Medusa, the debut novel of Nataly Gruender, is a Greek myth retelling focusing on the infamous Gorgon Medusa, exploring her life through her untimely demise at the hands of Perseus.
With prevalent themes of sisterhood and inner strength, this book also asks this question of its readers: What really makes a monster?
In first-person POV, the story begins with Medusa’s childhood. The daughter of two primordial sea deities, Medusa is a triplet along with her two sisters Stheno and Euryale.
Yet a curious addition to this book is that while Stheno and Euryale are immortal, Medusa is a mere mortal. Gruender does not give readers an explanation for this, whereas other retellings do or simply have Medusa be immortal, too. The reader must truly suspend their disbelief.
Very sheltered, Medusa and her sisters reside in a remote house on a remote beach. But considering her upbringing, Medusa is oddly worldly and knowledgeable for her lack of real-world experience.
Gruender also doesn’t go too in-depth explaining the intricacies of Medusa’s early life aside from including that there are nearly invisible servants who feed and care for Medusa and her siblings. The book does a poor job of explaining some things or simply doesn’t provide explanations for burning and important questions.
Because Medusa is tainted by her mortality, she’s pretty much scorned by most of her immortal family, especially her sisters at first. It makes for an interesting dynamic.
As she grows, eventually, Medusa wants to make her own way in the world. With some divine encouragement, she and her sisters travel to Athens, where Medusa becomes enchanted by the Temple of Athena. She chooses to stay and become a priestess, basically leaving her sisters to fend for themselves.
Remember, immortal or mortal, they’ve all grown up in an extremely sheltered environment. Stheno and Euryale seem to have no real purpose in an immortal life.
While her sisters wander aimlessly, Medusa becomes accustomed to the daily life and intricacies required of a priestess of Athena. But after attracting the attention of Poseidon, everything is jeopardized.
After a terrible incident in the temple, Medusa is cursed by her patron goddess. No longer a true mortal, she loses her beautiful hair in favor of a nest of snakes. She is cursed with the kiss of death in her eyes; Athena states she cannot look at anyone without turning them to stone.
However, throughout this book, it was confusing just how the curse is supposed to work; the author was seemingly very loose with rules. The editing could have been tighter and stronger in this regard.
Medusa can look at someone–just not in the eye–and they won’t be turned to stone. She can make eye contact with them through reflection, and they are safe. Yet she can’t accidentally look upon her own reflection or she would turn herself to stone.
Thanks to her older sisters, the prophetic Graeae, another set of triplets, Medusa learns what her fate will be. But then again, readers also know how this book will end. It makes for a different perspective.
Medusa is not in the dark about what will happen to her and lives her life the best she can until the inevitable happens.
One positive thing after she is cursed is that she and her sisters reunite and strengthen their relationship.
Throughout this novel, some small plot lines do not go anywhere. For example, it’s revealed Euryale has a power of her own: she can kill someone with the force of her screams. It’s supposed to draw her closer to Medusa when she becomes cursed, but really it falls flat.
The ending to Medusa works well because it offers a bit of a twist. It was the best part because it added something new and different to her story and had just enough of a twist to make this retelling a little more independent. However, Medusa’s fateful meeting with Perseus feels overall kind of lackluster.
This book does feature a unique blend of historical details of Ancient Greece and fantasy elements, like monsters, gods and goddesses, and more. What works well here is the impressive cast of characters from Greek myth.
But it’s also full of modern language and dialogue that doesn’t feel like it truly fits here. There is an extremely unnecessary romance plot that feels forced and doesn’t go anywhere, either.
It might resonate with some, but overall, this book feels surface-level.
Medusa is not the strongest myth retelling out there. It also doesn’t seem like the best retelling of Medusa and her myth, either. It might be best for those new to Medusa’s story or to the mythological fiction genre.
Medusa is one of those characters from myth who seems to be oversaturing the retelling market right now. That’s not the author’s fault, but it could take away from a reader’s enjoyment.
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Amanda Larch Hinchman
Amanda Larch works as a writer and editor when she’s not in the middle of a good book. Learn more about her work and view her portfolio at www.amandalarchwriter.com/ and keep up with her on Goodreads @_groovyginger_.
