It’s unfortunate, after reading the Author’s Note about how she thought that this was the perfect conclusion to this series, that I feel so strongly that this feels like a bastardization of the story that I fell in love with. First of all, so many unfinished stories. And yes, maybe they’ll be continued in other series, but as we don’t know yet, the stories of Medusa, Ariadne, and Dionysus feel like gaping holes. What about Apollo and Hyacinth? What about Lexa and Thanatos? What about the horrific damage to New Athens? 

Second, and most important, is the horrific violence against women, namely Ariadne and the Maenads. I had to put the book down after a certain scene made me sick to my stomach, and every consenting sex scene afterwards made me equally sick. You can’t “atone” for disgusting SA with more sex. 

I’m really glad I didn’t buy the special edition of this series that I wanted, because after those scenes, I’m not sure whether I’ll read anything from this author ever again. As a lover of Greek tragedies, if I was willing to read about that kind of violence, I would have read a retelling that I knew was sticking to its Greco-Roman tragedy roots so that I was prepared. My former love for this series will forever be marred by what I’ve just read.