I had a copy of this from Netgalley and it has criminally been sat on my kindle for what feels like an eternity, thanks to the biggest reading slump of my adult life. I also know not to force these things, and I’m so glad to have finally read it and (spoiler alert) I absolutely loved it.

The emotions I went through reading this book has made it probably one of the most intense and immersive reading experiences I’ve ever had. Medea is everything I wanted as some bad b main character. The way the lines between good/evil and almost a grip on one’s sanity is greyed and blurred to the extent you don’t even know what you want to come next. It really made me question and think about how I at least make these mental alliances with characters and what happens when this isn’t so straightforward.

This is some of the most intense character ~development~ I’ve ever been witness to. The way Medea’s story is so perfectly woven through the drama and turmoil and culminating in this engulfing darkness. Stupendous. If you enjoy the darkness that is.

For reference, I knew none of this story before picking this up. Me oh my was I taken on a journey. If you liked Circe, this not only is for you, but will most likely blow it out of the water.

Knowing nothing of this myth, I read Medea with an open mind and feel this is a very worthy addition to the Greek myth retelling genre. Although Medea is at times a difficult character to care for, given how skilfully her character is built with a complexity of morally grey choices and thought processes that at times have a reader screaming at the page for her to see sense and leave Jason before her ruin, I couldn’t put this one down. Jason’s betrayal in the final quarter of the book is foreshadowed as his charisma is broken down slowly to reveal a weak and power hungry coward, so that even though I didn’t like Medea, her fear of a precarious situation for herself and her children unleashing the horror of the final chapters made this slow burn very much worth sticking with.

The love story, which is a focus for most of the book, could have been a modern-day relationship. Most women have experienced some form of gaslighting or emotional manipulation, and you can't help but relate to Medea at times, as well as wanting to scream at her.

If you want to read an incredibly empowering story about one of the best witches in history, then please pick up this book.

I highly recommend this if you’re into Greek myths. I don’t think you need to be familiar with Greek myths to enjoy this book though.

I'm a fan of Greek mythology and have enjoyed a lot of the recent retellings in this genre but I wasn't familiar with the story of Medea and I was absolutely blown away by Rosie Hewlett's retelling. Such an incredibly engaging story that perfectly portrayed Medea as a hero, a villain and a victim which so much depth and emotion.

I'd definitely recommend reading this book, the characters are so moving and the story so gripping with so many twists and surprises.

I’m relatively new to the Greek mythology retelling world but have been really enjoying the books I’ve been reading and this was up there with the best for me.

Medea’s story is told with such depth and her complexity and experiences are shared with a true care by the author, traumatic though they may be.

I can’t believe I knew so little of Medea’s tale before this book but I’m so pleased I have learned her story.

A beautiful work containing mythology and the fear from men in women. The author really pulls you in the grief and angst medea feels and I think all in all it’s been wonderfully done!! 3,5 stars!

4.25*

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK/Transworld Publishers/Bantam for a digital review copy of "Medea" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

I am a modern Greek Mythology retelling fan and eagerly keep an eye out for new titles and subjects. As soon as I saw a re-telling of Medea I knew I wanted to read it. We get a lot of 'heroic' tales and now, along with Medusa and Circe we're starting to hear more voices of the traditional 'villains'.

In this dark and troubling story we have the sorceress/witch front and centre. Stuck as a virtual prisoner of her father due to her magical powers, Medea yearns for a different life and when Jason arrives on Colchis to claim the revered Golden Fleece she takes her opportunity. What follows is a tale of dark magics, obsessional love, adventure and ultimately betrayal.

Rosie Hewlett's Medea is a character of contradictions, multi-layered and complex. Her motivations stem from desperation, loneliness and isolation which makes her ripe for the emotional manipulation and gaslighting of the men around her, especially Jason and his lure of the promise of love, equality and a new life.

There is a truly troubling and unsettling sense of foreboding throughout the novel leading to a final quarter that is emotionally draining and devastating. You know from page 1 that this story won't end well but Hewlett keeps us as an audience feeling empathy for Medea even whilst you're also appalled at her actions.

Having read 'Atalanta' by Jennifer Saint and 'Circe' by Madeline Miller I definitely felt a much greater appreciation of the story on offer here and found that 'Medea' rounded those tales out to give greater details on elements that are more minor plot points in those individual stories. I was also glad to get a different take on the Jason persona, to see him as a flawed, selfish and spoilt little boy rather than the golden flawless prince of traditional myth (if you enjoyed the alternative way Romeo is portrayed in 'Fair Rosalind' then you'll appreciate this element), however he was so unlikeable that for the middle section of the book I found myself reading more quickly whenever he was involved - the other Argonauts during this part of the narrative are much more interesting to read though.

This is a great addition to the pantheon of Greek Myth retellings as it's so much darker than many others. There isn't a great deal of hope on offer and as a modern reader I definitely felt frustrated at times at the Medea/Jason relationship as I could see so clearly the manipulation, and she was so desperate that she ignored so many strong voices, ultimately leading to that finale. I definitely want to read Hewlett's other retelling, 'Medusa', now as I'm extremely intrigued to see a different perspective on that story and see how it reads in comparison to Jessie Burton's own Medusa retelling.

'Medea' is released March 21 2024.

Choosing this title was a mingle of interest and trepidation. Medea is such a controversial character, how can she be redeemed, how will her story be represented? In a plethora of female retellings, particularly ones focusing on Greek mythology, "Medea" shines. Hewlett's prose is lush and engaging, touching sensitive topics with a delicate, gifted hand.. The result is a captivating story that reads like a beautiful melody.

First, I'm a huge fan of Madeline Miller's books and short stories and so far, no other author has done as good a job transporting me back to ancient Greece as she has done, so this review is somewhat biased.

And Medea not necessarily being a character I've ever been much interested in, also dampened my enthusiasm for this story, but I am Madeline Miller starved, so I thought, let's give this a try.

It's not hard to get into it, but sadly it's just not as good as Miller's writing and then it hits a snag, once we get introduced to Jason - who is insufferable in my opinion. And that Medea doesn't see right through him and sacrifices everything for him, just because he's handsome and an undeniable charmer, annoys me. I went part villain myself reading parts of this book.

In short, I believe it was a faithful retelling of the myth, but it wasn't for me.

The writing was really beautiful and I loved the beginning, particularly Circe and Medea’s relationship and seeing the cruelty of her father and the questions Medea has about her own power as a child. Is she something to be feared? Or a weapon to be wielded by another? These seem to be Medea’s only two options, and unfortunately I didn’t finish the book to find out. From the introduction of Jason I found Medea’s naivety and her almost willing manipulation hard to read and once they arrived in Iolcus her willingness to kill on his behalf despite the clear turmoil at the death of her brother was too much for me. Perhaps that is the point - I’m not sure - and I think that other people will really enjoy it. It’s not a bad book by any means, just not one for me, so I’ve rated it 2.5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley, Rosie Hewlett & Random House for the ARC copy

I love Greek mythology books and this didn't disappoint. It was rough, brutal and had some hard hitting scenes. In places, I will say Medea frustrated me but to be fair, there's only so much you can do considering the source material! I did think the writing was very readable, which isn't always the case with these sorts of books.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I've always been fascinated by the history of Medea in mythology, definitely one of those characters that stood out to me always. so when I had the opportunity to read this I was so excited, and it didn't disappoint. the book does a beautiful job of retelling but also reposing moral questions around nature and nurture. it's hard to hate Medea totally despite what she does, because of how she became that way. Great read!

When read retelling stories about women from Greek Mythology we always get damsels or villains. This book will give you a villain original story. Medea become curse on Jason glowing heroic journey. But at beginning she only a brokenhearted princess.

The writing capturing me since begining chapter. The story is interesting, healthy mixed between fragility of a lonely princess who longing for unconditional love with a desperate witch dark magic ability who seek recognition.
First half naration feel little bit angsty for my taste. Medea character lack depth and sound so naif with repetition phrases. But I am enjoying more when the plot thickens and she open her eyes about how manipulative his husband and embraces her wicked side.

Thank you to Netgalley, and Bantam from Transworld Digital for providing a copy of this ebook. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Greek retelling is always my fav genre to read for retellings! This book had such a great start, I’m also a massive fan of Circe so it was so good seeing her role in this. Bearing in mind this is a villain origin story and knowing the general story of medea set this up for so much fun!
The beginning of this book up until she meets Jason was so captivating! I wanted to read more and more, she wanted revenge and I was here for it.
However the book started to loose me when Medea met Jason, she became too blinded, turning this villain into just a heartbroken scorned woman. Though tbh that’s the most dangerous woman ! But I feel like she could have been written better, she was too whiny and blind to anything negative about Jason, her aunty that loved her so much, she literally abandons just because Jason says she’ll be his queen! And her friend too that spent much more time with Jason than her warns her and she attacks her rather than see the truth. That part was annoying to read, I hate seeing piny women in literature, especially when they’re pining after a man ugh that’s stuff for the 1950s. Just make her mean, she went through so much during her childhood.
The only redemption for her character was when she actually stood up for herself and used her power. Overall it was a fun read but I wish villian women stop being portrayed as bad just because a man didn’t want her anymore! Women can just “choose” to be bad too and can do without a man being the centre of attention. And part of the original folk was she was manipulated by Athena and Hera which explains how she acted towards Jason but in this book? That’s completely gone, she’s just dumb.
I’ll still recommend the book as it’s a good story.

I'm a big reader of the modern retelling of ancient Greek myths, so was very excited to receive this ARC copy.
Medea, the witch princess of Colchis, is well known for her role in Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece and the subsequent tragedy when the hero takes her back to his kingdom.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first part of the novel in which we see Medea as a victim of an abusive father and brother, who is trapped in her small Colchis world and desperate for escape. The scenes where she worked with her aunt, Circe, were particularly good.
Jason turning up changed the pace. I found it hard to be convinced that she would fall for someone so obviously using her. So that didn't sit well, nor did the dialogue between them, which relied heavily on jarringly modern phrases like 'OK' and a reference to toxic dependency in the narrative.
But the author clearly knows her ancient history and retold the story as faithfully as possible. I think I would like to have had an imagined account of the ten years in which she spent with Jason before turning 'bad' rather than just skipping to 'Ten Years Later'.
The writing flowed, it was an easy read and major themes of power and abuse of power were woven throughout the narrative.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this book.

As soon as I found out about this book I knew I had to read it. And I am so grateful I got the chance to read it before release.

I was first introduced to Medea through Euripedes' play Medea. From the first reading I loved her character. It was fascinating to try and understand such a complex character; especially in contrast to such an awful but depthless character such as Jason.

This book is the presentation of Medea I have been waiting for. She's such a powerful character who I cannot help but sympathise with her. Hewlett really explores her entire character from her childhood to the end of her story. I also loved how Medea was able to interact with other powerful women such as Circe and Atalanta as it allowed for a less patriarchal viewpoint.

The details surrounding all of Medea's magic was so amazing and has made me really want to delve deeper into ancient witchcraft.

This book is a brilliant work of fiction combining mythology with feminism, questions surrounding morality, childhood trauma and an exploration of human emotions.

Honestly I think everyone should read this and Euripedes would be proud.

Medea by Rosie Hewlett comes out 21st March 2024

There has been such a huge trend in recent years of publishing retellings of Greek myths. This has been one of my absolute favourite trends, and I have read some of my absolute favourite books because of it. So you can imagine the excitement I felt when I was approved to read an ARC for Medea in exchange for an honest review.
The first third of the book or so, I found really engaging, really exciting and interesting, and I loved the way that Medea was portrayed and her relationship to Circe was examined.
And then Jason showed up. Without drifting too far into the realms of spoilers, I just did not like him. And that feels like one of the major failings of this as a book. Jason never feels likeable. Medea falls instantly and intensely in love with a man who never comes across as anything more than slimy and unpleasant. The chemistry falls flat and it meant that a large part of the plot falls flat from there on out.
The plot largely slumps during the middle third, and because of the lack of chemistry, there wasn't much to keep me interested, and it then left the ending feeling inorganic and contrived.
I feel like I am being really harsh, but I did find it readable and easy to dip in and out of. It didn't hook me in the way that some books do, but that's not always a bad thing.

I applied a non-judgemental approach to Rosie Hewlett's Medea and she flowed with all her flaws, vulnerabilities, powers, loyalty, pain and revenge.

Brutally bruised from childhood by the men in her family, and distanced from her much loved aunt and sister, Medea chooses to side with her new found love, and what follows turns her into the person she finally becomes.

Medea is highly immersive and hard to put down.

Medea by Rosie Hewlett is an exceptionally written, heartbreaking retelling of the story of Medea of Colchis.

Medea is a young woman despised by her father and ignored by her mother. After turning her bully of an older brother into a pig, she is tutored by her aunt, the famous Circe, in order to control her magic. But she is abandoned.

This is a love story, but not between the famous couple Medea and Jason. No, this is a story of the profound love that Medea comes to accept and give for her magic. As we travel with Medea, watch her make her mistakes and her successes, we fall deeper and deeper in love with her. At times, our hearts break with hers, and for her.

Well-written, well-paced and well-plotted, there isn't a single thing I can fault about Medea. The emotions of the story became my own, and it was one of the most un-put-down-able books of 2023!

Roșie Hewlett haș taken a stunning story and made it into one that I will be thinking about for a very, very long time. I was hooked until the end, and in a market somewhat oversaturated with mythological retellings, this one is bound to be a standout. Thank you very much for letting me read an early copy of the book!

My students convinced me to create a new Mythology section for them in our Library and I have no doubt that this will be the next story added to its' shelves. Powerful from page 1, this version of Medea's story is divine!