Welcome to Litsy!

The first line is Poseidon saying “Whaddap, bitches?” So you have to have a sense of humor. In this myth retelling of the Minotaur, every character has a specific rhyme they stick to. I liked how Elliot made Asterion, the Minotaur, have thoughts and feelings. One thing that stuck out to me is that the pages themselves will turn darker as his story progresses, with Asterion‘s last pages - in the labyrinth - completely black with white text.

My last post was about how I didn‘t care for “Ariadne”. Same myth, but THIS is what I was looking for! It‘s written in verse, & very much reminiscent of “Hamilton” in style. Stunning. Each of the characters has a unique voice. The rhymes are nothing short of brilliant, & the author pulls so much from myth and symbolism, not missing a beat. Finally a FRESH take, which most recent myth retellings have been lacking.

This was good. It's the story of the minotaur written in verse. It works really well as an #audiobook. It's funny and irreverent. And it's really short.

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Interesting retelling if the story of the Minotaur and how he came to be. This was short and written in verse which made it a great audiobook.

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I started this #Gold book today. I'm such a fan of Mythology books.

This is a retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, Asterion. It‘s told using different poetic forms and I really liked that idea, that each character would (sort of, it wasn‘t rigid!) have a poetic form they used. I did find myself, however, wavering between really liking this and being annoyed. Since it‘s geared toward YA, that may explain that. Prompt 3 for #ReadYourSign Zodiac Symbol (Bull) on cover/in title/heavily-mentioned.

A YA retelling of the tale of the Minotaur. Told in a variety of poetic forms the verbiage has been updated to be more relatable and the cadence has a slight hip-hop feel to it. Bouncing between character viewpoints, the story truly shows off the fact that sometimes the greatest monsters are those who don't look it.

I know this is a tragic myth, but Poseidon was HILARIOUS in this retelling (in verse) of the story of the Minotaur!

I started this this morning and I‘m already about halfway through. I brought home way too many books for summer break, so I‘m trying to read the quick ones first!

Interesting take on the myth. Written in verse so it‘s a quick read.

I have to read about a billion YA books in four weeks for a committee (ok, actually 43.) I‘m really enjoying this novel-in-verse about the Minotaur! Think “Hamilton” meets Greek mythology. And to think I wouldn‘t have picked this up if it weren‘t on my reading list.

I really enjoyed this book! Bull is the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, but told in verse by multiple characters (Poseidon, Minos, Pasiphae, Asterion, etc.). This was one of those books that I found myself wanting to read out loud as each character had their own style of verse.

#GreekMythology #Verse #YAfiction

I‘m only 13 pages in, but this book is so fun! Bull is the retelling of the Minotaur myth, but in verse. So far it‘s a unique and entertaining read!!

#greekmythology #verse #YAfiction

This permutation of the story of the Minataur is pure delight. I love Elliott's take on the story & the personalities he imbues to the players. His use of different poetic forms to individulize & personalize these characters is so spot on. I couldn't stop reading it & will definitely be revisiting this one again & again.

It took me a few pages to get used to the tone the author uses to tell this classic story of the Minotaur but once I got to that point this was a really enjoyable young adult novel in verse.

Verse novel of the Minotaur story. It‘s got all the characters and an interesting take on ancient Greek relationships with their Gods. I enjoyed the book, it was a super fast read, and I felt got the entire of “what in the world is going on” feel pretty right.

Theseus and the Minotaur retold in verse, but the Bull is the good guy. It has a cool, almost hip hop feel with enough bad language thrown in to make it feel subversive (to the YA audience). We got a free copy from our library, but I wish I had it on audio. Verse seems to pop more when professionally read.

Entertaining but not great. Elliott added a lot of story points, some were great (Asterion and Ariadne!) but then he maintained an unhealthy level of misogyny, and I can only wonder why. That's what kept me from loving it because the verse is clever and fun. Still a pick though...

A great modern retelling of the Minotaur and Theseus. I really enjoyed how much depth the author have to the Asterion (the Minotaur). It is very humorous and kept my attention til the last sentence. I read the book in less then a day. This is a good one and that's no bull 🐂

I had a hard time narrowing down my #jubilantjuly Day 2: Best of 2017 so far list; so here are most of my ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads of the year to date. 😊 @RealLifeReading

While I enjoyed this satirical telling of the Minotaur, I found some of the diction and constant rhyming grated on me. However, the author explains why he chose each type of poetic form for the different characters and it made me appreciate his creativeness. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

#greekmythology #myths #verse #poetry

#2017Book114
Told in the style of an epic poem, Bull provides a humorous retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Elliott switches perspectives between the key players in the myth, giving each one a distinct poetic style. This would be a great way to introduce high school students to this myth, but be warned, there's quite a bit of coarse language and sexual innuendo.

This is what our reviewer had to say about #Bull "David Elliott tells the myth of the Minotaur unlike anything attempted before....Not only did this retelling evoke emotion, it was told in an immersive way, with each page containing a surprise...."

#readathon book 2. This was AMAZING! Hilarious and brilliant. Definitely buying a copy for my library.

Also in the vein of my other commentaries on classical works: everyone in Ancient Greece was an asshole, which explains a lot about Western Civilization. Just saying.

The idea behind this book was cool, a retelling of the minotaur myth. And it was written with different types of poetry for each characters speaking voice. But the whole book was in stanzas and lines. Second book like this I have out from the library right now. Is it a trend? A new thing? A very old thing being done again for some reason I don't understand?

#minotaur #LitsyAtoZ #LetterE

This was surprisingly enjoyable. So I'm a sucker for Greek Mythology, so maybe I was predisposed to like this, but I thought it was cleverly constructed, very readable, and super fun.

This YA novel in verse reselling of the myth of Thesus and the Minotaur has a promising beginning 😏

This was so much better than I could have hoped for. I'm not going to lie, in the beginning I wasn't sure how I felt, but then as the story progressed I couldn't help but picturing this entire story being told in a theater and performed. With Poseidon as the narrator and the other actors playing their parts in separate scenes, and completely told in verse, this was just a beautiful and dark story that had me hooked from the beginning. ❤❤

It's like they're all participating in a rap battle!! This is so clever!!

Edit: Ok, so (spoiler free) Poseidon is narrating this story, breaking fourth wall, and the rest of them are like playing their parts in the story. I AM LOVING THIS.

5/5 ⭐️Freed from the confines of traditional storytelling or novel writing form, Bull is written entirely in various styles of poetic verse. Each chapter is written from the viewpoint of one of the main characters, w/a crass and snarky Poseidon leading the charge. By adding details where there were none already, Elliott grew the story while maintaining the integrity of the original myth of the Minotaur, and in doing so made this myth come alive.🐮

This book rocks and I'm not even one chapter in. The whole story is told through poetic verse, and it's hilarious. 😎

It looks to be a cold, dreary weekend. So here's my social calendar. 😎😁

#InfiniteJestBuddyRead #hpchapteraday

What Gardner's GRENDEL did for Beowulf, what WIDE SARGASSO SEA did for mad Mrs. Rochester, Elliott's YA tour de force does for the Minotaur. In vivid, brash, often profane, but totally accessible verse, the tale of the mythical monster is retold for a modern audience, with Poseidon as our braggadocious narrator. A strange and special book that will stay with the reader - and now I want Elliott "translations" of all the Greek tragedies and legends!

I picked this book up for its cover, but I'm staying for the hilarious writing! Allan Wolf says it "does for mythology what HAMILTON has done for U.S. History" and he's right because it's in verse!! I've been quietly rapping to myself since I started reading! ?