Medusa by Jessie Burton illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill

"My name was Medusa and I was a girl. Perseus had made me sound like a mythical beast. 

I didn't want to be a myth. I wanted to be me. ... I thought I was safe, 

because Perseus still didn't know about my snakes"

Publisher Blurb Bloomsbury: A dazzling, feminist retelling of Greek myth from the internationally bestselling author of The Miniaturist, stunningly illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill. Exiled to a far-flung island by the whims of the gods, Medusa has little company except the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. But when a charmed, beautiful boy called Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is disrupted with the force of a supernova, unleashing desire, love and betrayal… 

Reading this version of the Medusa became by obsession last week. I will confess that in some books I do skip to the end either to check everyone lives happily ever after or just because I am impatient to find out how everything turns out but in Medusa I did not let myself "cheat".

Of course I should already know the Greek mythology of Medusa but apart from the snakes on her head and the curse of turning people to stone I really did not have a good grasp of the story. Since reading this retelling of the Medusa story I have now read several versions closer to the original story, I can see Jessie Burton has altered the plot quite drastically but really I do not think this matters at all. I am not going to elaborate on this because it will spoil your enjoyment of this book. I will say I loved the way Jessie Burton crafted the relationship between Perseus and Medusa. If you are not familiar with Medusa you could read this book and then read this entry from the World History Encyclopedia. High School students might use this book to discuss the 'Me Too' movement alongside the important message that 'no means no'. 

Medusa is due for publication November 2021. Older teens, who were perhaps fans of Percy Jackson in their Primary years, will enjoy this Medusa story.  The art you will see in this book by Olivia Lomenech Gill  is wonderful. 

This is most certainly a Young Adult title - I would suggest readers aged 16+. While the sexual assault is not described explicitly there are mature themes in this book.

The writing - cleverly, and compellingly - feels both timeless and modern. Medusa’s narrative, and the dialogue, is laced with wit, and infused with tremendous detail. LoveReading4Kids

Read this review for more plot details and some deeper criticism:

Burton's story is a very feminist retelling. She has written the story in a way that makes it very related to the world we live in today; a world of impossible beauty standards, where a lot of a woman's worth is dependent on how attractive she is, a world where being too beautiful can lead to jealousy and abuse. It also shines a light on rape culture and victim blaming. Once Upon a Bookcase