Book Review: "Atalanta" by Jennifer Saint

 

3.5/5 stars

*Spoiler alert!*

I am returning to the well-trod grounds of Greek mythology, this time for another Jennifer Saint book. Having enjoyed Ariadne, I decided to go for her most recent novel, Atalanta. While I overall enjoyed Atalanta, there were some tropes that the story could have gone without.

Atalanta is based on the mythological figure of the same name. She has a wild backstory. Abandoned as a baby by a king that didn’t want a daughter, Atalanta was taken in and raised by a mother bear in the Arcadian forest. Sacred to Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt, the Arcadian forest is home to both Artemis and her nymphs, all sworn to chastity. After the mother bear chases away her cubs, Artemis adopts Atalanta, and she becomes a part of this seclusive community.

“We aren't the only girls with fathers like these. They're more common than you might think. He told me the stories like different fathers might spin tales of love and happiness. Nycteus, who threatened his lovely daughter with fearful punishments when she was raped by Zeus. Danaë, another of Zeus's victims, another whose father blamed her and cast her and her baby off to sea inside a sealed chest, hoping it would be her tomb. Echetus, who blinded his daughter for the crime of looking at a man. That was the kind of husband my father would have chosen for me, if he had the chance.”

(It is well known that women often get shafted in Greek mythology, and Atalanta knows this to be true, considering her origins.)

Thriving under the tutelage of Artemis, Atalanta becomes one of the fastest runners around, skillful with a bow, and almost as good a hunter as Artemis herself. As the years pass, Atalanta becomes restless, and jumps at the opportunity given to her by Artemis to join the Argonauts in her name. Of course, Atalanta wants to win glory for Artemis in the quest for the legendary Golden Fleece, but she is also in it for herself, wanting the renown that many of the male heroes gain from success in quests like these. She wants to prove herself.

“You have power and courage, speed and skill far beyond what's needed in this forest... And you're better already than any warrior out there. You're greater than any man laying claim to the name of a hero. The world should know the name Atalanta. They should see what you can do.”

On the way to join the quest, she meets a fellow Argonaut, Meleager, who vouches for Atalanta to become part of the Argonauts. Atalanta foresees this resistance by not only Jason, leader of the quest, but the rest of the Argonauts as well, and goes out of her way several times to prove herself during the journey. I am not going to get into the details without spoiling too much but prove herself she does!

“I remembered how much I had admired Hypsipyle’s strength and courage in fighting to claim the city as her own, but then she had offered it up to Jason. Medea had the power to charm monsters and heal mortal injuries, magic that lay the world at her feet, and yet she tried to shrink herself down to a life at his side. I wasn’t going to do that.”

Now, I felt that this reimagining of the myth of Atalanta could do without the romance element, particularly the love triangle between Atalanta, Meleager, and Hippomenes. I understand the author was working off the source material here, where the re-tellings always have this angle, but the romance almost felt forced and went against Atalanta’s independent streak (particularly after her views on relationships and marriage are pretty much summed up in the above quote). Perhaps that is nit-picky of me, but that is just my opinion on the matter, and why I docked a half-star from an initial four-star rating.

However, keep the women-centered Greek mythological re-tellings coming! It’s a refreshing change of pace from the normal focus on the prominent male figures in this mythological tradition.

Happy reading!

--BookOwl