Medusa's Sisters
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A vivid and moving reimagining of the myth of Medusa and the sisters who loved her.
“A gorgeously crafted retelling of Greek mythology, Medusa’s Sisters is a celebration of the many faces love can wear.” —BookPage (starred review)
"Perfect for fans of Circe, this is easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. Prepare to be enthralled!”—Stephanie Marie Thornton, USA Today bestselling author of Her Lost Words
*A BookPage Best Book of 2023: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror*
The end of the story is only the beginning…
Even before they were transformed into Gorgons, Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale were unique among their immortal family. Curious about mortals and their lives, Medusa and her sisters entered the human world in search of a place to belong, yet quickly found themselves at the perilous center of a dangerous Olympian rivalry and learned—too late—that a god's love is a violent one.
Forgotten by history and diminished by poets, the other two Gorgons have never been more than horrifying hags, damned and doomed. But they were sisters first, and their journey from lowly sea-born origins to the outskirts of the pantheon is a journey that rests, hidden, underneath their scales.
Monsters, but not monstrous, Stheno and Euryale will step into the light for the first time to tell the story of how all three sisters lived and were changed by each other, as they struggle against the inherent conflict between sisterhood and individuality, myth and truth, vengeance and peace.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The most recent addition to the burgeoning canon of feminist reimaginings of Greek myths, Bear's debut is immersive but not exactly groundbreaking. She turns the focus onto Medusa's immortal sisters, the largely forgotten Gorgons Stheno and Euryale, following the pair from birth and chronicling their transformation from beautiful immortal maidens into reviled, snake-haired monsters. This long view of their lives should provide ample chance to get to know Stheno and Euryale deeply, but a lack of fleshed-out interiority leaves this opportunity somewhat squandered. Indeed, the sisters' motivations are at times baffling as they navigate the rivalries and jealousies of Olympus, as when Euryale betrays Medusa to Poseidon with little explanation. While this fickleness is in keeping with myths of Greek gods as notoriously petty and mercurial, it also keeps readers at arm's length from the heroines. Still, Bear offers an enticing plunge into the legends of ancient Greece. Mythology buffs will gobble this up.
