A re-telling, in fact a re-imagining of the story of female warrior Atalanta, abandoned in the wild by her father at birth, and that of the voyage of the Argonauts. Narrated by Atalanta herself, this is a pacey and vivid account of her upbringing, initially by bears, her development into a fine hunter and warrior. She sticks to the known 'facts' of the Argonauts' adventures, bringing them to life by developing the characters included in the voyage. An entertaining way of bringing Greek myths to life. ( )

Another beautiful modern retelling of classic Greek mythology. Princess Atalanta is not the son her parents hoped for, and she is left on a mountainside to die. But she does not die. Rather, she is raised by a mother bear under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis. Atalanta grows up wild and free, but Artemis imposes on her one condition: she may not marry. Never an issue for Atalanta in the female society she is raised in, her resolve is tested when Artemis asks her to fight in her name with the Argonauts, a fierce band of warriors. The Argonauts’ quest for the Golden Fleece is filled with impossible challenges, but Atalanta proves herself equal to the men she fights alongside. She ultimately becomes swept into a passionate affair, in defiance of Artemis’s warning. In the original tale, Atalanta is only briefly mentioned as a member of the Argonauts; she has some brief adventures until, predictably, she’s tricked by a man into marriage and they both suffer tragedy at the hands of the gods; this imaginative retelling excavates her from victim to powerful actor. Well done. ( )

It's no surprise to anyone that I love a Greek myth retelling but I have to admit, with new retellings being released in what feels like an almost endless stream, I have burned out a little on the genre. This is partly why I cut down on these retellings for a while but also why I've been struggling to write up a review for this particular book.

I was actually very excited for Atalanta to get her own book, as she is definitely a much-overlooked character and one I haven't read nearly enough about. This probably helped when I picked up this book because, contrary to Jennifer Saint's previous works (Ariadne and Elektra) where I knew the original pretty well, here I had virtually no expectations of how the story would play out beyond the main points.

There is definitely a lot more action in this book as opposed to the previous two, and I really enjoyed the journey Atalanta undertakes with the Argonauts and the challenges they have to face. Saint's writing is rich and flows nicely so it's always a pleasure to read. The settings are vivid and gorgeous, and the dangers many, so I was often sucked into the story, even though certain sections kind of dragged on and felt a bit too "filler-y".

The main issue I have with this book is essentially the same as with the previous two as well: they are marketed as feminist retellings, but there really isn't that much feminism in here. The female characters are barely given any agency beyond what was already there in the original. Atalanta is a wonderfully strong woman who grew up without any of the social constraints other women were subjected to, enjoys the favour of a goddess, and is keen to prove she is equal to the men who constantly belittle and undermine her.

And yet, she is very quick to adapt to social expectations, barely challenges the dominant power structures and easily defers to a man in everything. She is often passive to circumstances and the only work of deconstruction and personal growth she engages in relates to her romantic relationship, which is questionable at best. Most of the book is actually Atalanta narrating the male heroes' exploits instead of her own, even in those (extremely few) times where she is given a chance to demonstrate her superiority to them both in cleverness and skill. Passivity worked well with Ariadne, who was an entirely different character and made a different point, but it just clashes with what Atalanta's character is supposed to be. Once again, retelling a story from a woman's point of view is an interesting and important work and one that is absolutely necessary, but merely doing that is not enough for it to be a "feminist" retelling.

Overall I had some fun with this book, I enjoyed seeing a different myth being retold and it was entertaining enough, but not much more than that.

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. ( )

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: May 9, 2023

~3.5 stars rounded up. This is my third Jennifer Saint novel and I was really excited going into it, I have loved the other two. While not terrible this just didn't live up to my expectations with the other two. The writing in Elektra was so poetic and emotional and I just didn't get that here. Perhaps that is because Atalanta was a warrior so she was writing in a different voice for her but I just felt like it could have been more. I thought the ending worked really well, I just struggled through much of the earlier parts of the book to get engaged.

I enjoyed the narrator and enjoyed the fact that she was one of the narrators from Elektra that I had listened to before. She had a lot of good emotion and pacing to bring the story to life. I am wondering if I read the book I would have enjoyed it more but I don't think that is the fault of the narrator, I think that is just something that would have worked better for me for this particular book. ( )

3.5⭐

“-if it’s a girl, expose her on the mountain-”

Following this decree by Iasus, King of Arcadia, his newborn daughter Atalanta was abandoned on a mountain, left to die. But she was to be saved by a she-bear and raised with her cubs, learning her way to survive in the forest, taken in by the Goddess Artemis and her nymphs in the forests of Arcadia becoming a strong accomplished archer and huntress, skilled enough to defend herself against two centaurs – a feat few men could live through to tell the tale, to be the only female among the Argonauts who traveled with Jason to Colchis on his quest for the Golden Fleece, and who proved her mettle multiple times as they faced the several challenges on the journey the only woman who played a crucial role in the Calydonian boar hunt. Her only mistake was falling in love despite Artemis’ warnings – a mistake that results in her losing Artemis’s favor triggering a sequence of events that ultimately leads her back to the same father who had abandoned her as a child and ultimately to a fate foretold by the oracle at Delphi.

Having read and enjoyed both Ariadne and Elektra by Jennifer Saint I was eager to read Atalanta. We really don’t get to know much about her in the myths and I was excited to read a story with her as the central character. Atalanta’s story is presented to us in her voice in the first-person narrative format. The narrative is fluid and Jennifer Saint’s writing does not disappoint. It was interesting reading about the adventures of the Argonauts and the Calydonian boar hunt from Atalanta's perspective. I enjoyed reading her take on her fellow Argonauts and how she proved herself time and time again to be their equal (if not more, in terms of skill and smarts). However, I missed the intensity of Ariadne or Elektra in this narrative. Much of Atalanta’s narrative is dominated by the exploits of the men in her life. Despite this being a feminist retelling, at times Atalanta is portrayed as relatively passive to the circumstances around her. Overall, while I did enjoy this novel I can’t say that it would rank as a favorite among all the feminist retellings of the Greek myths I have read.

I paired my reading with the audio nation by Beth Eyre which I did enjoy.

“I didn’t have to be an obedient follower of Artemis, jumping to serve her every command; I didn’t have to be a hero in the mould of Jason or Heracles or the angry boar-hunters at Calydon. I wasn’t going to try to shape myself to be like one of them, a ruthless, self- serving, glory- seeking man. I was something different to them all.” ( )