A new perspective on the story of Medusa, as told from within (and upon) her own head.

Haynes pieces together all these stories to make one vast whole centred around a marginalised cursed woman, her birth, early existence, and eventual downfall at the hands of selfish men and fickle gods. The dialogue between these gods is at times comical or playful, and nearly always sarcastic. The humans, especially the men in Haynes novels, descend into a pit of sheer stupidity at a baffling, yet consistent rate, and show no sign of redemption in the midst of their aggravating luck and daftly ignorant egoism. The characterisation of men in Haynes’ work verges on slapstick. Make of that what you will, at least it’s done with some measure of lighthearted humour. I think.

So. I listened to the the narrated audiobook, and my heftiest criticism lies primarily with the author’s choice to read the work for herself; it too often comes across as condescending and bitter…and maybe that’s what she’s intended, but it’s less appealing than if delivered as a more humble satire. I have the feeling this might have been achieved with a different narrator, but then, the author’s bitter accusations would have been dampened, and while I’d have preferred that, it’s obviously not what she intended. Anyways, my sole gripe is with the narration, and the tone of the ‘accusation’ chapters was made more harshly accusatory because the author herself was doing the reading.

Haynes’ writing is easy to read, and her content is always superior, unique, and incredibly interesting in the field.