"The Shadow of Perseus" by Claire Heywood offers a compelling feminist perspective on the myth of Perseus, told through the voices of the women who knew him intimately: his mother Danae, his wife Andromeda, and his victim, Medusa. In this retelling, history's heroic narrative is challenged as the complexities of Perseus's ambitions and actions unfold. Heywood explores themes of power, identity, and the consequences of mythic destiny, revealing a narrative where the line between heroism and monstrosity blurs. "The Shadow of Perseus" is a thought-provoking exploration of myth and womanhood, offering a fresh and nuanced perspective on a classic tale.

This should be a feminist retelling of a famous ancient myth story about the hero Perseus, told by the three women around him. Sounds intriguing, I said to myself.
But let me tell you this - you would do much better with sticking with the original story; and also I do not see any feminism here. The women here are not strong, capable or worth following of their example - they are powerless, weak - and, which has infuriated me most - ENABLERS. For example - how do you treat a man who kidnapped you and had raped you every night since? Yes, you involve a wonderful strategy of treating him kindly and with respect (at least outwardly), which should somehow manipulate him and which should help you to find your own voice! Never dignity, never accountability, never respect, never real growth. Never courage, never change, never fighting. Men are to be seen like weak children here, impulsive brawlers and murderers, while you are trying to find the innocent boy in their souls.
And yes, you may say that we are speaking about the antic world here, so how can this reviewer propose this kind of emancipation of women? Well, exactly! Because this should be feminist retelling - but it is only a retelling in a sense of a modern times based settings where everyone is behaving with modern manners, sensibilities, morals and the same thinking, no diversity amongst the nations and continents. The authoress has obviously never studied the different belief systems, behaviours, morals and traditions of different nations. But there is no real voice of women present and even no realistic knowledge of human behaviour, I’d say. This is more a story of unwise mothering of a psychopath - because all of the women are simply mothering this guy, and my mind can not comprehend the WHY.

Perseus is a well-known figure in Greek mythology, but this retelling revisits his life and the general story through the insights of the marginalised woman surrounding him.

I thought this retelling was superbly well-executed. It brought fourth the original tale, in a recognisable version, but with enough differences to make it feel brand new. Perseus' character was the most interesting aspect as his true self was what differed so greatly from the original. Instead of a hero telling the tale of his own heroics, those with nothing to lose from lying recount their part in this epic tale. And the differences are varied and many!

This also contained a large focus on the rife misogyny and gender mistreatment of the time and how women were silenced, shunned, and made to suffer for crimes they did not commit for men who thought themselves the masters of the universe. There were sections that were difficult to read and my heart pained for the generations of women, before and since then, forced to suffer in silence and in such ways.

I was given both the audiobook and ebook of this, but I did not listen to the full audiobook.
Below is my ebook review however.
I will say though, that the narator for the audiobook was well-spoken, clear and an excellent choice

This book was one I struggled with.
I am a big fan of Greek Mythology, mythological retellings not so much.
Some are superb, Pat Barker's books, Clytemnestra, Song of Achilles, all great.
A majority of others fall into the category of mediocre retellings that rely on the 'feminist retelling' tag to sell.

Unfortunately this is what I felt with Shadow of Perseus.
The premise was great, I will give the author that. Re-examining the story of Perseus from the POV of his mother Danae, Medusa and his wife Andromeda was an interesting idea. And her choice to write the whole story without any gods or mythological aspects to it, showing how the myths of Perseus could realistically arisen was excellent.
However, aside from this premise the book fell flat.
The 3 women were very similar in nature, and you would struggle to tell their POV apart with the passive voice they had.
As well as this the character of Perseus, indeed of pretty much all the men in this book, was very 1 dimensional and not engaging at all.

While the book started off really well, very beautifully written with great worldbuilding of the ancient Greek lifestyle, from about 20% in onwards is just never really picked up. Even the dramatic ending scenes felt quite slow and stale after the slog it took to get to them.
I came close to DNF-ing this book, and I think if I hadn't been trying to get through an ARC I probably would have.

Overall I would give it maybe 2.5* and not be inclined to recommend it.

What an interesting take of Greek myth retelling!

This book is told from the perspective of three women who affected and were affected by Perseus the most. This is not entirely unusual, however I still adore a retelling that focuses on the female experience.

The truly unique part for me was that the author purposefully excluded all magical elements, thus making the book more human-centred. I think this was done well.

I have read retellings I have preferred and I did find this book slow in parts, but overall I had a great time reading this book.

Thanks: Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this unapologetic expose on what a problematic pain Perseus truly is!

What I love so much about Greek mythology retellings of Perseus in particular, is that there are several potential perspectives to share from each story. Perseus is such a great example of that, with some stories vilifying and some glorifying him; this time, we are someplace in the middle. Thank goodness, because I’ve had about enough of the glorifying ones!

We begin with Danae - a hugely likeable character locked in her room because, as befits many Greek parents with unfortunate demises shared by an Oracle, her father has learned that Danae’s offspring will result in his own death. So of course, locking her away like Rapunzel without a mane seems a solid place to start preventing that demise. But Danae doesn’t need an unruly haircut to capture the eye of a handsome boy - he just breaks right in! As a result, Perseus is later born.

The story follows Perseus from here as he meets Medusa and later Andromeda. I really enjoyed the way the story developed, and the audiobook was especially enjoyable for such a character driven narrative. It’s no secret that Perseus isn’t the most moral young man, but in this retelling I felt the author strived to show that there was reasoning behind his poor character which was more interesting. I also enjoyed that Andromeda and Medusa had more of a voice, when often they are secondary characters for Perseus to exploit.

I can’t say that this story stands out from a very overpopulated market, but it was really enjoyable and I’d certainly recommend it to readers who enjoyed Madeline Miller’s or other similar works.

ARC provided from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received the audiobook of this novel from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy a good myth and a well executed retelling. This one in particular looks at the women in Perseus' life and how his very existence around them has impacted them, which provides quite a different insight into the story of a beloved hero. Is he the hero that he is made out to be?

Claire Heywood, as usual, I feel has given this myth a unique spin and viewpoint, leaving much food for thought; however, it is far from a 5-star read for me.

The fascination and appeal with Greek mythology lies, in fact, in the myths and the legends, the gods, the fates and magic! All of which were completely erased from this book. It is a very mundane retelling of Perseus' tales.

It also falls a little short as far as feminist retellings go. The women felt quite one-dimensional at times, with little dignity and strength, very victimised, and very much still in Perseus' shadow.

There is definitely potential here for a great book, and there is certainly an audience for it, I'm just aware that I like my myths to be...well, mythological!

This was an enjoyable audiobook to listen to. I am a huge fan of feminist retellings of ancient myths, and in fact studied this topic at university. I think this novel takes an interesting approach in the way it strips the story of any of the original magic and divinity, instead presenting it as an entirely humanistic world. In some parts this worked, but I felt like the story of Medusa didn't have the same feminine power as it would have if they actually were these terrifying gorgons, rather than just misunderstood human women. The women unfortunately didn't come across as strong, but rather 2-D. Even Perseus isn't a realised character - he's just bad, with very little nuance or explanation as to how he came to be that way.
Whilst I didn't strongly dislike this, I think that it doesn't add anything new or exciting to the genre of retelling Greek myths.

Claire Heywood never misses. Her story is well researched, emotional and simultaneously plot- and character-driven. This is what retellings are all about - a lot of them do nothing with the story except report it beat for beat. Heywood, meanwhile, stays true to the heart of the narrative while reshaping it to fit the lens she is looking at it through; in her case, as historical fiction.

The Shadow of Perseus is what I would term a true 'feminist' retelling, in that it puts the voices of women at the front of its narrative without inserting 21st Century feminist rhetoric where it does not belong. Each of her characters is well-rounded and has clear motivations; she also does not automatically assume that all men in history and myth are monsters, which is a dangerously pervasive concept that has been invading retellings in the last few years. We see clearly how those who do fall into this archetype have gotten there.

Heywood's decision to reimagine the story as historical fiction also works fantastically. She does not assume the gods are not real, and does not have her characters scoff at their existence; rather, she approaches mythology like religion, in that her characters believe in it, and it is entirely possible that divine influence could exist, but all of the story offers potentially mundane explanations alongside, and shows the clear line of how these events could become mythologised.

Overall, I adored this book, and i can't wait to see what Heywood does next.

5/5

This was such a gripping tale. And though I enjoyed this retelling, I felt really bad for Medussa. And I just wanted the terror of Perseus to end. Even though it might be a retelling and set in some other world, this kind of men exists even today in various forms. And it's scary when you think about it. Well, definitely a book I would recommend.

This is a really interesting take on the ever-crowded market of Greek mythology retellings. Heywood takes the myth of Perseus, and removes the supernatural - the gods, the monsters, all of it. The focus is on humanity - or lack thereof, in Perseus’s case. The book is really about the women who have shaped Perseus’s life (and vice versa) - his mother Danae, his victim Medusa, and his wife Andromeda.

Danae was my favourite narrator - possibly because she began the book, and then I missed her once the POV changed. I enjoyed Medusa’s POV but it felt like it ended very suddenly. Andromeda’s POV was fascinating, but I wasn’t as attached to her as I was to Danae. The book covers ambitious scope for its length.

I still can’t decide how I feel about removing the ‘magic’ - I like the sentiment behind it, and think it made for an interesting story, but it also took away a lot of what is exciting about Greek mythology retellings.

Ultimately, I was entertained while listening to this audiobook, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression.

i honestly can’t get enough of mythology retellings from the female perspective- like i’ve heard it all from perseus, give me the women!

danae is one of my favourite characters, and so i was thrilled when i heard that she was one of the POVs. i think her story is so heartbreaking and powerful, and i really enjoyed reading her section with the magic of mythology stripped back. it made it a very emotive section, the same goes for andromeda.

that being said, i’m not sure why i felt like the magic was missing from medusa’s story. i felt like i just wanted more from this segment, as medusa and her sisters are so powerful!

This is an alternative telling of the story of Perseus but without the gods or ‘magical’ elements. I enjoyed the opening of the story with Danae as the narrator but the book got more mediocre from there.

I liked a lot of this book and I also disliked a lot of this book. I liked the female perspectives, but considering that women are the main perspective they don’t have any agency, or whatever agency they do have they lose. Perseus didn’t feel fully developed, I don’t understand how to got to be the way he is or his motivations other than insecurity.

Overall I enjoyed some elements but I wanted more.

This book was pretty decent! I absolutely think this title should include trigger warnings for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

I've included a link to my full review on Good Reads below.

2.5/5 stars, rounded up

In the past couple of years, Greek mythology retellings have become one of my favourite genres to read, and so when I started this book, I was very excited to learn about a new perspective of the tale of Perseus that I've heard countless times as a child.

My copy of Shadow of Perseus was an audiobook, and the more I listened to it, the stronger I felt that it is the best format for this story. This book is very fast-paced, with major events happening one right after the other, and because of that, I feel like reading it as a physical or an e-book could be hard. It's much easier to take everything in when the story is being told to you by someone else rather than reading it on your own. Additionally, I enjoyed listening to this title thanks to the colourful descriptions of the palaces, homes and environments surrounding the main characters. The descriptions in this book are one of its biggest strengths, in my opinion.

With that being said, the pacing of the book was one of its weaknesses. Claire Heywood strives to tell the stories of three women that were connected to Perseus and whose lives were irrevocably changed by him, but the whole book is only a little over 300 pages, which just doesn't allow for enough time for each individual character. That is especially clear in part two of the book, which is dedicated to Medusa and that ends before it even begins. I was very disappointed to hear that there were only a couple of chapters dedicated to such a prominent character in Perseus' story and I really wish there were at least 20 more pages about her.

Another major flaw that was consistent throughout the book is that all the characters felt somewhat one-dimensional. We see the women suffer at the hands of cruel and ignorant men, and we see them find their strength within themselves but we don't really see anything beyond that. Perseus is shown as an arrogant, selfish and delusional boy that has major problems with his masculinity, and it's easy to hate him but I also wish that he was more complex. I don't believe anyone is purely good or purely evil, so it would've been nice to see some redeeming qualities to him that he could drown completely in his cruelty time after time. I think it would've been more compelling to read about a young man slowly bringing himself to ruin rather than reading about a boy that had completely changed into a monster over the course of (literally) one night.

My last criticism has to do with the female protagonists once again. As I was listening to this book, I couldn't stop thinking about how Danae, Medusa and Andromeda are mostly only shown through the prism of Perseus. In this book, they only exist outside of him for a couple of chapters each, and that brings me back to the point I've made about the pacing of this book. I really wish that there was more time spent with only the women, with no Perseus behind every action, thought or motive. In that sense, I believe that Circe by Madeline Miller is the best example, for in that book we get to see the main female protagonist existing outside all the male characters, including her son, her lovers and her father that had condemned her to her fate (the same three basic roles that Perseus plays in this book).

Overall, this is a good book to listen to before bed or on walks but unfortunately, its flaws outweigh its strengths. It felt like the main purpose of this story was to make the readers hate Perseus, and I don't think that that's ever a good strategy with retellings.

Thank you to NetGallery, the publisher and the author for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All my opinions are my own and uninfluenced by these circumstances.

This was so good!!

I love Greek myth retellings and this was a really nice one. I was very lucky to be able to get an ARC of this book, both in audio and ebook format, so I read parts of it and listened to others. Even though the title of the book is The Shadow of Perseus, this book is really about the three women that are part of his life: Danae, his mother; Medusa, his greatest achievement; and Andromeda, his wife.

As with many of the recent retellings being published, this one has the purpose of giving voice to the women that have been for so long in the shadow of these "heroes". Claire Heywood really makes a point of testing the status of hero afforded to Perseus and reminds us that the stories we know are the ones told by men, and they do not necessarily reflect the truth. So the version we know of what happened to Medusa, who/what she was and how Perseus slayed her, and to Andromeda, if he ever truly rescued her, is put in question by the author.

I loved the author's take on and rewriting of this tale in the book. Her writing style really invites you in and she built very interesting and incredibly resilient female characters. The only fault with it, in my opinion, is the ending. Despite the deconstruction of who Perseus really was like, in this version of the events, I felt like he was let off the hook too easily in the end; too many excuses were made for the way he acted.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book if you like Greek myth retellings as I do. The audiobook narrator did a wonderful job with this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Have I said lately how much I’m enjoying these retellings of Greek myths? Keep ‘em coming, I say!

And here’s another take on the story of Perseus, except this has more of a historical fiction slant to it. There’s no magic, no snakey hair, no sea monster come to take it’s sacrifice. Instead there is a story packed full of adventure with women who try to make the best of their lives in a world where the patriarchy always comes out on top.

Much like the Perseus in Natalie Haynes’ Stone Blind, Perseus in The Shadow is very unlikeable. He’s immature, sulky, and believes the world - and his grandfather - owes him something. His ability to spin his own heroic deeds (are they heroic?!)makes fools of all the men, I felt. The women aren’t fooled though, and as in the original, Medusa pays the ultimate price.

The Narrator on the audiobook, Olivia Darnley, does a really good job of bringing the characters to life. She evokes the bravery and determination of all three of the female characters: Danae, Medusa and Andromeda. They all for a time become mistresses of their own fate, and I loved them for that. But of course, Perseus puts an end to all of that for all three of them. All through his own selfishness.

I’m going to have to go and read Daughters of Sparta, aren’t I? Oh yes I am! If it’s as good as The Shadow of Perseus, it’ll be time well spent!

I adore all things mythology, but what I often don't adore is the omission of the female gaze and viewpoint from the myths. This newest tranche of mythology coming through that helps us see the ancient world through a grounding in the female gaze and realism really fleshes out and makes real the myths I've come to love.

There is so much I didn't know about Perseus, but the view of his mother and, later, his wife, really adds a layer of feminism to the tale. I also greatly appreciated that this didn't just start at Perseus, it gives rise to the audience knowing that he was made grand through the suffering of his mother and swift maddening of his grandfather.

Brilliant.

In a similar writing structure of Electra by Jennifer Saint, the tale of Perseus is weaved from three different viewpoints to those traditionally written. His mother Danae, his wife Andromeda, and his victim, Medusa.

Danae’s father Acrisius is desperate for an heir, so when it is foretold he will not have a son and Danae’s future child will be the end of him, he casts his own daughter out to sea to die. The tale spirals onwards from here with all the drama and tragedy you can imagine. This story is the perfect choice to reimagine from a female viewpoint. Perseus is not the hero we are all led to believe, he is in fact a violent rapist, obsessed with power. In some respects he seems to be the original incel, believing the world owes him something with no care for anyone else.

I enjoyed the realism of this retelling, but on the other hand I enjoy the magic of the original myths, this is just a different mechanism for telling the tale and I would definitely recommend if you wish to get a different train of thought on the subject.

The narrator was excellent throughout and really suited the writing.

An absorbing book that had my interest from the very beginning. A twist on the ancient tale of Perseus and Andromeda with a slant towards a new concept, including all the characters but from a slightly different perspective, The feeling of strength within this piece was well thought out and proved enlightening. Definitely worth taking the time to read.