Because we know THIS is the year for Greek Mythology retellings.
Song Vibe Check
"Holy (Til you let me go)" By: Rina Sawayama
"Your Age" By: Rina Sawayama
"Frankenstein" By: Rina Sawayama
Fitting to have three songs for all three women.
I have always loved Greek Mythology ever since I was a child. Percy Jackson was only the tip of the iceberg. From reading the middle grade series on the adventures of Pandora that became one of my favorite myths along with Goddess Girls, the song "Icarus" which holds a special place in my heart and eventually ending up with a Greek Mythology course that took me through the Iliad, the Odyssey and Circe, I have definitely dabbled into the mythological stories told and retellings always have some sort of interesting take to bring to the table.
So, as I started the Shadow of Perseus, I knew this would be from the women who were shadows in Perseus' story. What is meant to be a feminist portrayal seems to at least be the agenda it is on as it sets out to fill up big shoes.
It wasn't a bad attempt. It was still a test of patience to get through like all journeys occur.
Here we go.
Short Summary: A mother, a victim, a wife. These are the women whose lives turned into only footnotes into the legend of Perseus, but these women all have voices. And their voices ache to be heard as they tell the story of a man who is great but with a deadly shadow behind him.
Long Summary: Danae yearns for love even as her father grows desperate to create a heir to expand his dynasty. When the oracle reveals that Danae's son will be his downfall, he locks her to spend her days alone until she can no longer get pregnant. But a baker boy saves her from the loneliness as he spins the wheel of fate and grants her a son.
Separated from her love and thrown to the sea, Danae barely survives as she gives birth to a legend by the name of Perseus. But a boy eventually becomes a young man itching for adventure as he stumbles into the forest where the Gorgons live. And Medusa's changes everything.
Because a woman who gets pulled into the mystery ends up drowning in it and with her head on a silver platter as he uses her to get his real trophy, all in the shape of Andromeda, the daughter who is being given as a sacrifice all to end up having to get married to Perseus who has changed and chained her to a new life.
All three women have wishes and desires for a kinder world even as it treats them with cruelty, their voices unheard until now.
Danae's perspective was one of my favorites in the book and the lush descriptions make me wish I could write as beautiful as this author does. While the story strips all the magic to make this a grittier, more realistic retelling, it brings an interesting contrast to the usual sugar-coated stories we read of magical happenings that make us wonder what is real and what is myth.
I for one, was glad this was made in the perspectives of women as we acknowledge how silenced women were forced to be in the Ancient World. Sure, it still bothers me that there was not a lot of magic that gives the mythological feeling, but we still know the roots and it is a retelling after all.
We can't expect it to be exactly like the original myth.
Overall: 3.5/5