Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2016)

Starred Review This striking reexamination of the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur maintains the bones of the original story: Minos, King of Crete, angers sea god Poseidon, who exacts his revenge not on the king but on the king's wife. Queen Pasiphae, seduced by a bull, births Asterion, the famed future Minotaur, who is ultimately locked in a labyrinth and killed by hero Theseus. Elliott focuses this novel in verse on Asterion and the women in his family, painting them in a particularly sympathetic light. Rotating first-person narrations appear in a variety of poetic forms. Poseidon takes on the role of irreverent, anachronistic narrator, as he raps the story ("Life's not for wimps. / Sometimes gods are gods / And sometimes they're pimps"); Pasiphae grows increasingly nonsensical; Asterion speaks in childlike rhymes; Daedalus, labyrinth builder, is ever the architect with rigid, four-line stanzas; and princess Ariadne's flowery language is imbued with a clever slant rhyme that belies her coquettish facade. When Theseus the hero finally struts onto the page, it's with significant frat-bro swagger ("Ariadne! What a rack! / I knew I'd get her in the sack / As for her bro? / He won't outlive me. / No sweat. / In time they all forgive me"). Effective both for classrooms and pleasure reading, this modernization brings new relevancy to an old story. It's a conceit that easily could have floundered; in Elliott's capable hands, it soars.

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

A saucy, brash retelling of the Greek myth of the Minotaur. In a series of dramatic monologues with no settings, Elliott updates the voices of Poseidon, Minos, Daedalus, Pasiphae, Asterion, and Ariadne, each in its own poetic form. Poseidon dominates in word count and attitude: if "[y]ou think a god should be more refined? / … / Never / Bawdy / Raunchy / Racy / Rude? / News Flash: / You don't want a god. / You want a prude." Angry at king Minos, he considers direct revenge ("Boils! / Scabs! / Gills! / A snout! / [Turn] his / Ding-dong / Inside / Out!") but instead gives Queen Pasiphae "a thing / For the white bull's thang." Asterion the Minotaur is born. He grows to age 17, bleakly miserable, tortured by Minos, finally imprisoned in the iconic maze; even his sister Ariadne can't break him out, and eventually he falls to Theseus. Poseidon considers Minos "a dick! / But also so much fun to hate"; some readers will think exactly that about Poseidon too, while others will resent just how much fun Poseidon is to hate, given his misogynistic women-are-crazy/women-are-whores snark about Pasiphae, whose woes he literally created himself. Elliott's absolutely magnetic rhythms will wake up any high school class, and the book could also work as a play. Irresistible, slick, and sharp (no bull!)—with plenty of bull to dissect. (cast of characters, author's notes) (Verse fiction. 14 & up)

Horn Book

Elliott's clever verse version of the classical story of the Minotaur unrolls in the voices of seven characters, each with his or her own poetic form (an appended author's note details them), but it's the god Poseidon who determines the tone--as instigator, manipulator, and despiser of humankind. Raplike wordplay, rhymes with coercive predictability, unpleasant intensity--it's horribly effective.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A saucy, brash retelling of the Greek myth of the Minotaur. In a series of dramatic monologues with no settings, Elliott updates the voices of Poseidon, Minos, Daedalus, Pasiphae, Asterion, and Ariadne, each in its own poetic form. Poseidon dominates in word count and attitude: if "[y]ou think a god should be more refined? / … / Never / Bawdy / Raunchy / Racy / Rude? / News Flash: / You don't want a god. / You want a prude." Angry at king Minos, he considers direct revenge ("Boils! / Scabs! / Gills! / A snout! / [Turn] his / Ding-dong / Inside / Out!") but instead gives Queen Pasiphae "a thing / For the white bull's thang." Asterion the Minotaur is born. He grows to age 17, bleakly miserable, tortured by Minos, finally imprisoned in the iconic maze; even his sister Ariadne can't break him out, and eventually he falls to Theseus. Poseidon considers Minos "a dick! / But also so much fun to hate"; some readers will think exactly that about Poseidon too, while others will resent just how much fun Poseidon is to hate, given his misogynistic women-are-crazy/women-are-whores snark about Pasiphae, whose woes he literally created himself. Elliott's absolutely magnetic rhythms will wake up any high school class, and the book could also work as a play. Irresistible, slick, and sharp (no bull!)—with plenty of bull to dissect. (cast of characters, author's notes) (Verse fiction. 14 & up)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Using the cadences and unfiltered directness of rap, Elliott (Nobody-s Perfect) tells the Greek myth of the Minotaur in the seven distinct voices of Poseidon, King Minos, Queen Pasiphae, her half-man/half-bull son Asterion, his sister Ariadne, Daedalus, and-in a minor but critical role-Theseus, prince of Athens and, possibly, Poseidon-s son. The story unfolds in interior monologues, each in a different poetic form, which the author deconstructs in one of two closing notes. All are heard by Poseidon, who comments and adds background: -And rather than be called a slut/ She said I was the father of her mutt./ (You humans tend to be less catty/ When an immortal is the daddy).- Everybody knows how this myth ends, yet Asterion-s final words still resonate: -Hell is the freezing/ scorn for who you are/ that transforms a faultless boy/ to Minotaur.- Elliott contemporizes the ancient story of blackmail, betrayal, and revenge with humor, poignancy, and profanity. Hamilton comparisons are unavoidable, yet the personalities and voices Elliott brings to these mythical characters make this powerful and engrossing book a genre of its own. Ages 14-up. Agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary. (Mar.)

Voice of Youth Advocates

Minos craves power and he bargains with the god Poseidon to become king of Crete. When Minos goes back on his word to sacrifice the white bull Poseidon gave him, he quickly finds out Poseidon is not a god with whom to hedge. Poseidon devises a vengeful plan of epic destruction, as only a Greek god can. Minos’s wife Pasiphae falls in love with the white bull and subsequently gives birth to Asterion, who has the head of a bull and body of a man. Asterion’s life is difficult, filled with heartache and grief as Minos only acknowledges him as a disgusting creature, and Pasiphae descends into insanity. When Asterion is banished into an unsolvable maze, he has only his sister’s daily visits to help him keep his sanity, but a future king is on his way to slay the alleged monstrous Minotaur. The Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur has been given new life in this verse novel as Elliot explores the story from a new perspective. Each character has a distinct poetic rhythm as the story of how the Minotaur came to grow into a monster is told in a refreshingly modern way. Between the vulgarity of Poseidon and the intrinsic dark humor of the story, teen readers will be able to relate to the ancient tale in a wonderful new way. This is an absolute must-have for any library serving teens.—Blake Norby.