Atalanta by Jennifer Saint

Being a baby girl and not a boy to the king of Arcadia, Atalanta is abandoned on a mountaintop. Raised by a she-bear, she ends up with the nymphs under the protection of the goddess Artemis. In the woods, Atalanta becomes a lightning-fast runner and embraces her talent for archery. When Jason call for all heroes to join him on a quest for the Golden Fleece, Artemis sends Atalanta to the Argo to be part of the mission – as the only woman. However, she gives her one piece of advice: should she ever marry, it will be her undoing.

Atalanta is Jennifer Saint’s third book and this time she chose to portray the myth of Atalanta -obviously-, of which there are several versions. Not every version mentions her participation in Jason’s voyage on the Argo. But in this book, Atalanta is an Argonaut. And maybe that’s one of the reasons I didn’t find this book as great as Ariadne or Elektra: the whole quest of Jason apparently doesn’t appeal to me. And I’m fascinated by Medea as a character, but she doesn’t get much ‘screen time’.

Atalanta also gets off to a slow start and actually remains slow throughout the various chapters. I did find the last part where her own story in the Arcadian kingdom was handled the most engaging. I also liked how Saint brought the goddess Artemis to the foreground of the story. And how she wove different myths together. Atalanta’s character, too, does emerge sufficiently. She only seemed a bit naive to me at times, though brave at the same time, especially as a woman among all those men.

So I certainly enjoyed reading this story, but Ariadne remains my favourite Saint novel. If, like me, you love Greek myth retellings, you’ve come to the right place. I wonder which myth she will portray in her next novel.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Atalanta is a Greek myth retelling, I’ve listed all retellings that I’ve read here.

What’s your favourite Jennifer Saint novel? Do you have a Greek myth recommendation?