Lore Olympus: Volume One by: Rachel Smythe

 Genre: graphic novel, mythology 

Published: November 2nd, 2021 by: Del Rey 

Pages: 384 

Rating: 5/5 stars 

CW: domestic abuse, sexual assault, drugging, alcoholism, addiction, misogyny 

This post will discuss sexual assault and incest 

Rachel Smythe retells the famed story of Hades and Persephone while using a modern backdrop and contemporary artwork. After dark, the Greek gods go to lavish parties to drink, hook up, and engage in the latest gossip. Currently, the centre of this gossip is Persephone, the bubbly daughter of Demeter, and Hades, the broody god of the Underworld. Hades and Persephone strike up a romance despite their differences.  But interference from other gods and battling their own demons will prove to be troubling to their relationship. 

I will always give a Greek mythology retelling a try. I was particularly intrigued by Lore Olympus because of its graphic novel format. I've gotten really into graphic novels and comics as of late, so I knew that this format could really work. I went into Lore Olympus not knowing much about the style of writing and the artwork, but I was extremely impressed by Smythe's ability to integrate modern themes within well-known stories of myth. 

You might've remembered my post from a while back where I discussed how I often forget to pay attention to the artwork of comics and graphic novels. Well, I think I may have finally found my exception. The artwork of this graphic novel is just so unique, that I found myself captivated by it. Smythe uses colour in such an interesting way, with each colour representing a god and their specific personality traits. Persephone's bubbly attitude is represented in pink, while Hades' emotional side is painted in blues and dark purples. The colours that Smythe uses accurately describe each character and portray them exactly how I would imagined their personality traits to be. Overall, the artwork was a huge selling point to the novel. 

Lore Olympus definitely deals with some heavy themes, that are both taken from the original myths and also applied to a modern audience. For example, sexual assault is so prevalent in myth, and Smythe uses this heavy topic to raise awareness on rape culture, drugging, and misogyny. These themes are definitely dealt with explicitly, so do be aware of content warnings. But, I think Smythe's attention to referencing the problematic handling of these topics within the original myths was a huge plus.

I loved the representation of Hades' and Persephone's relationship, but the book isn't only just about them. I was pleasantly surprised by how Smythe was able to handle sub-plots within the graphic novel, by giving us an inside look into the lives of other gods such as Aphrodite and Artemis. These sub-plots do not detract from the original story, rather they give readers the opportunity to learn more about the extensive cast of characters and how their personalities influence the couple at the centre of the story. 

Hades' and Persephone's story in the original myth is complicated. It is tainted with incest, sexual assault, and abduction. I was worried that Smythe would gloss over these issues and instead glamourize what is originally a problematic relationship. However, Smythe changes things around from the original myth to give us a pretty healthy relationship. Well, as healthy as can be given the setting. Smythe does not make the couple related to each other, and also changes Hades' character arc so that he is a lot less toxic than the original figure of Hades. The result is a pretty well-crafted sunshine and storm cloud relationship with enough drama from the supporting cast to still indicate how this relationship is affected by mythological themes of misogyny and jealousy. I applaud Smythe for paying attention to these problematic details from the original myth and taking action. 

Overall, I loved this graphic novel! I know the original story was released as a web-comic, and I'd love to explore it alongside the countless other volumes that Smythe has about this story. In the world of Greek mythology retellings, this was definitely a win. 

Have you read Lore Olympus? What did you think? 

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Ariadne by: Jennifer Saint

 Genre: Mythology 

Published: May 4, 2021 by Flatiron Books 

Pages: 320 

Rating: 4/5 stars 

CW: misogyny, sexual assault, blood/gore, war, animal death 

Ariadne is the kind-hearted princess of Crete, and she lives worried of her brother, the Minotaur, a half man/half bull beast who guards the Labyrinth, a magical maze that sacrifices Athenian children. When a prince of Athens, Theseus, comes with a promise to kill the beast, Ariadne is immediately taken with his charisma. She gives him the tools to escape the maze and kill the Minotaur, and she vows to love him for her whole life. However, betraying her family and escaping with a handsome prince has its costs, and Ariadne soon becomes caught up in war between nations, her love of her family, and a prince who she soon learns she cannot trust. 

Despite me being a huge lover of Greek mythology, Ariadne is one of those stories that I haven't always paid much attention to. I usually stick to stories of the Trojan war. But of course, I am willing to give any Greek mythology retelling a try, and I figured this book might be similar to that of Madeline Miller's Circe. I can definitely say that this book delivered on providing a well-rounded portrayal of the famous myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, though with a special focus on Ariadne. I appreciated Saint's attention to detail and the development of the myth as a whole. 

More authors are beginning to play with writing mythological retellings from a woman's point of view. Figures like Circe, Ariadne, and Helen of Troy are famous mythological figures, though they often get a bad reputation from the male writers who have dominated in telling their stories. There is something about women writers taking back these female figures that I find particularly compelling, and Saint's portrayal of Ariadne was no exception. I got to learn more about what immediately drew her to Theseus, and how his charm captivated her to the point where she could think of no better escape than to leave with him. While this book does rely heavily on the insta-love trope, I didn't mind, because the trope is so common to these myths and since the book is from Ariadne's point of view, I got to see how manipulation from Theseus and the overall isolation she endures prompted her to fall in love with him in the first place. Yes, she falls quickly. But, the poor treatment she receives from her father and her being trapped in a constant cycle of sacrifice motivates her to go for the first chance at escape. This escape just happened to be Theseus. 

I loved getting to learn a bit more about Ariadne's relationship with the Minotaur. Like I said, the myth of the Minotaur is not one that I am super familiar with, so I got to learn a lot through this book. Mainly, I found it fascinating how despite Ariadne contributing to the sacrifice of Athenians, she still finds it in her heart to love her brother. She sees the Minotaur as being a damaged boy, who was cursed through no fault of his own. I loved the idea of Ariadne still loving her brother for who he is, despite the things he cannot control. Saint makes it clear that the Minotaur at his core is a damaged individual, who is controlled by Minos and banished to a constant cycle of abuse from the gods. I think the duality of his character was shown really well through Ariadne's relationship with him. The Minotaur's story is sad, it is not a story of a triumphant hero slaying a monster. Saint made this distinction clear. 

I was really captivated with the book until about three quarters of the way through, when I felt my attention wavering a bit. Without giving too much away, after Ariadne sees her chance of escape with Theseus, there is a lot of action, but then some falling action. There were times in which I felt Ariadne's character was stuck, and Saint wasn't really doing much with her character. The ending was ok, but not entirely satisfying like I get with other mythological retellings. I was captivated for most of the book, but after the main turning point happened, I just wondered where the author could take the character from here, and I'm not sure I was truly enthralled. 

Overall, I thought Ariadne was a great addition to the world of Greek mythology retellings, specifically retellings from the woman's perspective. Saint does a great job at capturing the misogyny of some of myth's most famous heroes, and the troubles that put so many women figures into the unfortunate positions that they are most famous for. I now have a newfound appreciation for Ariadne, and I would love to read more of her story. 

Have you read Ariadne? What did you think? 

Emily @ Paperback Princess

The Secret History by: Donna Tartt

 Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Dark Academia 

Published: April 13, 2004 by: Vintage 

Pages: 559 

Rating: 1/5 stars 

TW: Murder, Blood and Gore, Torture, Sexual Assault, Incest, Addiction, Suicide, Panic Attacks 

*As you can see, this book has its fair share of disturbing content, and for that reason, my review will contain a discussion of some of these topics that may be triggering to some readers. 

Richard Papen has made his way into the elite Hampden College in Vermont, in order to study Ancient Greek. He is soon intrigued by one of the Classics professors, Julian Marrow, who keeps his enrollment strictly to a small group of students: Twins Charles and Camilla, Francis Abernathy, Henry Winter, and Edmund "Bunny" Corcoran, who is an extremely wealthy bigot. Richard is able to make his way into this mysterious group, but soon begins to regret that decision after the group becomes entangled in a murder that they have all sworn to keep quiet about. 

*Warning: rant review ahead. If you are looking for a professionally written review that is free of hyperboles, then this review is not for you. Also, I just want to say that I know this book is super popular and a staple of the dark academia genre, and this post is not meant to hate on anyone who loved this book or who loves dark academia. We all have different book tastes, and that's ok. Everyone's opinion is valid. However, I do have issues with this genre that I have been pondering for a long time, and I want to discuss them.

It's been a long while since I've written a rant review, so *cracks knuckles,* here we go. This book incited a rage in me that I could not describe. This book began and ended my relationship with dark academia. This book ruined Greek Mythology for me. (Ok, that last part is an extreme stretch. Nothing can ruin my love for Greek Mythology. But, I'll stick to the Percy Jackson series). I did not like this book. It had no redeeming qualities. Let's talk about why. 

I do not think the dark academia genre is for me. And this is no hate towards people who like it, but I just do not think I would be able to tolerate reading another book about privileged white kids who commit heinous acts of violence without any repercussions. And I'm supposed to like these characters? Nope, no thank you. Richard was a naive idiot. Charles and Camilla were creepy. I had some sympathy for Camilla, but her actions were still unforgivable. Francis was complacent. And don't get me started on Bunny. I did not grieve once for that arrogant asshole. *spoiler hidden* This is such a character driven novel, so you'd think that to enjoy it, you'd have to enjoy reading about the characters. But these characters were the absolute worst, and I did not like them one bit. 

The plot is also a whole bunch of nothingness. This novel was so incredibly wordy, and for no reason whatsoever. Even though this book has two murders in it, it didn't feel like this novel had any concept of rising action, climax, and falling action. It was all over the place, disorganized, with most of the scenes just being comprised of a bunch of unhealthy behaviours. I couldn't see why these scenes would be appealing to read. 

This book was also way too triggering for me. It deals with some seriously dark things. But it does not deal with these subjects in a sensitive way. Characters receive no consequences for their actions, and extremely dark issues are left unresolved and brushed under the rug. Why did the author have to put in so many gruesome, disturbing moments, but not resolve them? Was this just to leave your readers disturbed? Well, it succeeded. 

I couldn't deal with how pretentious this book was. All of these characters seemed to speak down onto me. This book almost creates the idea that these elite students are better than everyone else, which is certainly not the case because they all suck. I just think if you're going to write dark academia, you have to address the ways in which the post-secondary system is inherently elitist, racist, and pretentious. You have to discuss how the post-secondary system fails marginalized students. This book did none of that, although it did certainly give us some elitist, racist and pretentious characters. 

I was excited for this book because I love Greek mythology novels. I will usually love anything that makes reference to mythology. But this book takes Greek mythology and turns it into this elite concept that is only accessible to the privileged few. And this upset me, because mythology is for everyone, and should be accessible to everyone! I just think this was not the mythology book I was looking for, and I will be sticking to what I know from now on. 

Yeah, so I hated this. It left me stressed out and angry. I totally get why it has received a lot of praise, and this is not hate towards anybody who loves dark academia and Tartt's novels. But, I hope that the few of you who don't like dark academia like me, don't feel afraid to share your unpopular opinions. Some books just aren't for everyone, and that's ok! 

Have you read The Secret History? What did you think? 

Emily @ Paperback Princess

E

The Silence of the Girls by: Pat Barker

 Genre: Historical Fiction, Mythology 

Published: September 4, 2018 by: Doubleday Books 

Pages: 291 

Rating: 3/5 stars 

CW: graphic descriptions of r*pe, graphic descriptions of war, blood and gore, misogyny, slavery

Briseis is a native Trojan, but her world comes crumbling down when the Greeks invade Troy. The Trojan War has begun. Briseis is kidnapped by the Greeks and brought to their camp as a slave. She is set to be a slave to Achilles, however Agamemnon also demands that Briseis belong to him. Achilles refuses to fight in defiance, and Briseis observes the two men fight for power. Briseis' story echoes that of many Trojan women during the war. These women were forgotten and abused, forced to endure trauma despite having no say in the war whatsoever. This novel seeks to tell their story. 

To say that I wanted to read this book would be an understatement. I have wanted to read this since it came out two years ago. But for some reason, I didn't get the chance until now. I absolutely love Trojan War retellings, and I figured that a book from Briseis' perspective would give a voice to a character who in the Iliad, is essentially voiceless. However, I can't say that this book was fully enjoyable. It was just... ok. 

I think Barker writes really well. This was my first time reading one of her novels, and her vivid descriptions really help to establish the world building in this novel. She did a great job at setting the scene of the war, and nothing was glazed over. I think it is definitely needed in a mythological retelling to make sure that the reader gets to know each and every character that plays a part in the story. Barker does develop all of the significant characters. 

 I will read any Trojan War retelling, and I will most probably not hate it. I'm very fascinated by the story of the Trojan War, and I'm always curious as to how different authors characterize the characters. I think Barker gives a great voice to Briseis, and I loved how she was the storyteller. Her perspective is one that I have always been curious about, and I'm happy that Barker took this opportunity to tell her story. Despite this story being a myth, you can't help but think about the countless women in Ancient Greece who did have to go through this trauma during war. It's a necessary story to tell. However, that being said, the story is also very disturbing with a lot of graphic descriptions. So be careful when reading, and be aware of the content warnings.

Like I hinted at before, I didn't love this book. And this is because Barker chooses to give Achilles' perspective about halfway through the novel. I thought this was unnecessary, as well as counterproductive, because the whole point of the novel is to give a voice to the Trojan women. By doing this, I think Barker attempts to humanize Achilles. But Achilles is canonically an asshole. Similarly, there are already a ton of books telling his story. We don't need it, and it significantly took away from my experience with the novel. 

I saw someone review this book saying that they think Barker actually wanted to tell Achilles' story, she but realized that was overdone, so she hid Achilles' story in a story of Briseis. I definitely see how this might have been the case. This book was too Achilles heavy, which disappointed me. Nobody needs an Achilles redemption arc. Give me the stories that haven't been told. 

Overall, this book was an example of one that I was so looking forward to reading, but it did fall short. It wasn't all bad. Like I said, Trojan War retellings pretty much always get at least a three star rating from me, because I love the story so much. However, I'm not sure this is the best retelling out there. 

Have you read The Silence of the Girls? What did you think? 

Emily @ Paperback Princess 

Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths and Monsters by: Nikita Gill

Genre: Mythology, Poetry
Published: September 5, 2019 by: Ebury Press
Pages: 256
Rating: 5/5 stars
Content warnings: sexual assault, misogyny, violence related to war. I will also briefly discuss transphobia at the end of this review.

We've heard of the infamous stories of Greek female figures such as Medusa and Athena, but do we really know their perspectives? In this powerful poetry collection, Nikita Gill retells the myths of the most famous women in Greek mythology, but through a feminist perspective. Gill explores not only the traditional versions of the myths, but she also places these characters inside a more modern setting in order to display their struggles as if they were happening in real time.

I should start off by saying that I am by no means, a poetry person. I can't write it to save a life, I don't really read a lot of it, and sometimes the meanings of poems can just go way over my head. I can respect it, but a poetry book is definitely not my first choice for reading. That being said, I absolutely ADORED this collection.

I was willing to give this book a shot because of the Greek mythology premise. I am a complete mythology nerd and will pretty much give anything with the word "goddess" in the title, a shot. I also thought the cover was beautiful so I lowkey just wanted this book on my shelf. And I have to say, this was probably the best collection of poetry I have ever read.

I appreciated that Gill was accurate with the myths, while still retelling them in her own unique way. This book is ultimately a feminist retelling of myth, which is something that I can always get behind. But what made Gill's poems really stick with me, is that she not only retells the myths in the ancient setting, but she also places these characters in the real world. Suddenly Aphrodite is a badass entrepreneur having to deal with a misogynistic partner in Ares. Medusa is dealing with rape culture. Gill gives these characters a new breath of life by putting them into situations that a lot of women can relate to. It was something I have never seen done before in a mythology retelling.

Gill's writing captivated me. Like I said before, me and poetry don't always click. But Gill has a way of writing that just completely pulls you in like a magic spell. Her poems are easy to get through and easy to grasp, but not at all lacking in meaning. I think Gill is very talented at what she does. If I were to write poetry, this is how I would want to write it.

I think this book taught me that sometimes reading outside of your comfort zone can pay off. I was worried to go into a poetry book. But it ended up being a standout book of my summer. I think any woman, whether they are into mythology or not, can find something in this collection that resonates with them. I know I did.

A note:

Something I was thinking about a lot when reviewing this piece is that we should be critically examining the feminist works of media that we consume, to make sure that they are intersectional. This book was great considering it was written by a WOC who also vocally expresses support for the trans community, and there is also LGBT representation, as well as characters who do not conform to the gender binary. However, given the current rise in women who like to call themselves "feminists" but who actively exclude trans women and others in the LGBTQ+ community, I feel that it is important that we look into how the authors of the feminist works we read treat the trans community. And remember, if your feminism excludes trans women, then it is not feminism.

Have you read Great Goddesses? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess