„[…] she had sacrificed everything she knew for a love as ephemeral and transient as the rainbows that glimmered through the sea spray.“ When I read „Ariadne“ by Jennifer Saint I didn‘t know the original story of the Greek mythology. I kept it that way till the end of the book so I wouldn‘t possibly spoil myself. There happens so much simultaneously in this book I can‘t even fantom to explain it all - The mess grows bigger by the second (or shall I say by the page) - but I will try. The story is about Ariadne, princess of Crete and daughter to the mighty and aggressive Minos. Ariadne‘s and her sister Phaedra‘s childhood wasn‘t easy. Their mother Pasiphae has fell in love with a bull when Ariadne was around twelve due to a cruel trick from Poseidon. Being obsessed with the animal, he fathered her a child - the animalistic, inhuman Minotaur. Her mother paid for her father’s behaviour. Her tragic story serves to amuse the immortal gods. Ariadne realises thus from early on that women don‘t have a lot to say about their destiny. Nevertheless she falls for Theseus when he comes to their island as prisoner. The background story is that Ariadne’s oldest brother has died far away on the land of Athens. It was reason enough for her father Minos to go to war against Athens. He succeeded and now Athens has to sacrifice each harvest fourteen children from the city to the Minotaur. Theseus is the lost prince of Athens and he impresses Adriadne and her sister Phaedra with his noble quests and his status as hero. Ariadne helps him to kill the Minotaur and free Athens from the bestial sacrifices. She believes Theseus will take her to Athens to protect and marry her. But Theseus isn‘t as kind as he leads to believe. I don‘t know much about Greek mythology although I find it an interesting topic each time I stumble upon it. In my opinion, Jennifer Saint made a very good job at integrating different tales into the book. Without going too much into detail she painted a perfect picture of the time, laying emphasis on the role of the women in those stories about heroes and kings and god-like man. She changed the narrative, telling the story from the sight of Ariadne and Phaedra who both seek to take accountability for their own story and not let fate overcome them like it did their mother. As much as I gathered there are different versions of Ariadne‘s story but Jennifer Saint stuck to one and breathed life into the myth. For me, Theseus was a rather shallow character without any depth or lovingness to him despite his charisma. But I guess those character traits fitted his persona. The story contained so many twists and unforeseeable turns it kept me glued to the page. Some described the language as „lyrical“ but I have to admit I had troubles to get into it at first as English isn’t my mothertongue.