A clever, illuminating feminist take on Greek mythology.
In this ingenious novella-length prose poem by Leonard, Medusa finds herself at the epicenter of a modern-day feminist power struggle.
“Medusa was raped. / Medusa was not raped. / Medusa was given rohypnol,” read the opening lines of the prelude to this contemporary retake on Greek mythology. The language addresses issues of rape culture, particularly the way survivors are scrutinized rather than protected in the press and social media. Enter Medusa, known as Duse to her friends. She and her gorgon sisters inhabit the city and work regular jobs. Medusa happens to be a humanities professor, but she’s also a guardian of women (“Like Batman, she will always be a vigilante”). But the famous gorgon has a problem; Athena is coming for her. Here, Athena is a symbol of “misplaced feminism”—a goddess who favors and supports the patriarchy. Medusa wants Athena to change voluntarily and feel remorse for the harm that she, as a “slut-shaming bitch,” has caused other women. A confrontation between Duse and Athena comes in the form of an assembly attended by all manner of mythical beings. Leonard’s novella astutely examines the consequences of “cruelty between women.” Leonard’s message is a positive one of compassion and self-empowerment—and this resonates in her simple, stirring use of language: Medusa chooses to forge “a path from the past to power.” And goddess Hera says, “I can create real sanctuaries for women, places of protection, ways of power.” This book urges women to care for one another and reconsider the ways their perceptions of female identity are shaped. Fans of contemporary rewrites of ancient mythology, like Margaret Atwood’s exploration of society’s double standards regarding women in The Penelopiad (2005), will be particularly intrigued by this astute debut offering by Leonard. And although some knowledge of the classics would be helpful, newcomers can still enjoy a captivating storyline.
A clever, illuminating feminist take on Greek mythology.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 9781950730636
Page Count: 208
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road meets Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in this frightful medieval epic about an orphan girl with visionary powers in plague-devastated France.
The year is 1348. The conflict between France and England is nothing compared to the all-out war building between good angels and fallen ones for control of heaven (though a scene in which soldiers are massacred by a rainbow of arrows is pretty horrific). Among mortals, only the girl, Delphine, knows of the cataclysm to come. Angels speak to her, issuing warnings—and a command to run. A pack of thieves is about to carry her off and rape her when she is saved by a disgraced knight, Thomas, with whom she teams on a march across the parched landscape. Survivors desperate for food have made donkey a delicacy and don't mind eating human flesh. The few healthy people left lock themselves in, not wanting to risk contact with strangers, no matter how dire the strangers' needs. To venture out at night is suicidal: Horrific forces swirl about, ravaging living forms. Lethal black clouds, tentacled water creatures and assorted monsters are comfortable in the daylight hours as well. The knight and a third fellow journeyer, a priest, have difficulty believing Delphine's visions are real, but with oblivion lurking in every shadow, they don't have any choice but to trust her. The question becomes, can she trust herself? Buehlman, who drew upon his love of Fitzgerald and Hemingway in his acclaimed Southern horror novel, Those Across the River (2011), slips effortlessly into a different kind of literary sensibility, one that doesn't scrimp on earthy humor and lyrical writing in the face of unspeakable horrors. The power of suggestion is the author's strong suit, along with first-rate storytelling talent.
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937007-86-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
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