I mean, it's my child. I have to love it, right? 216 s1 comment nastya ?920 120

this is perhaps my favorite greek retelling. medusa’s sisters are virtually unknown and nameless, but bear brings them to the forefront. euryale and stheno are immortal, but medusa is not. they were not born as gorgons, they were cursed to become them. in a novel where we examine medusa’s life and victimhood, it brings more meaning to those of us who have experienced sexual assault. many survivors are getting tattoos of medusa for a reason, and bear doesn’t shy away from medusa’s rape and forced pregnancy.

beautifully written and full of heart, it was a delight to watch these three sisters grow and grieve together. the greek mythos has never been kind to women. it is easy to grow close to each sister even though we know how medusa’s story ends. sexuality and queerness is also explored, and lesbian identity is not hidden. what an amazing novel.

thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!arc-86 s1 comment Nenia ? I yeet my books back and forth ? CampbellAuthor 56 books19.9k


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MEDUSA'S SISTERS was so good. It's actually the first Greek mythology retelling I've read in a while that stands up to the Madeline Miller comparisons. In this beautiful story about friendship, womanhood, sisterhood, and revenge, Bear tells the story of Medusa and her two Gorgon sisters, Stheno and Euryale. Before the curse that doomed them, the three girls were the beautiful children of sea monsters, wandering from city to city as they tried to explore their burgeoning desires-- in art, in sex, and in love.



This is a pretty heavy read but I thought Bear handled her subject well. The mythology and fantasy element was stunning, and I thought it had great messages about what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal society, and how fucking unfair it can be.



I would definitely read more from this author!



4 to 4.5 starshistorical-fiction literary-fiction magic-and-sparkles-and-shit46 s2 comments Brooke NelsonAuthor 2 books466

I command that this Euryale get ahold of herself and stop being horny. No man is worth all that.2024 audiobook fantasy ...more23 s4 comments Stephanie ThorntonAuthor 10 books1,388

With stunningly beautiful prose, Lauren J.A. Bear has deftly tugged on myths of old to weave a fresh and feminist modern legend from the dusty references of Medusa’s once-forgotten sisters. Perfect for fans of CIRCE, this is easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. Prepare to be enthralled!historical-fiction22 s Charlotte KerstenAuthor 4 books519 Read

So What’s It About?

Even before they were transformed into Gorgons, Medusa and her sisters, Stheno and Euryale, were unique among immortals. 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 sea-born origins to the outskirts of the Parthenon 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.

What I Thought

Obligatory note: I received an ARC from NetGalley.

There has been a true deluge of feminist Greek myth retellings getting published since Circe’s success, and I haven’t really dipped my toes in until now. Medusa’s Sisters met the general expectations that I’ve developed for this type of book based on by trusted friends - awkward attempts at lyrical prose, a few interesting subversions of classical mythology, and a somewhat confused attempt at being feminist by showing lots of awful men and violence against women.

One of the most glaring elements that didn’t work for me was the writing. Especially in the first half, I could almost feel Bear flipping through her thesaurus on the regular. This book’s attempt at elegant prose is largely characterized by using fancy/esoteric words with a result that feels pretty stilted and awkward instead of sophisticated. Probably the worst example I found was this:

“I sheltered her too much,” she told Euryale, for despite their tenuous start, Desma had come to appreciate Euryale’s sagacity - especially compared to Medusa’s and Semele’s penchant for the quixotic.

Even if you look past the anachronistic use of “quixotic,” it’s just… not good. To be fair, this tendency gets notably better in the second half, either because the prose actually changes or because I got more used to it, I’m not sure.

Bear made an interesting choice in having her protagonists Euryale and Stheno be deeply flawed characters. Euryale spends much of the book being callous and self-centered, while Stheno is a hardcore placater who has no real identity out of caring for her sisters. Both of them grow throughout the book - not necessarily in the neat, expected way of becoming selfless and independent, respectively, but in ways that I did find interesting nonetheless. My biggest disappointment with characterization is that Medusa herself is so flat and boring - she is just perfectly sweet and beautiful and smart and curious and everyone except mean, mean Euryale loves her until she goes through horrible things and dies tragically. I can understand giving more interiority to the eponymous sisters, but it’s really glaring to me how bad Medusa’s writing feels compared to theirs, and I think the big theme of Sisterhood could have been a lot more interesting if Medusa was more interesting, too.

I said, there is definitely an attempt at feminism present via showing copious violence against women and endlessly brutal and selfish men, but I don’t feel that the book has anything particularly interesting, distinct, or novel to say about any of this. Otherwise, I do that Bear clearly thought about how women are conditioned to turn against each other and hurt each other for many reasons in a patriarchal world - this is something that was definitely lacking in Circe, as were any meaningful, complex female relationships the ones sometimes present here.

My reading experience with this book is kind of similar to my experience with The Witch’s Heart in that I didn’t really enjoy it and noticed a lot of flaws throughout, but I still ended up feeling moved by the ending. There is something that just GETS TO ME about the inevitable passage of time for lonely immortals - their loves and losses fading as life moves on and on past their horrors and tragedies to continue in some new way. Idk, I just LIKE it!2023-release retelling trauma-in-sff-reading-project ...more17 s Erin (Historical Fiction Reader)925 659 Read

DNF'd at 38%. 12 s5 comments Shira260 129

I’ve always loved reading books inspired by Greek mythology and Medusa’s story has always been one that hit my heart strings. This was a fresh take on her story that people familiar with it will enjoy but also written accessible for people who may not know much about Greek mythology.

This book is told from the point of view of Medusa’s two sisters. Even before they were transformed into Gorgons, Medusa and her sisters, Steno and Euryale, were unique among immortals. 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.

I loved getting to know Medusa’s sisters. They had distinct personalities and aspirations that I was able to connect with. I loved the exploration of sisterhood, individuality, jealousy, grief, and humanity.

The small twists in this story is what kept it fresh and one of my new favorites. Athena’s motivations for cursing Medusa made SO much sense in this story and is the only way I can imagine this story from now on. I loved the weaving of other mythologies and legends in this book as well.

Overall this was such a fun read and I didn’t want to put it down definitely recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC!11 s dani205 301

I don't know how many centuries it will take to pick my jaw up off of the floor. Wow. This one will stick with me.11 s Emma73 27

A big thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review!

As the title implies, this is the story of Medusa’s Sisters, Stheno and Euryale. The story starts at the 3 sisters birth, to Medusa’s end, and then a few years after.

The story is grisly, and if you are sensitive to any major trigger warnings please look them up before hand (or message me)! It was an interesting take on the myths, I feel it stayed very true to much of the source material, keeping the story harder to read at times as it shone a very direct light on the suffering women went through in these tales.


This book was cruising for 3 stars for me, as I could recognize the craft and work that had gone into this story, but it didn’t really resonate with me as much as I hoped. The pacing would also pick up and slow down, making the story drag at times. I felt that much of the first half could’ve been edited down slightly to improve this. I also read Stone Blind earlier this year which I inevitably kept comparing this to, and overall preferred. However, the ending chapters of this book were something new and interesting, and pushed my overall rating to about 3.5 stars. I would for sure recommend if you’re a Greek mythology retelling lover.

I will say that one frustrating aspect of this book was the overly complex language used. I (obviously) read a lot, and consider myself to have a decently wide vocabulary, but the amount of times I had to look up words with the dictionary function on my kindle felt silly. It’s not that you couldn’t understand the story as these words were mostly adjectives and could be discerned with context clues, but it felt at times the author was intentionally using any synonym she could think of for fairly straightforward sentences. I’m glad I read it on my kindle so I could easily look up words, ha!

This book published yesterday 8/8 so be sure to add it to your TBR if you think it would be up your alley! 9 s1 comment Olesya GilmoreAuthor 2 books289

My official endorsement: “Alive with soaring poetry and myth, Medusa's Sisters sparkles as a delightfully feminist subversion of the maligned and forgotten Gorgon women, reframing and bringing their shadowy legend fiercely, vengefully, into the light. A bold and beautiful tale about sisterhood, motherhood, and what it truly means to be a woman."9 s Vivi38

4,5 Sterne7 s Gabby347 4

One of my fav Greek retellings 7 s abthebooknerd298 161

A beautiful take on the tragic story of Medusa and her sisters <3

Everything about this book from page one pulled me in. The language, the beautifully told dynamic between the sisters, the twists and turns. It all felt reading a classic Greek myth, and yet, it was utterly refreshing. Bear really transports you to this ancient world–I felt in some scenes I was actually there. It was just a wonderful read.

If you’re a Madeline Miller fan, pick this one up!

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