Following in the footsteps of other popular Greek mythology retellings in recent years, Hewlett's 'Medea' exposes the lesser known characters of famous stories - in this case, the sorceress wife of Jason of the Argonauts. For those who have an existing interest in mythology, there are a plethora of familiar characters with Hecate, Circe, and King Aegeus all making appearances.
As all good retellings do, this story flipped the traditionally-known narrative on its head, and rather than revelling in stories of Jason's greatness as he completes his 3 trials and claims the Golden Fleece, we're given a stark insight into the life of Medea, a young girl determined to escape the dismal life she has always known - no matter the cost.
There are some larger time jumps in this novel that I wasn't expecting but actually worked really well in providing the reader with very clear distinctions between different parts of Medea's life, and how everything she had lived through eventually began to come to fruition in her adulthood. It was one of those bittersweet stories, where clearly a woman has been failed over and over again before she is pushed to extremes to get people to listen to her. I felt a deep empathy for her character, even as she (and Jason!) made terrible choice after terrible choice.
Would highly recommend this to any Madeline Miller or Jennifer Saint fans!

Princess Medea, daughter of the King of Colchis, has an older brother Apsyrtus and younger sister Chalciope. Medea is not allowed to be in the company of her sister, though they occasionally manage to sneak brief times together. This is because her family call her a Witch, like her banished Aunt Circe, though Circe prefers the title sorceress.
Medea is often beaten by her cruel father and Apsyrtus is starting to become cruel just like their father to her.
Medea longs for freedom, to escape Colchis, and when Jason and the Argonauts arrive by sea she sees her chance to finally escape.

I very much enjoyed reading this telling of a Greek Mythological tale. Though based hundreds of years ago bc, it could have been written in modern times regarding principles and attitudes. Choices and consequences.
This type of book is not my usual genre, but I think that is about to change.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions about the book are entirely my own.

I was curious and wary at the same time as I think that Medea is one of the most fascinating characters in the Greek mythology and her story told by Sophocles and Christa Wolf are in list of top stories
That said this is a good one, a personal retelling of a complex characters. It's a dark one and it's based on the most known version of the mystery.
I liked the storytelling and the character development
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was a dark retelling of Medea, although if you know anything about her story, you might have been expecting something like that. There are a few things she’s notorious for and whilst with feminist retellings of Greek mythology we often find a story where the myths are not quite the truth, or where the women have been misunderstood and this isn’t necessarily the case here, although in some ways it is. Medea is a complex character and one who does very bad things. Is Jason to blame? That’s the question. I mean, he’s not a good guy and a lot of people knew that and unfortunately, Medea wasn’t one of those people. As it always is, it was frustrating to see how the attention of a man seemed to change her and how blind she was to Jason’s character and his manipulations, but Medea was never weak. She was, in part, forged by the men in her life and her life in Colchis was heartbreaking, with her violent father, a distant mother, and an angry brother. Who could blame her for wanting to escape? And for wanting enough power to protect herself and those she loved?

I was waiting for Medea to go scorched earth on those who had betrayed her and whilst she definitely did, her rage was never quite in the right place and the people who were perhaps most deserving never felt the extent of her power or received the justice Medea was so fond of. This is certainly not a happy story but I very much enjoyed how it was told. Medea is in some ways a victim but as she spurns that role, she must instead be considered as the ever more powerful sorceress who will forge her own path in her interpretation of justice, and of love. There’s one woman I will not be getting on the wrong side of.

I’m not going to include a full synopsis for this one, because if you don’t know the myth it would spoil it a bit, but this is Rosie Hewlett’s retelling of Medea from Greek/Roman mythology. I read Hewlett’s ‘Medusa’ back in 2021 and absolutely loved it, so had to request this on NetGalley to read asap!

This is the myth retelling I’ve always wanted, showing a female character going against what is expected and taking the power back for herself. It’s not an easy read, and if you’ve read any iteration of this myth you’ll know why, but it’s such a fast-paced and impactful one.

I loved how this turned an often demonised character into someone you felt empathy for, even through her worst moments. If you don’t know anything about Medea in myth, I’d definitely recommend going into this without looking it up, as I think this is a perfect way to experience the story for the first time.

An utterly bewitching and captivating book about one of the most compelling characters in mythology, Medea is an absolute must read. Also, Atalanta features heavily, which is another amazing reason to pick this up.

So, what are you doing? Go and read it!
*glares in general direction of people reading this review*

Thank you so much to @bantambooksuk, @penguinrandomhouse and @netgalley for the chance to read this early!

*ad-pr product: I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Overall rating: 4.3

This definitely comes quite high up in my top favourite Greek myth retellings.

It took me a while to get into this book but once I did, I was reading non stop. I had some knowledge of Medea’s story but I mainly knew her as an evil villain in Jason’s story who helped him secure the Golden Fleece. But I loved the way Medea was portrayed in this retelling. She wasn’t fully a victim and she wasn’t fully a villain, she was both and the author did an amazing job of portraying just how complicated her character and her story was.

What I loved most about this retelling was that it really humanised Medea without excusing the terrible things she did at the end. It did a great job of showing that journey from being a naive, innocent and trapped girl to her becoming the complicated villain that Greek myth shows her to be. I also really enjoyed that this book didn’t glorify Jason but instead showed what greed, pride and this need for power can do to someone.

Overall, an amazing retelling and would highly recommend to anyone that loves Greek myth.

As a life-long lover of Greek mythology, I am always excited when a new novel on the topic is published, and there has been no shortage in recent years! However, not all are enjoyable and achieve the right tone and balance. Medea does this supremely, and is a wonderful retelling of one of the most celebrated myths in Greek mythology. Medea is clever, dark, passionate, revengeful. It offers the perfect blend of modernity in its tone, while maintaining the originality of the story in an engaging and consuming way. Despite knowing how the story was going to end, I couldn’t stop reading and could not get enough! An elegant masterpiece that makes you reflect on humanity, our light and darkness within, and the lengths desperation can drive us to.
With infinite thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing an advance copy of this novel in exchange for this honest review.

Medea by Rosie Hewlett is a powerful retelling of well known legend, beautifully written and predicting a promising future for this debut author.
"Medea chose the path of hate because nobody had ever shown her another route"
The story of Medea is well known, she betrayed her father to flee with Jason and his band of Argonauts having helped him to secure the mythical Golden Fleece, only to be betrayed in turn years later when Jason sets her aside in pursuit of another throne causing her to seek revenge in dramatic and tragic fashion. In her version of the tale Hewlett brings the woman to life, from her time as a young girl, beaten by her father and scorned because of her magical abilities, to a young woman so desperate to escape that she falls for the flattery of Jason , to the scorned wife and mother who takes back her power both literally and metaphorically. While the writer does engender sympathy for the character, she does not always paint her in a flattering light, instead there are shades of grey that make her all the more realistic and all the more interesting to me as a reader. I sympathised with her plight as a young girl whose father saw only what she could do for him and his kingdom , was frustrated by the choices she made in her attempts to escape and heart broken by her choice to take revenge on her husband in the most devastating way possible. I did not always like her but I was always compelled to come back to her story, something that is a real testament to the writing.
At one point the Medea is having a conversation with her aunt, the witch Circe, who tries to warn her of the dangers of her chosen path " I know how they will tell this story. It is the same for any woman who defies their place in this world. Jason will be the hero and you? They'll either make you his adoring love sick damsel or they'll make you the villain. Those are the only roles they fell comfortable with us occupying." and that really struck home because of how true it still is today for so many women. I loved that the author turned away from this and gave us a truly complex character .
I found this book powerful, compelling and memorable and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

In Rosie Hewlett’s retelling of Medea it felt like there was the question of nature vs nurture. Medea is known in Greek mythology for betraying her family, running away with Jason and the Argonauts after delivering him his win of the Golden Fleece, marrying him, bearing his children. Until he discarded her to marry the daughter of the King of Corinth, when she not only killed the Corinthian princess but also her own sons.

“I was ashamed of who I was, a shame that was
planted by my parents and cultivated by all those around me. I swallowed down the lies the world told me: that my power was something
to fear, to hate. I believed myself worthless and that belief drove me to seek validation from whomever I could grasp hold of, as if their love would prove I was enough.”

Hewlett puts flesh on Medea's bones, retelling the story from her viewpoint. She doesn’t paint Medea as the innocent victim, she gives a truly 4D perspective, unforgiving of Medea’s crimes, recognising and acknowledging the crimes against Medea. Medea is truly a morally grey character, who takes a path of her choosing, which raises the question as to whether this choice was shaped by the actions and evil deeds of others or truly Medea’s nature, or something in between?

Few if any male characters come across well in this story, from Medea’s cruel, domineering and bullying father to the ‘hero’ Jason, whose often manipulative behaviour, gaslighting and narcissism are in contrast to the innate passive goodness of Chalciope (Medea’s sister,) and the courageous and insightful Atalanta.

In Medea Hewlett provides an interesting feminine perspective and viewpoint that is truly enjoyable to read. Albeit at times swapping entertainment for timeline, impact for story. It’s an interesting retelling amongst the sea of feminine retellings that have emerged in recent years.

What a brilliant retelling of a Greek mythology tale. Medea's unhappy childhood is responsible for her becoming involved with Jason and marrying him. His demands of her lead to her reputation and unhappy life and this is all laid out so well in this modern tale. Very readable and a definite page turner.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Rosie Hewlett/Random House UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Truly, it is true what they say about the man who has lived all his life shackled in chains so much so they start to look like bracelets that even when someone tries to remove it, they protest vehemently or somehow always finds a way to put them back on.
Such is the fate of Medea princess of Colchis, who born with incredible magical powers finds herself first pressed under the thumb of her tyrannical father and brother. Even after she models herself after her beloved aunty Circe it seems that there is still that deep seated trauma where she seeks love in all the wrong places to make up for the lack thereof which finds her blindly infatuated by the charming and handsome .
Show me a woman in love and I’ll show someone who will follow you to the ends of the earth. Again, Medea refuses to see Jason for what he truly is, even after she finds herself isolated and exiled and alone, she feeds her delusion by clinging to his toxic love and scraps of attention he feeds whilst he stifles and further presses her to the ground.
How far can she go for “love” ( mind you, I’m using this term quite loosely) and when will she finally learn to stand up for herself?

This was a pretty easy read to get into , from the very first chapter I got swept up into the mythical Greek world and while I enjoyed the stories of the gods and goddesses, the wars and curses, the morals or lessons of the story wasn’t lost on me. The world that praised a man as hero for an act brands a woman a witch / villain for the same reason. That sometimes women follow men blindly because they feel unseen and lost even if it’s the same man that provokes said feeling.
This is a perfect book to read for Women History month cause it pecks apart historical patriarchy and exposes the unfair hands women have been dealt for centuries.

Wow. What can I say about this book. We’ve all heard the stories, we haven’t heard them from the perspective of the women living through them. The women who were wronged. The women who loved. The women behind the men who were overlooked. I absolutely love the story of Medea, righting the wrongs. I was angry for most of the book, I wanted and needed more for her but at least I understand her now. Thank you, Rosie, for giving her a voice. Rosie rivals the likes of Jennifer Saint and Claire North in the Greek myth retelling genre. She’s up there with the best.

Ah, Greek mythology retelling my old love. Do I feel just a little burned out by too many books released in this genre at the moment? Yes. Will I stop reading it? No. So here I am, having finished yet another retelling, and the second one about Medea in the span of a few weeks. Which was an interesting experience, to be able to directly compare the two.

Both of them chose to tell the story of Medea, best known for her marriage to legendary hero Jason and for, well, killing her own children rather differently. Hewlett lets her have a dark side, a lust for power that is mostly, but not entirely grown out of trauma and the mistreatment and abuse by her father and her brother. Medea is powerful, taught by Circe to wield her magic given by the goddess Hecate herself, but forbidden from using it unless her father wills it. She is his weapon, just like she will be Jason's weapon later on.

I enjoyed reading this version of her. There is a lot of nuance to her and her decisions, including the Big One nearing the end of the book. Hewlett clearly used both the Ovid and the earlier traditions of Medea's story as her inspiration but puts her own spin on the tale (for example, Absyrtos is already a grown man in this retelling, sent out with his fleet to recapture Medea and the fleece, and while it is Medea who kills him, she's manipulated by Jason to do so and Jason and his Argonauts cut him into pieces without her knowledge).
I did feel like Medea's infatuation with Jason, although obviously born of her horrible experiences with men before him and the trauma that comes with them, was played out a little too extremely at times and made her look a lot more stupid then we were told she is. While she has her aforementioned dark side, I also felt like too much emphasis was put on her being 'corrupted' by dark magic. I wanted her to have even more rage, to be more vindictive, to be allowed to have that dark side without it being partly blamed on a magical force. Jason is also a very onedimensional character in this one - he's just a villain, plain and simple, just one that is a little charming at first. The side characters are generally a bit hit and miss - most of them are just flat, but then there's Atalante who was given a greater focus and who really shines. Was I secretly hoping for a complete plot twist that has Medea run off with her to become happy wives and ignore the realities of Greek myths? Yes, maybe. Alas...

All in all, in a sea full of feminist retellings of Greek myths, Hewlett's Medea doesn't stand out. It's perfectly fine and enjoyable, it does what we expect it to do, but it also doesn't do anything more. It's well-written, although it sometimes feels a bit rushed getting from one Significant Story Beat to the next Significant Story Beat. It's an easy, quick read and if you're interested in Medea's story, I do still recommend this book for you.

I loved this!! Slight biased given I love anything to do with Medea but still. Stunning. Adding this to my Greek mythology recommendation pile immediately.

Atalanta once told me the world would make me the villain of this story, but she was wrong.
The world tried to make me the victim, so I became its villain. [loc. 4372]]
This is the second modern retelling of Medea's story that I've read in the last year (the first being Rani Selvarajah's Savage Beasts, which transplants the story to 17th-century India): I may avoid further novels based on this particular myth, because neither novel really came together for me. While all the key elements are present in Hewlett's novel, the pacing is uneven and the characters -- apart from Medea herself, and perhaps her aunt Circe -- one-dimensional.

Medea endures a horrific childhood after playfully transforming her brother Apsyrtus into a pig. Once returned to human form, he is cruel to her, as is their abusive father. Medea loves her sister Chalciope, but Chalciope is married off to a man who Medea had hopes of wedding. Then Jason and his crew show up, keen to commandeer the Golden Fleece: Medea helps Jason to accomplish the impossible tasks, leaves Colchis with the Argo and its crew, and dedicates her energies to Jason and his ambition. Jason, here, has little in the way of personality: just a stream of demeaning remarks, reframing Medea's actions and casting doubt on every aspect of her behaviour. Ugh.

Medea would have done well to listen to Circe's advice, which included not marrying Jason, and not turning to the dark 'death' magic unleashed by murder. Instead, she decided (like any teenager) that she knew best, and that Jason's ambition -- and her own desire to be in control of her life -- justified any atrocity. Her use of the dark magic, and her fight to stay in control of it, was at once the most original and the most unsettling aspect of the novel.

I found Medea unevenly paced, with sudden jumps of a year, ten years, five years. That final section came with an unexpected and perhaps unnecessary change of narrator, too, to Chalciope: but Chalciope's sympathy and pity are a good contrast to Medea's rageful hatred. The use of modern colloquialisms -- 'OK'; 'I'll take it from here'; 'that must've been tough to hear' -- jarred with me, too: I don't expect dry old-fashioned language but the dialogue felt false. Sadly, this novel just didn't work for me.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK publication date is 21st March 2024.

4.5 ⭐️
thank you netgalley and random house uk for a review copy of this book
This book is an emotive story all about the life of Medea and the path she goes down. I found this book beautifully written and I really enjoyed it throughout. I thought Medea was an amazing character and seeing her internal monologue behind each of her decisions. Overall this was an amazing greek mythology book that I would recommend to anyone who enjoyed Circe or Ariadne!!

Thanks to the publishers for providing me with amazing read.

The novel was a gripping read from start to finish, really challenging the conventional narratives. Do I like the protagonist? Maybe. Do I root for her? I did at many times. Was I scare of her at other times? You bet I was. She was not a 2-dimensional main character, but a believable 3-dimensional one. Her story arc was definitely interesting to read and follow. She had her pitfalls and hamartia(s) (that's Greek for 'fatal character flaw' for the audience in the back) But it never felt forced. The story glided smoothly (same cant be said for the ship and the characters though).
The ending was the biggest blow I could have ever imagine (even if I knew what's the actual tale is. I am a Doctoral student in English Literature after all). But still the shock was palpable, the way it was delivered.

Yes the story could have used a little more fine tuning. And the artistic license here and there surely ticked me off at points. But Its nothing unforgiveable. Hope to read more books by the author in future. All the Best.!

"Medea" was more than just a retelling of a myth for me. In a lot of ways, it felt like a plea for help, understanding, compassion - from Medea herself. Obviously, I had no problems at all connecting with the main character, and it hurt more than a little bit. Rosie Hewlett has crafted Medea so well that I felt an almost physical need to protect her. Great writing, great story, great main character, and more than a few tears in this book.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Tragic, stunningly tragic.

This story is a retelling of Medea, who, if you didn't know, doesn't have the happiest of stories within Greek mythology.

Rosie Hewlett doesn't shy away from this fact and instead tears your heart into pieces.

A story of a girl who only craved to be loved and wanted and yet was met with people who only wanted to use her for their own gain.

Oh, the number of times I wanted to cry for her, scream at her, take her away from her situation... this girl did not get a break! All of the gaslighting and manipulation had me nearly screaming.

This book truly tugged at my emotions, and for that, I can't deny it the 5 stars it deserves. It's also VERY easy to read which is a bonus and I was able to finish this in 2 sittings.

Thank you to Random House UK and Transworld for this ARC!

As a Greek mythology/retelling lover, I have been so excited to read this. Hewlett paints Medea's story and life admirably, from her early life, to her meeting Jason, to her most 'monstrous' acts. Medea has always been one of my favourite Classical women to read and learn about, and I thought Hewlett's framing of her was compelling - I particularly appreciated how each of her dark deeds wasn't absolved, and we the readers were not handheld through to a moral consideration of Medea. We aren't supposed to fully understand why Medea does what she does, but Hewlett provides us with a formidable structure through which we can try to step into her shoes and note the events that led her down this path. The story was also paced well, and the dialogue was sharp - I thought that the writing shone the most when describing Medea's violence (the scene on the Argo with the giant, or the scene with Glauce, and with the dragon).
This is a worthy addition to the new canon of retellings, and I can't wait to see what Hewlett writes next. 3.5/5