This was a great read, as long as you remember this is not the Andromeda you think you know. Which I guess is the problem people might have with retellings, so a disclaimer upfront: if you're looking for a traditional version, this isn't it.

With that said, I loved how we look into Andromeda's life before Perseus sweeps in to "save the day". This is a story of her life, her passions, her coming of age, and her fight against destiny to keep the love of her life. For the majority of the story, we follow Andromeda's narration, getting a glimpse into her parents' court, Cassiopeia's drive to push her own ambitions onto her daughter, and Andromeda's relationship with her grandmother and the river folk. You finally understand that she wasn't just the daughter of a king, she was also a descendant of the gods, hence her gifts at birth and her legendary beauty.

Her relationship with Ceto was beautifully done. This is exactly how a good queer retelling should be written. I really enjoyed the touch of the enemies-to-lovers trope, as they try to overcome their destinies and figure out how to break an unbreakable oath. They grow up together, even though they are at different stages in their lives, finding each other through their shared lack of freedom to choose their own paths. Somehow, through all the struggles, they do find their way in the end, but it takes a lot of grief to get there.

For the majority of the story, we follow Andromeda's first-person narration, so when tragedy hits, it works brilliantly to switch to a third-person narrative. It perfectly shows her detachment from life, her depression, and how she just floats along with the events around her, simply following each breath with no real agency. Although she learns to love Perseus (whom I usually love, but oh, how he broke my heart when he arrived here!) and starts her own family with him, her longing for Ceto is still there, and always will be.

The ending actually ties everything together really well with the traditional Andromeda myth. Without spoiling anything, with her deal with Poseidon, you could argue this retelling is how it "actually" happened, and then we just got the "other" version passed down through history. It all fits perfectly with how I imagine the Greek gods—they're terrifying, whimsical, and spoiled, but they do have a set of rules they work within, which you can try to navigate as a human to get what you need.

Highly recommend this if you like queer retellings of Greek myths.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy.