by Emily Roberson
Farrar Straus Giroux, 337 pages. Young Adult
Ariadne has never been one to be part of the drama of her reality TV family. Her sisters have their own show and her father, the King of Crete, runs the Labyrinth Contest Broadcast every year. In the Labyrinth Contest, fourteen Athenians try to survive the maze where the minotaur lies in wait, ready to tear them to shreds. Ariadne’s job is to lead the contestants to the labyrinth, say her lines, and then she is free to go back to blissfully playing video games. She doesn’t get involved.
But, this year is different. The Minotaur has been particularly violent and Theseus, the Athenian Prince, has come to enter the Labyrinth. Ariadne is immediately drawn to Theseus and her feelings just lead to a lot of questions. Can she really lead him to the Minotaur’s Maze? What if he dies? What if Theseus actually kills the minotaur and ends the contest? This conflict comes to head when Ariadne is told to pretend to help Theseus for higher ratings. As she spends more time with Theseus, she begins to see her world through his eyes, the horror of the maze, and the fakeness of the parties and the overly bright smiles.When confronted with the fakeness, Ariadne must make a choice: will she stay loyal to her family, or will she be loyal to herself?
This is a fun take on the Greek myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur. Placing it in the context of a reality TV show brings up many questions about surveillance, truth, and authenticity. I found this book fascinating. I wanted to see if Roberson could pull off her premise. As a reader, I found myself asking if it is realistic that a modern country would do something as barbaric as feed people to a minotaur, but then the reality TV aspect really shows how people are “fed” to social media and the press. Overall, I think it works. It’s a fun read with a lot of suspense and teenage angst. For fans of Bull by David Elliot and older teen fans of Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan.
AGP
1 comment:
I was so excited to read this book and it was even better than I expected! In the original myth, the story centers more on Theseus and his hero's journey. While Ariadne is a major supporting character in the myth, the traditional story doesn't explore her character and motivations much outside of her relationship to Theseus. I was excited to have Ariadne as the narrating, main character and look at this myth through her eyes. That premise alone was enough to catch my interest, then adding the author's choice to set the story in today's world with a reality tv twist - I really couldn't wait to read this book!
Like AGP, I was curious to see how the contemporary, reality TV setting would work with this story. It works really well! While this story involves a literal monster, it's easy to see parallels with real-life reality TV making monsters of people by putting them in a villain "role", turning people into products, and manufacturing settings where people are competing or enduring physical and/or mental discomfort for entertainment. I especially liked how the author creates a realistic-feeling world where the Greek pantheon of gods exists and they still interact with humans. Even as a mythology nerd who is very familiar with this story, this book kept me guessing and dying of suspense! This retelling explores interesting angles of the original myth and present-day celebrity and reality entertainment. Topped with just enough angst and romance, there's something for everyone.
This book is a great read for adults and teens, especially fans of mythology/mythology retellings.
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