-friend-to-this-house-by-natalie-haynes/
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Retelling of Jason and Medea

I am really enjoying the books that retell Greek mythology, usually from a lesser known perspective and No Friend to This House was a very enjoyable and cleverly told story that uses many threads that weave together in an intriguing and satisfactory fashion.

This is a story that is founded on the very well known story of Jason and his Argonauts but told from a lesser known character (or at least one that doesn’t usually have much voice), Medea who brings us a whole new perspective on Jason and his heroics.

I will say from the outset that although I had a slowish start with this, once I became used to the style, I thoroughly enjoyed this retelling. It brings to the reader multiple characters who sometimes appear very briefly simply to interject a quick burst of illumination and then retire not to be seen again. It has interfering Greek Gods – something you really can’t avoid in these stories and why should you because they are entertaining – and other characters who at first may seem insignificant but play a small part in either shaping or directing the narrative.

Medea, as you may be aware was a sorceress and the daughter of a God and although her tale is dark she keeps the favour of the Gods (in spite of some dire acts) signalling just how much Jason eventually fell from grace. Medea was herself used by the Gods in their little games, being smitten by Jason upon first sight (having been shot with one of Eros’ love arrows how could she possibly resist?). So, of course she betrays her king and country and helps Jason to win the Golden Fleece. Jason comes across as charming and gifted at winning people over but ultimately, he betrays Medea and, as her story has shown along the way, she has something of a vengeful streak. Theirs is definitely a Greek Tragedy but this retelling manages to inject humour and a sense of fun and it is captivating. I was hooked.

I don’t want to say too much about the story, it takes the path that you would expect but it shines a different light on Medea making her more sympathetic (even in the face of atrocities). I mean, I couldn’t help really feeling for her and wanting very much to slap Jason.

The writing is really good, it’s clever the way the smallest incidents play into the story and become much more relevant and in fact just writing about my thoughts and feelings makes me realise that I would really love to read this again just to see what I missed.

In conclusion, although I needed a little time to warm up initially, this book really did sink its teeth in and grip me. I think I had reservations, having read a couple of retellings fairly recently I wondered if this might tread the same path but it was such an entertaining read that although the path is familiar the events were given a unique slant and for me it revealed things that I was completely unaware of – for example the golden fleece – well, it has a story of it’s own that I had no idea about.

This is my first book by this author but it certainly won’t be my last.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4 of 5 stars

No Friend to This House by Natalie Haynes is a brilliant retelling of the Medea myth. Instead of the usual story of a monstrous witch, Haynes gives you a deep, empathetic look at a woman pushed to the brink. It's a powerful and heartbreaking book that reclaims the narrative from a male-dominated history. A must-read if you love smart, female-centric takes on ancient myths.

‘𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒.’

This is such a powerful reimagining of the women connected to Jason & the Argonauts. Instead of centering on the familiar heroes we know, it gives a voice to the women whose lives were torn apart by their presence.

Medea absolutely stole my heart!! What she & the others went through was gut wrenching. I felt their pain & rage right in my bones. I loved reading @nataliehaynesauthor note at the end explaining the title for this book. Reminding me that this was never Jason’s story. It was always theirs.

𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒. 😭😭😭

I do wish we had spent more time with Medea, since her story really takes off in the second half but what we got I never wanted to end. Thank you so much @bookbreakuk for this gorgeous proof copy 🥰

No Friend to This House is an immersive and fiercely feminist reimagining of the myth of Medea, originally penned by Euripides. This powerful and evocative retelling is emotionally resonant, unexpectedly witty, and deeply thought-provoking. Through meticulous research and a compelling female gaze, Haynes doesn’t just retell Medea’s story—she inhabits it, reshaping it into something fresh, visceral, and unforgettable.

Natalie Haynes just has this very unique way to write retellings and I eat them up every single time. <i>No Friend to This House</i> is the story of Jason and the Argonauts - and most of all, the often times forgotten women he meets on the way. The most infamous one is, of course, Medea, but in usual Haynes fashion there are a multitude of different perspectives. Be it Alcimede, mother of Jason, or Hypsipyle and her women of Lemnos, or Cleite of the Doliones, or princess Glauke, Circe, or the goddesses themselves, to name just a few. I love this specific retelling style a lot and I could barely put down the book.
With every Medea retelling though, I'm always a bit wary as to how they would approach the terrible things she does. Medea is one of my favourite characters in Greek tragedies and myths, so I basically read any retelling that comes my way. Too often is she portrayed as entirely innocent, a poor girl trapped by a purely evil man who didn't really do what myths told us she did. But Medea was involved in the death of her brother, and Medea did get the daughters of Pelias to kill him brutally, and Medea did kill Glauke, and Medea did kill her own children. Haynes approaches her with all the care she deserves, though. Her Medea is the one I always pictured myself - capable, powerful, complex, brutal yet also warm and devoted. And yes, absolutely still a victim of Jason, though I love that Haynes also depicts his complexity and doesn't turn him into the one-note villainous figure a lot of other retellings do. Obviously we still hate him in this house, though. And in the end, Medea is also just another victim of the games the gods like to play, and the way Haynes interweaves this divine aspect with Medea's own agency is just masterful.
The story does gloss over Pelias' death a little bit, I really thought this would be a longer sequence of events because when it happens, it's actually rather jarring considering what happened before. As in, at this point of the story you really wouldn't think Medea capable of doing what she's doing, and I would have liked some more build-up to it, but I also really enjoyed that it was told from the daughters' perspectives and how they view Medea as a result.

Simply put: probably my favourite retelling of Jason and Medea's myths and cementing Haynes as an auto-buy author.

I absolutely loved No Friend to This House. Natalie Haynes has such a gift for taking stories I thought I already knew and shining a completely new light on them. The way she gives a voice to characters who usually stay in the background is just brilliant — it makes the whole world of the myth feel so much richer and more human.

What I enjoy most about her writing is that it’s clever without ever being heavy or difficult. One moment I was laughing at her sharp wit, and the next I was completely caught up in the heartbreak and injustice of the story. It’s the kind of book that makes you think, but also one you can’t put down.

If you’ve read Stone Blind or A Thousand Ships, this is every bit as good — maybe even better. I’ll be recommending it to everyone I know who loves Greek mythology (and even those who think they don’t!).

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book. The story of Jason and Medea could not be told this good by any other writer.. Natalie Haynes has perfected this heartbreaking story. The writing was elegant, details just to the point. No feeling of info dumps but well placed details. In a day I devoured this wonderful addition to the collection of Natalie Haynes' classics.. cannot thank enough..

No Friend to This House is a modern retelling of the story of Medea, including the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece. Medea's story is fascinating, and Natalie Haynes has an exceptional ability to tell a story using the voices we wouldn't usually hear - the women. In No Friend to This House we hear from not only well known female figures such as Medea, Circe, and Hera, but also the women who live on the islands which Medea and Jason visit. All too often ancient stories focus on the men, the 'Heroes' and the Gods, and the women are overlooked despite being present throughout. Being able to read possible perspectives of the women involved in this story (for example, those in Corinth who gave rational explanations for Medea's disappearance and refused to believe her guilt, and Medea's daughter who allowed us to see that Medea managed to escape and create a life for herself after the tragedy of losing her (male) family) helps to take the story on a different path to the one which Euripides tells, and for a modern reader, is a far more plausible (of course, ignoring the flying carriage Medea uses to escape!).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review of the book.

Oh boy, I approached this with trepidation, but needn’t have worried. I love Natalie Haynes books and worry the next can’t possibly be as good as her last but it always is and this is no exception! The story of Jason and the Argonauts is well known and this is a fantastic retelling from a female perspective. I love a book that teaches me something and the research and knowledge of Greek myth this author has brings an amazing dynamic to her writing. I just loved it and found it absolutely absorbing and fascinating. I will never think of Jason in the same way ever again !

I like this author's books because she always tries to do something interesting with the shifting POVs that's reminiscent of a Greek chorus, but not exactly because the women's voices—and they are all women—don't exactly blend together or encourage cohesion. I don't feel like they provide catharsis either, more of the opposite with their unresolved grievances and sheer injustice of their situations.

What I like most about Medea retellings is the challenge of making understandable her horrific actions at the end. It's hard to imagine a sane woman killing her own sons just to spite her faithless husband, but blaming it all on insanity (genetic or otherwise) also feels like a cop-out. This has become my 2nd favourite Medea retelling because the reason supplied—the twist in the end—is inventive, plausible, and most importantly, unexpected. Now that I've seen it, it seems so duh, like 'why didn't I think of that??', but I am delighted. The narrative has these little metaphorical flaps like in picture books where you lift one and the picture is revealed to you.

I think what the author tries to show here is that the tendency to create a cohesive narrative (a linear, flat, and flattening one) should be held suspect. Of course it makes for a neat and easily digestible story if the narrator focuses only on one guy, usually the hero, and treats everyone else as props for his Very Important Quest, but that's boring. And honestly, kiddy. Haynes challenges her readers to quite literally consider the big picture and think about all the women characters relegated to the footnotes but who must have also had their own minds and lives and desires. My favourite example from here is the golden fleece itself, which is not just a quest object but the skin of somebody's precious son. Nobody thinks about that.

3.5 Stars ⭐️

I struggled with my rating for this one because there were parts I really loved and others that just didn’t work for me, though I’m sure they could for other readers.

When I first requested this one, it was because the premise suggested it would be a feminist Medea retelling. It definitely isn’t that, Medea herself doesn’t even appear until about 40% of the way through. Instead, this is more of a retelling of the voyage of the Argo as well as Medea’s part within it.

The book started off really strong for me, but then the momentum dipped until about part three. There are a lot of different POVs, from queens and mortals to gods and even animals. Sometimes this worked beautifully, but other times it felt jarring and disrupted the flow, especially when the narrative switched just as a storyline was getting interesting.

The pace overall is quite fast, particularly in the latter half, which helped the story regain its momentum. At the same time though, I wanted to spend more time with Medea. I wanted to get inside her head, to see Haynes’ version of her more fully realised.

I’ve really enjoyed Haynes’ non-fiction and podcast appearances in the past, so I was still glad to pick this one up. Overall, I did enjoy the book, but I was left wishing for something a little more streamlined and a chance to connect more deeply with Medea herself.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan for the eARC.

What's the point in telling the old stories all over again in the same way? [loc. 549]
Natalie Haynes, author of The Amber Fury, Stone Blind and Divine Might (and a number of works that I haven't yet read) turns her attention to the myth of Jason and the Argonauts. I expected this to be another novel about Jason and Medea, but Haynes' focus is broader: No Friend to this House, with its multitude of female narrators, explores the lasting damage caused by the Argo's voyage and her crew's actions, as well as Medea's love for and abandonment by Jason.

There are chapters from the viewpoints of priestesses, goddesses (who are usually responsible for getting Jason out of whatever sticky situation he's blundered into), animals (including the dove sent to fly ahead of the Argo to test the Symplegades and a crow that's Hera's messenger), the women of Lemnos and the enslaved Thracian women, naiads and harpies and nymphs...

The mortal women are often powerless, lacking agency; the goddesses have power, but are as exasperated by mortal men as by the gods. There's a healthy and heartening theme of female solidarity (for instance, the women of Corinth defending Medea to Jason) and some notes on Greek grammar. "... no matter how many girls were in a room (just one, in this instance), if boys were there too, the word 'children' takes the masculine ending. And the girls disappear." [loc. 3066]

Haynes' afterword explains that this is the novel she's been preparing to write for most of her life. (The title is a line from Euripides' Medea, and refers to Jason. She discusses the marginalisation of women, and the plethora of lost children, in the myths: and she explains why her version of Medea, unlike that of Euripides, has not descended into madness.

No Friend to this House is a fascinating collection of narratives, linked by the Argo and her captain. There were quite a few myths that were unfamiliar to me (Haynes provides a good bibliography) and each narrator had a distinct character, from an indignant Erato addressing the reader directly to an enslaved Thracian woman advising Iphinoe of Lemnos how to avoid mess when murdering a man. Recommended for anyone who's bored of straightforward retellings of Greek mythology.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advance review copy: UK publication date is 11th September 2025.

"People would ask - in later years - what we could have seen in one another that was so potent it could precede such a terrible unravelling."

No Friend to This House traces the rise and (eventual) fall of Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece, and Natalie Haynes has done a great job in handing the reins to the women whose stories have too often been sidelined. There's a surprising amount of humour and heart in the storytelling, and where the goddesses trying to outwit each other was a great highlight to read.

Medea is a person of her own making, despite what others say - her heritage is constantly picked apart, doubted and used against her - but her power is ironically coveted by the very people those who dismiss her. This book is very much supporting women's rights and women's wrongs and I'm buckled in for the ride! There are some delicious quotes, filled to vegenace and desperation from those who captivated by Jason, to those who see him for what he really is.

It's a vivd retelling that adds depth to Medea's own story and elevates her in an otherwise well-trodden retelling!

First and foremost, I adore the Greek tragedies, but have never set out to read one as I was always slightly put off worrying that they’d go over my head a lot.

No Friend to This House is a modern retelling of the story of Jason (of the Argo fame) and the sorceress Medea, otherwise known as what is most like the first ‘Feminist Rage’ story.

It is an epic fitting for the story it’s telling. It covers a lot of ground, over a lot of characters, so I was referring to the handy guide very well, it soon became my best friend, as there is a lot of people to keep track of.

It focuses mostly on the traditionally unsung people in the tale. The forgotten gods, and most importantly, the shunned women.

It highlights the character defect in Jason in being a user, who forgets what people have done to help him in his ordeals.

I feel a lot more confident in taking other classics in now, starting with more of Natalie Hayne’s work, as it has absolutely ignited love for her work.

The reimagining of Medea’s story, developing a rather overlooked character and giving us the chance to consider her role in the well-known story of Jason and his quest to capture the golden fleece.
Meticulously researched and a thoughtful exploration of the characters on the periphery of the myths. Medea carries out some unspeakable acts but she is always sympathetically portrayed and, in light of what is done to her, I think she’s quite restrained. For me,it was the interjections from other characters that really helped develop this story.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this before publication.

“No Friend to This House” is another retelling of a Greek classic - Natalie Haynes presents her version of the story of Jason, captain of the Argonauts, and his many women, most notably the mystical Medea. And what a pleasure it is! This is such a well-researched, easy-to-read, entertaining and humorous novel. Of course, if you know the story of Medea, you know there is enough tragedy! I love Natalie Haynes’s sense of humour, despite of the subject, her work is always a joy to read.

The title, “No Friend to This House”, refers to a conversation (from the Greek play) between minor characters in the novel, speaking about Jason. So, the famous hero, a man of legend, actually reveals himself as a pretty awful loser throughout the novel. And the hint is already there in the title!

I struggled a little at the beginning. Never having read the synopsis, I assumed this would be a story about Jason first and foremost, his quest and adventures. It took a while for Medea to appear and for their (love?) story to take centre stage. But once it did, I was fully invested, and during the last third of the book, I simply could not put it down.

I love Natalie Haynes’s work, you can feel her deep love and appreciation of Ancient Greek literature, myths, and culture seeping through the pages, enthralling us all with these divine stories. Not every retelling (in fact, far from most retellings) of Greek myths conveys such passion for the subject from the author to the reader.

With many thanks to the publisher. 4.5 stars!

I’ve always been a fan of Greek mythology retellings and Natalie Haynes is always able to create unique stories. No Friend to This House was another great book and overall I enjoyed it. I struggled a bit at the beginning, with a slow start and multiple POVs to follow, but after a while and once Medea was introduced, the story flew by. Plus, her writing style is so beautiful and lyrical that it's inevitable to be captivated and immerse yourself in the story.

I didn’t know much about the myth of Jason and Medea before going into this book but Natalie Haynes has a brilliant way of telling you know what you need to know while weaving her own touch onto the story.

I was invested in every POV and never felt like the pacing was off at any point in the book. Natalie Haynes is absolutely up there with Jennifer Saint with writing immersive and engaging retellings of myths and keep you captivated from start to finish.

I have to admit I'm not entirely sure how to review this, I love Greek mythology and I've read Natalie Haynes several times before she is clearly a very talented writer with a passion for the subject

Sadly a issue I had with a previous book of hers StoneBlind appears here as well, both are marketed as a famous story told from a villians pov the former Medusa,here it's Medua from Jason's quest for the fleece.

But It wasn't until 150odd pages of 380 that I got to her PoV,the first half is various other women as they encounter Jason and his men, she does become the dominant voice when we finally reach her at least but..

But as I said Natalie is clearly a very talented writer and it's a enjoyable enough story ,particularly when we actually get to Medeas voice, but the length of time taken to get there sadly leaves a bit of a sour taste for me, I only wish the story was marketed a bit differently.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a retelling of the story of Medea and Jason. It gives a human touch to Medea and the reasons why she does what she does.

It did take me a little while to get into the story and the way of writing due to it being told from multiple points of view but once I did I was hooked.

If you love Greek retellings I would highly recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Natalie Haynes and Pan Macmillan for this ARC

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