I really enjoyed this depiction of Medusa's story. I am still learning about Greek mythology at a glacial pace so I am not sure how true to the general lore this is over other retellings but you can tell that the author definitely did a lot of research and it is noted at the end the author siting historical information into the mythology and changes they made etc. which I feel was a very nice touch. I believe this is the authors debut ADULT story and though the story and writing was wonderfully done you can tell that the audience she is used to writing for is YA but I was not bothered by that personally as I am very open with my reading levels. The story was so well done, I was entranced with the world building and anyone can read this even if they know nothing of Greek mythology and still understand and be impacted but the world building does not drone on either which is wonderful. All of the characters in the story are flawed, some vastly more than others but I like how more realistic it makes the story. Medusa's story is gut wrenching in a way that you want to hold her and make it all better but also need to see her go through things for her to grow and change as a character (good and bad). There is so much I want to say about this story but am also at a loss for words. I recommend this especially if you love Greek mythology but also if you are trying to grapple with struggles in your own life and/or have been through things that you feel have made/broken you. As a survivor myself, this story was a very hard relate but it allowed me to self reflect on my own story and helps me realign myself on my path. Medusa made a lot of mistakes but her learning from those and the things out of her control was most impactful.

I am not really into sci-fi but I do love the stars, constellations, and astrology so as much as I battled to get into it I enjoyed enough of it to keep going. A lot of this didn't make the best amount of sense for me and some of the world (or worlds) building could of used more fleshing out imo. Zellie as our FMC, I struggled to like her especially in the beginning but she grew on me quite a bit in the end. The trials she endures not only inside the games but outside was an interesting, empowering, and devastating journey to witness. This isn't my favorite read and almost DNF'd it at about 30% but am glad I didn't as the story definitely got a lot more interesting. I was a little annoyed at the end though as I don't feel I was on a cliff (cliffhanger) but more just pushed into a void of being left with nothing and think the writing could of used a bit more information to actually feel more like a cliffhanger than a void dangler but that is just me personally and I am interested to see what happens in the next book.

Wow... this Codex/Novella was extremely well done! I absolutely enjoyed reading it. The Codex being written from mainly one of the characters in the connected series (as well as some entries supplied by the others) gave us the chance to get a taste of the characters mindsets and personalities as well as the world building and background to things within the world the connected series takes place. The author did a fabulous job at creating the cultures, creatures, terrain, and additional facets to the world they created in such detail that it really came alive for me and i could full immerse into everything and it made me care about it all! The conflict of the realms was also very well explained and even though our characters are on the side of rebellion the POV that the codex was written in really wanted to explain in full truth and search for and delve deep into what the corrupt ruling caste was trying to hide in propaganda, and the author did AMAZING laying it all out. The novella... OMG!!! I loved it so much, it shattered me so deeply. I feel the novella really got me into my emotions of the lore of the world to get me extremely invested it what is going to happen in the connected series. I loved Malakor and Lyra!! They deserved so much... I love the complexity but also simplicity of the story and conflict. I am very very very invested to know more of the world and see what happens to our codex characters going forward. I NEED more of this NOW!