Ladies of Legend focuses on reframing familiar female figures (mostly) from myths, legends, and stories. Each of the 21 entries is treated to 8 comic panels - 4 that tell her story as we know it followed by 4 that analyze her tale usually in a feminist or archetypal lens. Lastly, there is a page of text analyzing the discourse around the story and making modern connections.

I went into this book thinking the content would be similar to Brazen by Pénélope Bagieu, and when I saw the art style I had to stop and see if Ladies of Legends was penned by the same author. While the two share a similar premise, Ladies of Legend has far more opinion and analysis than Brazen. Ladies of Legend spends a lot of time talking about how we talk about women in stories -- as succubae, virgins, witches, and temptresses -- and how that discourse reflects the ways women are viewed in society rather than talking about the women themselves.

While reading I was interested in not only the review of the women's stories but also in the "essays" at the end of each entry giving deeper insight into the tale and how we interpret it today. However, after the 4th or 5th entry, I found myself skimming most of this section as it was often a rehash of the last 4 panels of the comic - sometimes verbatim.

The quality of this analysis also varies widely between the subjects. The analysis of Elsa and Karabada were both particularly well-done and successfully argue how these fictional women represent and subvert ideas about and experiences of women. But the entries on the Amazons and Joan of Arc tried to tackle too much in their explanations and doubling down with the redundancy between the essay and comic means that there is a lot more that could be explained much better,

I don't know what audience this book is meant for, either. Some of the art (see Lilith, Scheherazade, and to some extent the cover) features people who are fully nude and the discourse about the subjects is quite weighty, which firmly makes be believe this is a book for a high school - adult audience. However, the analysis are not extensive enough to spark a true discourse among this level of thinkers and the choice of subjects are rarely original enough to someone who has spent more than an hour thinking about a feminist view of literature.

It's clear there were a lot of great ideas in the conceptualization of this book, but the execution is distinctly flawed -- it needed another few passes by an editor before publication. 2.5 Rounded Up

This book focuses on women both real and fictional. It explores the way people view women and the many representations that people have assigned to them. It was easy to read. It also explores the influences that these women have had on society.

I will never get enough of books that tell "classic" stories from the female gaze. As the author states "or myths are what we make them". If you want a bold telling of old stories with a fresh perspective, I highly recommend this one.

Don't let the illustrations fool you. Though this book has pictures, it is not a picture book. Shelve it accordingly.

Review posted and written by my sister J.B. on Goodreads.
Book suggested by someone else given to the subject matter that was promised. Instead I found out straight from the start the book's title is rather leading since <i>Ladies of Legend</i> would imply that most of these women are actual beings who have perhaps unsubstantiated stories but are actual legends along the line of Slue Foot Sue, Florence Nightingale, Boadicea and even the much lesser known Zenobia. Instead the only actual true women in this book is Joan of Arc, the Queen of Sheba, Judith and Pocahontas.

And the reason why I refuse to read this book any further is since there is also the inclusion of the Chevalier d'Éon. The book specifically mentions that it is about <i>ladies</i> but the Chevalier was born male. Although he did put on the garbs of female and lived for over thirty years as one that doesn't technically make you a woman, especially when you want to switch back to the sex of your birth while being forced by the society around you to stay in dress. Basically if I want to read about transgender I would have chosen a book that was about transgender legends, not women. And since we are talking about this how can a feminist be okay with supplanting an entry that another interesting female may have taken up by replacing her with a man?

The rest of the book was just as promised in its own horrid Wokeness as promised by its first entry. First each entry is given a chapter page with the name of the subject woman and a comic illustration. This is then followed by two pages which retells the story of the woman in comics although with a leaning of showing how racist and misogynistic the world is before dedicated yet another two pages to information that further explores the issues found in the story and also how that story has influenced the world that came behind it. And finally this is ended up with a postscript page in which the author recommends some work of art whether literary or film that relates to the offered subject. Finally the reader is subjected to a two-page spread that goes even further into the issue on how the poor legend was tormented, how modern women are likewise still tormented and how we should change that aspect of torture to help improve the world around us. All of us is then closed by another inserted box in which the reader is again provided with recommended reading.

The actual cover basically can be taken as to what you will see for the illustrations of the book. With the exception of the deep-dive pages the reader will be presented with these cartoonish comics, which take away from the telling of the story. They are included in different phases of dress with some being topless and in the entry of Lilith at least portraying the bottom as well - full view for the Mesopotamian goddess and with leaves covering the biblical characters even though at that point Adam nor Lilith would have been wearing anything to cover themselves.

The added comic bubbles takes away from the actual entry writing for this book while not contributing anything else besides to add a dramatic flare on how the author wants you to perceive what is being shown. Furthermore the way that the comics are set-up it was hard to figure out the flow with the majority of them since on some pages they went from left to right then down while on yet others they went from left down then to upper right.

For the stories that I did get done with reading I will point out the parts that annoyed me.

In <i>Daphne</i> that horrid argument was used that almost everyone likes to throw around from Disney's <i>Aladdin</i>. Why is it that women must only be able to have conversations of consent with an equally consenting partner and not see themselves as being a prize to be won? Don't we all have specific talents, experiences and personality traits that we bring into a relationship that can help our parents?

With the summary for <i>Frozen</i> I felt like we saw two very different movies. The author mentions that both princesses had powers that they were grappling with while I was only aware of Elsa's. Furthermore the same Elsa is called a witch which is clearly not what she was portrayed in the film nor was Prince Hans an assassin although I will give the power-hungry part. And truly the author has Elsa suggesting that she loves BDSM and that this film was much greater than Disney's <i>Mulan</i> since at the end of it although she isn't white she returns home while having a man appear at her door with an invitation from Grandma Fa for him to stay forever. And the only thing holding <i>Frozen</i> back from being "perfect" film is the fact that the heroines are super white, super thin and super pretty.

For the section on Lilith there is the weird discrepancy that although both Adam and Lilith were created from the same clay but Adam is purely portrayed as white (where is the Middle Eastern look for PC purposes if you are shoving all those Woke mumbo jumbo down my throat) while Lilith is much, much darker. As a result the portrayal of her and the Queen of Sheba with their skin color and the full eroticness of their characters makes a perfect foil with one on the side of God and the other on the side of the Devil.

Furthermore the story of Lilith that I was told about has her as being a mother of demons and having multiple ones every day. Part of the compromise for her not returning was the fact that God would kill a certain amount of her children daily and daily she would kill a certain amount (although much less) of Adam's children. But in this particular entry the author has no idea which version she wants to tell since she mentions that Lilith has to watch her children die and then in at least three later paragraphs explains how she was the perfect wild woman since she never bore women thus she was also attractive to men since of her childless phase.

Karaba was rather new to but I did find it interesting that the author would make mention that the only men who don't threaten women are those who are too young for sexuality and those who are too old. If I remember history most young women, especially the nobility and rulers of Europe, who were barely into pre-teen years were married off to much, much older husbands. Even in other non-European cultures it is possible to find child-brides sold off to men who could be their fathers or grandfathers.

There was nothing much really new for Little Red Riding Hood as I had really had most of those theories before just like I had with Penelope and the Queen of Sheba. The only thing that stood out to me about Joan of Arc was the fact that she was called a saint at the start of her entry, which she wasn't considered until way later like 1920.

And what is with the inclusion of Bluebeard for an entry when the entry is actually about his wife thus you could have said Bluebeard's wife.

In the end this would most likely have been something I would have read when I was much younger and stupider about the world around me. As such I just find this garbage while I would not recommend it with its Woke word salad, its haughty pride and just its mess overall.

***I would like to thank Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***

3.5/5 Casting a female centric gaze upon some well known women in history/mythology, this is a very original and interesting read that could be an excellent resource for prompting discussions about sexism etc or for developing critical thinking skills among young adults aged 14+ The accessible writing style, enjoyable illustrations and the humour used throughout would make this a good read for a wide audience and I found many of the suggestions for further reading intriguing too.
Thanks to Netgalley.co.uk and Europe Comics for the free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Ladies of Legend is a fresh of breath air in regards to how we are viewed and portraid as females through viewing females and their portrayal by males. This book focuses on a wide range of female characters such as Elsa from frozen, Lillith, Little Red Riding Hood, The Little Mermaid, The fairy godmothers, Snow White, Medusa and Joan of Arc to name just a few. This book focuses on how we as females can turn things around and become more empowered as females. There are many points of reference made throughout this book - some of them I'm aware of and others I'm not, but this was a really good and insightful read with some fun illustrations throughout.

"Blanche Sabbah revisits 21 heroines, past and present, through a fresh feminist lens."

I liked this book, I found it a good introduction to possible gender studies focused on media and how women were represented through history. Every chapter is dedicated to a different person, being from the bible, myths, history and more modern media. The chapters start with a little retelling of the character's story, and it ends with a short analysis about her, her agency and how she has been seen throughout history. I liked the fact that the author gives example of similar stories and characters, so that the reader can expand their learning journey with a little initial help.

All in all I think this is a very simple and fun book that could be used as a starting point for more in depth studies. I wish the author had expanded the references list more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for accepting me to be a reviewer.

I really enjoyed this book and would totally recommend it. It’s great a refocusing the tale of 21 women from fairytales, mythology and pop culture via the female’s perspective. There is lots of diversity geographically and temporally which was great and also includes queer themes too. I learnt a lot about these women and Sabbah includes lots of references to books, graphic novels, films and podcasts that make you want to dive further into the tales of these figures which is great - I’m definitely going to check out some of these. The artwork and drawings is lovely too and really add to the storytelling element of this book. The writing is rather straightforward so not like amazing but obviously it’s what you’d expect in non fiction so it’s really clear and you get what the author is trying to put forward. Most of the associated works are by French authors/creators but I didn’t have a problem (the author is French and it was originally published in French/France) and personally I was able to find some recommendations for more French literature which I want to get into.

I would definitely recommend this book, super easy to get through and interesting. It does touch on some TW topics like rape and murder and obviously misogyny/sexism as Sabbah is actively retelling the stories from a female perspective and not the traditional male-dominated one. So maybe not exactly appropriate for all ages but I do think it is handled well and should be taught. Thanks again to the published, I loved reading this.

These are my notes on each women:
- Daphne - Apollo struck by Cupid’s bow became obsessed and pursued daphne, dad turned her into a laurel tree which Apollo treats like a trophy, women changing to get away from harassment
- Elsa the snow queen - story of sisterly love, arandelle has an unmarried queen at end, internal demons, women shamed for their power
- Lilith - Adam’s first wife, refused to submit to him so punished, feared as believed she’d steal/kill children, represents the ‘other’ things that women are not supposed to be (rebellious, seducer, unmarried, childless, etc), embody contemporary demands of women
- Karaba - women had thorn in back (gang raped), on edge, man eater and destroying land as suffering, boy saves her by removing thorn after told by wise old man
- Red riding hood - girl going to grandma’s via woods, many versions, story of a woman’s rite of passage on her path to maturity (wolf = men, danger, sexual desire, hunter = paternal figure restoring order, red cape = danger and lust), protective red cape given by mother
- Joan of arc - young peasant women who claimed to get god’s messages, fought in army changing tide of 100 yrs war, other women had fought (removed from history) but not peasants, trialled and killed for heresy, story used by different parties for different agendas
- Medusa - different versions of how she came to be (Athena jealous of her beauty, Poseidon raped her so punished (or protected?) by being unable to elicit desire), Perseus beheaded her and used her power, history hijacked by men, some scholars see her as incarnation of female gaze transforming men into objects to possess, legitimises violent self-defence?
- Queen of Sheba - powerful ruler, Judea king Solomon invited her, shocked at hairy legs, seen as demonic by some or subjected to his laws to be tolerated, had relationship, 19th c made her a sensual bewitching archetype, her Ethiopian Jewish descendants still face discrimination today
- Bluebeard - takes a young wife who’s left alone in castle able to visit all but one room, she does and finds corpses of his dead wives, key gets blood on it, returns and furious, her brothers save the day, much symbolism: door = taboo, blood on key like virginity, wife’s greed/transgression, sexist rhetoric used today to justify femicide, power of sisterhood and women fighting for each other
- Penelope - introduced in the Odyssey via relationships to men, husband Odysseus goes to fight so she’s left waiting, 114 suitors but says will remarry after tapestry is done (unpicked to buy time), he came back and all is well, viewed as the perfect wife despite his cheating = different standards for men and women
- Chevalier d’Éon - spy and diplomat for king, on mission in Russia empress threw a ball where attendees dressed as opposite gender and they loved it, successful but higher-ups thought they were too modern, fled to England and presented as a woman mortifying the French, forbidden to dress as a man so lived rest of life female-presenting, today how would they identify? Trans woman? Non binary?, thing people most upset was d’Éon wanted to alternate, still a desire to lock people into the gender binaries
- Judith - beautiful Jewish widow, Holofernes (Babylonian general) invades so her and maid go to the camp, seduces and decapitates him, flees with head to energise Jews to attack, positive depiction of a femme fatale
- Fairy godmothers - beings that bestow powers and/or look after protagonist during their life, maternal figure replacing an absent parent, opposite to wicked stepmother or witch despite similar attributes, restricted stereotyped view of women
- Amazons - formidable women warriors first appeared in the Iliad, society of only women by having sex and only keeping baby girls (some disabled boys as no threat), recurring fantasy element, Greek heroes came up against them and either fell in love with an Amazon so she helps him or he kills her (or both), lesbian relationships?
- Scheherazade - opens and closes the one thousand and one nights of Persian/Indian/Arabian traditions, Persian king catches wife with another man so slits get throat, decides to marry a virgin every day then kill them the morning after to punish women, Scheherazade volunteers and starts a story so interesting he can’t kill here which follows for 1001 nights and they fall in love saving women from his murders, allegory of storytelling on the human psyche and power of sisterhood coming together against male violence
- Little mermaid - mermaid saves a prince from shipwreck, makes a deal with Ursula giving her voice for legs, has to make prince fall in love or transform into sea foam/slug, prince falls for another woman/Ursula uses Ariel’s voice, dies alone/beat witch (1837 Hans Christian Andersen/1989 Disney), Andersen’s tale symbolises difference in social class or hiding of his homosexuality, Ariel moved from world ruled by dad to husband and losing her whole personality, impossibility of transforming in original story is a tragedy but could be resistance to change oneself to fit the imposed constraints, could be a queer icon?
- Cybele - goddess of nature, earth and fertility, raised by leopards, throne guarded by two wild cats, fell in love with Attis who cheated so she drove him mad and castrated himself, all her priests were eunuchs, ‘Earth Mother’ concept of a voluptuous desirable women contrasts to Abrahamic religions, replaced with generic ‘Mother Earth’ who’s currently being ignored/ruined today = modern ecofeminist ideology
- Pocahontas - chief’s daughter, friendship with English explorer John Smith, relations sourced between colonists and natives so Smith sent back to England and Pocahontas was kidnapped to put pressure on her tribe, by end of captivity she’d learnt English, converted to Christianity and renamed ‘Rebecca’ then married (consent? Probs not) to John Rolf, went to England and died at 22 due to polluted air, Disney film tells the story with an ecological and decolonisation message, colonists are the true barbarians
- Eve - Old Testament states God made Adam (first man) out of clay then Eve from his rib, lived in the garden of Eden with one rule: don’t eat the forbidden fruit, satan disguised as a serpent corrupting Eve then she corrupted Adam to bite it who God expelled, Middle Ages used to represent women as treacherous by nature leading to the ‘she was asking for it’ notion, Eve the first feminist as her insolence in the face of ultimate patriarchy led to the gaining of knowledge for humans
- Snow White & Evil Queen - queen losing looks, tried to kill stepdaughter who flees hiding with seven dwarfs doing all their cooking/cleaning, queen disguised as witch gives a poisoned apple falling into a deep sleep, prince brings her back to life via kiss and she goes off with him, queen touching as women are taught looks are the only thing that matters and older women are not sexual but witch-like, coming of age story with feminine themes of menstruation, marriage, procreation and ageing but told via the male gaze
- Sadness - one of Riley’s five emotions in 2015 film Inside Out, what’s her purpose? Joy can be selfish as ignores other people to focus on own happiness but Sadness has power to reassure, need all emotions to function and live a complete life, isn’t shameful to work through sadness as can lead to happiness, moving of duality (paradise) in childhood for complexity of adulthood, least ‘heroic’ of the female-coded leads saves the day, toxic masculinity symbolised by characters of Fear and Anger, in more tolerant world our weaknesses and down days should be accepted as beneficial for our mental health disregarding performative joy (painting it on)

A beautiful and informative book that highlights myths, fictional and real women. A highly engaging read!

The humor and info was spot on!
I somehow like the informal way the authir writes. It is as if the author was talking to her friends. It has informative points and the author’s creativeness shines through out.

Although this book has excellent encapsulation of myths into a pictorial format and the illustrations themselves were easy to understand with humorous captions there were several glaring issues with this book which really annoyed me.
Firstly the whole book has an academic feel that read more like a University essay than a non-fiction, or even fiction book. If placed in non-fiction then someone might be tempted to take all its information as 'fact' when what this book really is is interpretation and opinions based loosely on one singular viewpoint.
The author has cherry-picked various fictional and historical examples of women throughout time and literature and read them through the lens of feminism and misogyny. The author has gone out of their way to choose versions of myths that align with her point of view and doesn't offer any alternative theory as to her suppositions and conclusions.

Her viewpoint that all of these stories are based, in some way, on the repression, oppression and dismissal of women is but one viewpoint and she doesn't ever offer that there might be alternative interpretations. She uses The Little Mermaid as an allegory for being passed from your father to your husband and losing your voice and growing legs as a way to change yourself and look pretty for a man, disregarding that Ariel (at only 17) makes the choice herself, to go after Eric. Also Ariel, without the need to speak, gets Eric to fall in love with her because of her personality and not just because she was pretty. By reducing Ariel down to just her attractiveness, the author herself falls prey to objectification and anti-feminism.
She also cites Frozen to say that Disney has only recently decided to bring sisterhood or female empowerment into the story whilst completely ignoring the film Brave where Merida saves herself, her brothers and her clan without the need for a man.
Her choice of accepting certain myths or variants of stories over others shows that the author only wants things that fit her viewpoint.
For example as someone who has more than a glancing familiarity with biblical accounts, I was annoyed at her description of all women in the bible either as holier-than-thou sl*ts or virgins. There are many women in the Bible who have multi-faceted personalities and don't fall into one generic stereotype- for example, Sarah (Abraham's wife) scoffed when told she would have a child at age 80 (and who wouldn't) so she was chastised by God but later her husband was told to listen to her because she was wise.
The author cites the Queen of Sheba as having been rejected by Solomon after he has sex with her because she had hairy legs. This isn't even in the bible and is based on myths after the fact. If the author is using secondary material to prove her point then she, at least, needs to acknowledge that her primary source (which isn't even cited in her bibliography) does not show that viewpoint.
Likewise, when she talks about Eve being greedy and lustful, none of this has any basis in biblical accounts. Eve is often said as being "misled" by the serpent and nothing is ever said of her sexual inclinations- all of this is speculation from secondary sources.
Other glaring omissions include:
Lilith and Judith, too, are not part of the recognised Bible canon and should have been cited as from alternative sources and not "In the Bible".
The author calls Jesus a "gentle shepherd" and, although he calls himself a shepherd of men; Jesus was in fact a Carpenter. She calls Mary a Virgin- when, in fact, Mary went on to have relations with Joseph and Jesus had brothers and sisters and NOWHERE in the bible does it say the forbidden fruit was an apple.

As a result, this isn't a book I would want in my library as it is plainly biased and doesn't even consider primary sources. A section with alternate versions or theories would have added a more rounded and nuanced view and would have been far more readable.

This was a very interesting read with lots of information. I did find the structure of the book a little challenging on my e-reader (difficult to follow which direction on the page the narrative was flowing). Great artwork though!

I thought this was quite enjoyable and unique. I really liked the art style and tone of the book. I loved how the women of legend and fantasy are brought to life with a modern touch.

Have you ever watched older Disney movies in your adulthood and realized how problematic some of the storylines about women are? Or maybe the fairytales we were told as children? Ladies of Legend dives into myths, fairytales, and some historical accounts of women from all around the world. There is a summary of each story with some humorous additions in cartoon form. Following the story is a page with details about the history of the story/myth and some feminist commentary about it.

I found myself sharing the new facts I was learning with people around me because some were very surprising about stories I thought I knew well. It made me really rethink some narratives I have never evaluated much that have had an impact on my view of humanity as a whole.

I would read more from this author and appreciate the way they took the time to make their points in an accessible way through clear writing, cute cartoons, and humor.

There may be comic strips but it does not mean that this is anything less than thoroughly academic.
The cultural references are amazing from link to Simone De Beauvoir's Second sex to Disney's retelling of Pocahontas. Every page is filled with another absolute legend who may be legendary or of the legends. Either way the illustrations are brilliant and punchy. Filled with humour and the harsh realities of numerous women from history. After each set of comic panels there is an essay on the highlighted topic around each women and then a more critical lens which often considered modern day implications or re-tellings which may be recognisable on the silver screen.
I would recommend this to historians, pop culture fans, feminist and readers of most ages. Though it may suit 12+ readers. However, the context and histories should be taught to people of all ages.

I think these kinds of books are both so fun to read and informative. The art style was fun, and I thought it was very educational. I loved learning more about these women throughout history and legends, some of which I had never heard of before. I recommend checking this out if you haven't already.

This seemed like a good book to dive into mythology, but it really wasn’t, I got really disappointed because of several points, first, it is all over the place, you have real people, people from fairytales, from movies, etc and they are not together where it makes sense, it is a mish mash of characters, and the worse the story can be seen in here it will, I don’t really recommend this book for a young audience, actually if you’re like me I don’t recommend it at all… all the stories are view from a view of rape and mistreating women or how men are so “terrible” and this is how I saw most of the stories…

thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

Great, humorous comic book about some of the most amazing female characters from history.

A really quirky way to actually learn something new.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my review.

This book was really interesting because it analyzes so many female characters from mythology or from stories that are well known to everyone. I also discovered certain characters and everything that brings us was very enriching, the analysis is very interesting and allows us to see the intentions that are hidden behind a character or a story.

I loved the illustrations and I also really liked that it will provide recommendations for books, comics, movies, paintings or monuments to continue investigating and delve into what women mean in history, in society and how many of them have broken stereotypes or how have been used to create an idea of ​​what "a woman should be".

I hope this book can be translated into Spanish because I see a lot of potential in it. I know that it would sell very well since it is a topic that interests many people and the way he shows and explains what can be seen in each of the women presented here is very, very enriching.

Thanks Europe Comics, Blanche Sabbah and NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

This well-researched sociological and anthropological look at the mythologies of women in history was both enjoyable and easily digestible. Sabbah is able to use well-organized research to paint a picture of the misogynistic ways in which women are depicted in our history and the ways that modern retellings of fables and myths aim to reframe gender and female empowerment. CW: there are several mentions of sexual assault and femicide.