Review: I, Medusa

I, Medusa by Ayana Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I quite liked this. I could have used a little more vengeance, but I liked what I got.

This story humanises Medusa a little more, giving her a tale prior to the fearsome gorgon we know from Greek mythology. Here, we learn how 'Meddy' became a priestess of Athena and the path that led ultimately to her destruction.

There are some beautiful ideas here, and Meddy is a likeable character. She has some fun moments of righteous anger which I really enjoyed, and I liked seeing a character that was a little more unforgiving.

Given her 'relationship' with Poseidon, there are also some extremely relevent moments allowing for a better understanding of rape culture and manipulation. I thought it was handled brilliantly.

I did find some of it a little questionable - Apollonia's place in the story suited at first but the second and third portions of her involvement in the story left me scratching my head a little. I don't think it was necessary, and I felt it detracted from Medusa's story.

I loved her relationship with her sisters, and would have liked more there, but what we had was still fun.

Ultimately, the ending was a little too off-track for me, but nevertheless I really enjoyed this retelling. We need more righteous vengeance in these retellings, I think.

View all my reviews