Sooo good 100% recommend

Absolutely brilliant narrator, the voices were perfect and totally captivating story loved it. Please write more!

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♡ Medea ♡

So beautifully written and narrated. I'd been eagerly waiting for this and it was love at first listen. Medea is complex and remarkable, and Rosie has told her story in such a sensitive, brilliant and clever way ♡

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If Medea had a theme song...

If Medea had a theme song it would be Rose's Turn (the Glee cover version). At one point I was literally singing "All that work and what did it get me" out loud because Rosie Hewlett's Medea really did put in work, sacrificed so much and so often, only to be gaslighted, rejected and scorned.

Despite the narrator's excellent performance and the life she brings to the characters in this book, the story isn't always easy listening because our lead protagonist, for quite a significant portion of the book, is to be frank, quite stupid. It's unfortunate and it's understandable. Rosie Hewlett beautifully illustrates a tragic back story to Medea's life which is that of an isolated and abused girl with a burgeoning power developing within her. She is unloved and made to feel like a monster. So when the ambitious and selfish Jason (a brilliant villain) arrives on the shores of her kingdom with the intent of securing the golden fleece and starts showing her the attention she craves, it is only a matter of time before she falls for his charms. Their meeting sets the course for the rash and ultimately devastating decisions that leave Medea essentially an outcast.

The language in this book is beautiful and really carried me into every emotion that Medea was feeling and her interpretations of the world she's been forced to inhabit. I also appreciated just how difficult and limiting it was to be a woman in those times and this is portrayed beautifully by the juxtapositions of Medea with Circe and Atalanta. Two central female figures in Medea's life who attempt to shape their own narrative in different ways but yet at different points are reminded of their limitations because of their gender.

The story is gripping and I cannot praise the narrator enough however there were elements which I did find challenging. Circe, for example, is a very integral figure in Medea's life but after a certain point she is never thought of or mentioned again which I found a bit strange. Also, from a feminist standpoint, it often felt like it was often the women who served as cannon fodder for Medea's wrath instead of the more heinous characters in her story. With that being said I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading whatever else Rosie Hewlett creates in the future.

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Extraordinary

Apart from the fact that it was a fascinating story, the narration was excellent. I recommend this book 100%.

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