AriadneAriadne
What it's about
Ariadne, a princess of Crete, grows up hearing the bellows of the Minotaur, the monster her father keeps beneath the palace. When the Athenian hero Theseus arrives to kill it, she betrays her family to help him, but he abandons her on an island, where the god Dionysus finds her, in a feminist retelling of the Greek myth.
Why it's worth reading
It was a Goodreads Choice finalist. It's a vivid, moving mythological retelling.
You'll love it if you liked
Atalanta
Clytemnestra
The Witch's HeartGood to know
It's violent in places.
By the numbers
- Readers6 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller26 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
On our reserve shelf: it's well reviewed, but isn't currently a prize winner, a lifetime bestseller or a book everyone's talking about, so we don't rank it. We check again every month, and it can still turn up in your 50 once you've read most of our ranked books.
Why it made the list
Reads as
Adventurous
If you like this, read next
The Book Thief
The Lord of the Rings
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Killer AngelsExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is Ariadne worth reading?
It was a Goodreads Choice finalist. Its Must-Read Score is 51.8 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Ariadne about?
Ariadne, a princess of Crete, grows up hearing the bellows of the Minotaur, the monster her father keeps beneath the palace. When the Athenian hero Theseus arrives to kill it, she betrays her family to help him, but he abandons her on an island, where the god Dionysus finds her, in a feminist retelling of the Greek myth.
How long does it take to read Ariadne?
About 8 hours (304 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Ariadne?
If you liked it, try Atalanta by Jennifer Saint, Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati or The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec.