Welcome to Litsy!

I've decided to stop reading this genre. I find it too damn depressing. Nicely written but not for me.

#Rol100 @PuddleJumper

#Roll100 for November
@PuddleJumper

3/5📚

4.5 Stars • In "Ariadne," Jennifer Saint weaves a captivating tale of love, betrayal, and divine retribution in the realm of Greek mythology. The story follows Ariadne, Princess of Crete and sister to the infamous Minotaur, who aids Theseus in defeating the beast. Betraying her family and country, Ariadne places her trust in the promise of a future with Theseus, only to be abandoned on the island of Naxos. ⬇️

I was a math major, but my favorite, most remembered, and markedly difficult class was in the English Dept - Mythology, taught by a phenomenal PhD storyteller. This book took me right back to that classroom. Upon finishing, I read GR reviews noting it failed a strong feminism POV. That may be true, but I chuckled because I didn‘t think to read for that perspective. I was just back in that long ago classroom.

July #BookSpin Cat: Fantasy

Isn‘t this cover gorgeous?! 💙💛

#Leaves
#CoverLove
#TBR

“The need to ask Why mortals bloom like flowers and crumbled to nothing ? Why their absence left a gnawing ache , a hollow void that could never be filled ? And how everything they once were , that spark within them , could be extinguished so completely yet the world did not collapse under the weight of so much pain and grief . “

Next …#bookspinbingo
#greekretelling
#minotaur
#ariadne

My favorite read of March!
#March #12booksof2023 @Andrew65 #bestof2023

Jaunary 2024!

#Bookspin #Doublespin

@TheAromaofBooks

I usually find Greek myth retellings fairly slow and this wasn‘t any different but I was interested in the feminist aspect, referring to how women are punished for heroes and gods‘ actions. From other Greek myths I‘ve read before, she‘s not wrong.

For some reason I got Ariadne mixed up with Arachne so the whole book I was wondering when she was going to turn into a spider. Spoiler: she doesn‘t.

#fantasy #mythology #retelling #greekmyth

Saw this on instagram. I can‘t help thinking what‘s the point of underlining if it‘s for the whole page?

Similar to “Circe” and “Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller, “Ariadne” elevates characters largely ignored by Greek mythology and tells their stories. I really loved this book and am excited to read more by Jennifer Saint (including “Electra”, which I need to get my hands on).

I was definitely the kid obsessed with Greek Mythology in grade school! This was fine! Easy read! Had some good callbacks I didn‘t expect!

I have always been interested in Greek Mythology. It was an interesting book. It got a little boring in parts. I still enjoyed the book. I rated this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

Jennifer Saint is so good. I‘m going to read all her books. I loved the way this book looked at sisterhood and time/eternity.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟beautiful, atmospheric, melancholy. Lyrical. I loved this wonderful retelling tragedy of Ariadne. Recommend!

Saint does an excellent job of bringing this Greek myth to life. It‘s not a particularly happy tale, but told in a very engaging way.

I loved this one! I've been hesitant about the Greek retellings as I didn't enjoy The Silence of the Girls or Ithaca. This one reminded me why I love them so much and characters I knew very little about going in. This author ranks up there with Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes for me.

I stumbled into The Works and accidently left with 6 books. 🤦🏻‍♀️👀

Here are some of the books I currently have listed on Pango Books! I mostly have vintage romance novels from my aunt's huge collection, but there are also some newer reads 📚 My aunt had every book but one in the Golden Harlequin Library hardcover set, and I'm slowly getting all of those listed!

I also have an original, unopened boxed set of the Dune trilogy, for any collectors out there!

https://pangobooks.com/bookstore/wordslinger42

Still rereading this! Fave quote from this book: 'I would not let a man who knew the value of nothing make me doubt the value of myself.' Also, the cover was the inspiration behind these nails ✨️💙

My daughter is doing her second AQE this morning (in N Ireland it is the transfer test that kids do between primary school and secondary school- it is a cruel system). I am having a coffee and a read to try and distract myself .... 😭 x

Curled up with a hot water bottle and this absolute stunner ✨️ this is a reread as I am doing it with the Senior Book Club in school. It is so gorgeously crafted and has prompted some super discussions around the place of women in Greek mythology.

I really liked this book! First I thought that it was kind of heavy and difficult to read because the book starts by telling a lot of mythological details about the main characters and their family. But when the book got going the athmosphere changes totally and it is very nice ro read and the story is compelling.

Cup of tea, snack and some reading before heading home. Just came from the book conference and made some awesome new finds. Looking ahead to all tea&reading tonight! That bread was sooo good! I don't know what they did to it. 😂😍📚

Came to hotel bar to have a pot of tea and read a bit. It is very difficult here to get tea that is well brewed. They put always too much tea leafs in and this time it was so undrinkable that I had to ask more water to put in to make it drinkable even though I just let it brew for like a minute. It was still too strong. 😅🍵

Here we go again. This time to Tallinn. 😁⛴️

Birthday Poke bowl & book 😋📚

Feminist telling of greek mythology. I wish this had a stronger editor. There is a good novel in here, but the writing was clunky and repetitive. This was too heavy handed for my taste.

If you ever visit Estonia remember to try honey cake in some cafeteria. It's sooo good! 😋

I'm a bit surprised how heavy the start of this book is. There are so many small stories about the ancient gods that it is difficult to remember who everyone is and how they relate to the main character. 🤔

Travelling again for work and this time I stoped for a lunch in a bookstore's cafeteria. The salad was amazing! That's a pouched egg on top by the way. 😋

Book outlet haul ☺️

5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

All eyes on the calendar to see today is Happy National Book Lovers Day!

This was really slow to get going & there was lots of droning on descriptions of the indecision of the characters said 3 different ways in a single paragraph which was annoying; the book could be half as long without this. Then suddenly right before the end it stops being boring & starts being harrowing. Not my most cherished read & I doubt I'd read it again but as it is the debut novel for the author some leniency is due. Love the artwork though.

Currently reading this one.
Sun Sea & a good book. Love the combo 🔥

I do love a myth retelling and this one was … fine I guess. The story was well told, characters nicely fleshed out but if felt somehow lacking compared to BArker, Miller etc in some ways it felt a little YA in the thinness of the story. A pick but maybe just about

Enjoyed it!
The story itself wasn't my favorite of the Greek retellings, but the writing was good, I would absolutely read another by this author.

THIS JUST IN…library 🎧 borrow. AirPods in👂🏽

4 1/2 🌟

@julesG @TrishB @Caroline2 @CGainor3 @Cathythoughts @squirrelbrain @rockpools @Oryx @Leniverse @Susanita @scripturient

#booked2022 #thinkgreek @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

#pop22 #constellationintitleorcover @RaeLovesToRead @Kalalalatja @Megabooks @KarenUK @Laughterhp @Cortg

I think I've remembered to tag everyone! 😂😂😂

#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen

I‘m very late to #wrapup #AwesomeApril for no reason other than I kept forgetting! Anyway, I wanted to finish Ariadne and maybe whatever else came off the hold list or caught my fancy, as well as make progress on the other books I have going.

I finished Ariadne and thought it was fine. Certain parts I liked a lot, but overall it kinda rubbed me the wrong way. Circe is better! Just sayin‘

I also finished a mystery and read some other chapters.

Ugh! A YA-ish "retelling" of Greek myths. I was waiting for the promised feminist twist.

#Gladstonerds @rockpools @squirrelbrain @TrishB @Oryx @Caroline2 @scripturient @Leniverse @eraderneely @jhod @jenniferw88 @Susanita @CGainor3 @RaeLovesToRead @Cathythoughts

Between a pick and a so-so. I wanted to see what happened, so I persevered and learned some mythology along the way. I‘m glad I read it, and I‘m glad it‘s finished. I‘m exhausted from all the drama !
#Gladstonerds
@Leniverse @TrishB @julesG @scripturient @jenniferw88 @RaeLovesToRead @jhod @rockpools @Susanita @squirrelbrain @Oryx @Caroline2 @CGainor3 ( I hope I‘ve tagged everyone)

It's a gorgeous day for reading outside with gateau!

Haven't actually started the bookclub pick yet, but I may take it on holiday with me 💙

It's the morning for Ariadne reviews @squirrelbrain @Caroline2
I decided last night for an 'active' bail on this one (normally my bails are passive, i.e. me not being bothered to go back). I didn't like this one - it felt overwritten, overwrought, melodramatic. I feel mean to the author, because I've never written a book so who am I to judge, but it felt quite high school... 😬 Definitely YA vibes. And I really enjoy Greek myths, so disappointed.

This is a soft pick for me; I liked it but it didn‘t wow me. Like you Caroline, I think there have been a few too many mythology retellings recently and this one does suffer from (my) comparisons with Madeline Miller and Pat Barker.

This one tells the women‘s perspective on the more famous stories of the Minotaur, Icarus (in passing) and Dionysus. It just felt a little bit simplistic and almost YA.

#booked2022 #mythologyretelling

1️⃣2️⃣ Artemis ➡️ 1️⃣3️⃣ Ariadne

#ThingsInCommon: single-name, mythological titles starting with A, #botm

#awesomeapril