Jess’s Reviews > No Friend To This House > Status Update

—than just Medea, which is different from the other Medea-related retellings I’ve read. I think Medea’s story is particularly appealing to a modern female audience as many women can relate to feeling betrayed by men who went from being obsessed with them, to not acknowledging anything they’ve done for him. I like evil women so idk. This book was still enjoyable though

I liked the author’s note; I always enjoy Haynes’ humor & intelligence. This wasn’t my favorite novel of hers; I enjoyed Stone Blind & A Thousand Ships better. My favorites are her non-fiction analyses of ancient Greek myth & history though. Her writing is digestible & fast-paced. I don’t think she portrayed Medea as very malicious here, which is usually what I prefer. But I think the focus was on more—

I think there’s a disconnect between the other character’s perception of Medea’s evilness vs her own inaction. She hasn’t been very proactive in her own POVs, but there’s been other characters calling her devious etc. I wish her plan/actions with Pelias’s daughters was highlighted more, bc it shows her intellect, manipulation, & willingness to be cruel when she feels it’s necessary

Enjoying this so far, love my queen Natalie Haynes 🧡 I love her fast-paced, multi-faceted myth retellings style. In a standard lengthy novel, it wouldn’t work as well — but for a folklore interpretation, it’s great & very digestible. I think all the subheadings under the chapter title/POVs connect into a longer poem, which is cool. I wonder if it will all be revealed as one whole thing later or not