Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

From Goodreads

As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur - Minos's greatest shame and Ariadne's brother - demands blood every year.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods - drawing their attention can cost you everything.

In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition?

ARIADNE gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.

My thoughts

I borrowed a copy of this from my local Library.  To be honest I am not sure how I came across it, but I did and it ended up at my house waiting to be read among my huge piles of other books.

I am not a huge reader of books based on mythology and ancient history, this grabbed my attention for some reason though.  I quite enjoyed the story loosely based on a Greek myth and the women of that era.  This is a great debut novel, that was well written and researched.  It kept me engaged wanting to know more, I will be looking for more books by this Author as I feel she has more of the same to bring us.  

Telling the story of Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete and her sister Phaedra their royal lineage and all the ins and outs involved with life in those times.  Women were often used as pawns, becoming quite instrumental in the events that were happening around them.  In this myth surrounding Ariadne, she falls in love with the wrong man who was destined to die.  Can she help him survive all that was planned for him, which means turning her back against her people or will she leave him to his intended fate?  Death by sacrifice to another.

This story is similar to many romances where the characters are from opposing sides.  At it's heart really is the will they won't they question.  To find out which way Ariadne chooses you need to read the story for yourself.