Medea: The spellbinding mythological retelling and Sunday Times bestseller Hardcover – 21 Mar. 2024

Really enjoyed this, great characters and you really have empathy for Medea whereas we’re taught through history that she was a wicked character. Liked the story, the build, the energy and the conclusion. Really bought the story to the minds eye. Brilliant.

This was... a lot of things.A story of a child with a special gift of magic that is shunned, feared, hated even, by those who should love her. She reaches out to anyone who'll have her, and sadly a manipulative narcissist takes advantage. I'll admit, that whole storyline infuriated me. So often, Medea was told of Jason's shortcomings, and that he, just like her father, was just using her. And still she gave and gave and gave until he was no longer interested.Ultimately they were toxic for each other and "violence bred violence" as Medea kept reminding herself.In the end, the epilogue reminded me a lot of my debut novel about Mary I "The Saddest Princess", because stripped to its basics, this book was about a girl who was shaped and moulded into a "monster" due to other people's abuse, neglect, gaslighting, using of her.A tragic tale. And one that has left me unsure about who the villain really is. Very deep, complex and thought provoking.I loved it!

Having read Rosie Hewlett’s Medusa a couple of years ago, I was so looking forward to how she would carve the same magical, lyrical, breathtaking prose into the story of this most complex and hateful character. To say that my expectations were high is a bit of an understatement. Safe to say that from the first page, I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. Sure, you should read this book if you like Greek Myth. You should read this book if you like retellings, if you like an alternative viewpoint on what your current perceptions of Medea are. But you should also read it if you appreciate beautiful and evocative writing, you like a good adventure, you are interested in family dynamics, loyalty, betrayal and breakdown. It’s all in this incredible novel, plus flawless characterisations, observations on gaslighting and manipulation and heartbreaking descriptions of the sheer power of blinding love.Most of us know Medea’s story - infamous scenes of witchcraft, violence, murder - it’s all there. Medea perpetrates some truly (and at times, jaw dropping) acts which will stay in your consciousness well beyond the final chapter (which by the way, is truly stunning in its tentative offer of redemption and hope which, without the beauty of the writing, would otherwise be impossible to achieve).We hate her for what she does, we love her for her complexity, we root for her when we know she is up against it, we scream with her at the injustices she faces, we cry for her when the inevitability of her life’s course becomes plain and, above all, we truly empathise with her. For an author to evoke such a range of emotions in the reader is remarkable and we may be forgiven for thinking that it is not only Medea who has magical powers 😊

Having read Medusa by Rosie Hewlett, I was really looking forward to her depiction of Medea. Medea is a dark character but how did she get there? What experiences shaped her & is it possible to feel sympathy for this notoriously dangerous woman? Rosie does a good job of showing the darkness within Medea whilst showing how this darkness was fed. A complex character whose nuances are explored by Rosie in a captivating manner#netgalley #medea

Love the background to the story - Jason & The Argonauts - but found this retelling difficult as the title character was incredibly hard to empathise with. Love the retelling of greek myths, but would push folk to Circle or Song of Achilles before heading into this work.

One of the most infamous characters of Greek myth, Medea may seem like a tough character to form a narrative POV from but Rosie Hewlett absolutely nails it. The writing is brilliant and engaging and Hewlett really successfully takes you on Medea’s whirlwind adventures and rollercoaster of emotions. With only some minor (and narratively justified) changes to the source material, the myths which form the stories foundation are competently and respectfully drawn from.If you’re looking for a Greek Myth retelling/novelisation, whether you’re familiar with Medea or not, I could not recommend this more.As someone who recently graduated in Classical Studies, and who studied Medea very recently, I can vouch for this book as worth it.

I would like to give this book more stars than I feel I can. I will start with niggles, but please read on until you find the glowing positives.Rosie Hewlett is new author and sometimes it shows - the language is a little too flowery, a little too mills&boon for my taste - too many adverbs, too many adjectives - 'his starlight-coloured hair swept back over his head like a flowing wave' If you like that kind of thing this book is full of such phrasing.So that is what I didn't like so much, but now for why I wish I could have, in all conscience, given this book the 5 stars that this author's talent for telling a story deserves.Rosie Hewlett can certainly tell a tale, and at pace, across over 400 pages. There is never a dull moment, and for all my moan about adjectives she certainly knows how to conjure a picture in the mind's eye. Despite the violence of the legend, some of it truly awful, the book is strangely uplifting and despite the surfeit of adjectives I really enjoyed it. I will wait for the author's next book - in my humble opinion she deserves success as an author and you will almost certainly enjoy this book if you like Greek myth and a fast moving tale well told.

Absolutely loved this book and wanted it to go on. I want more of Medea, I wanted her to meet Circe again, wanted to know how she ruled did her vision come true? Just more!