So far I’ve enjoyed all of Jennifer Saint’s retellings, but Atalanta has definitely reached new heights. The myth of Atalanta is one of the most fascinating, the only woman amongst the Age of Heroes, a legendary runner and huntress of stunning beauty; this story was begging to be retold. This book beautifully reshapes the myth in a very convincing way and lets Atalanta shine through. Raises by Artemis and her nymphs to become the goddess’ champion, in this version Atalanta boards the Argo and joins the quest for the golden fleece. While this is a diversion from the typical myth, it’s a great addition to the canon and a great way to showcase some amazing characters, from Hypsipyle to Medea, to Jason, Orpheus, Peleus (with a cameo from baby Achilles) etc. I’m always excited to see this formidable crew at work, and plus this book featured another mighty team up, the hunt for the Calydonian boar. 
Atalanta’s personal relationships are so well developed, from her closeness to Artemis, whose depiction is stunning in this version, to her unfortunate love interests. Going back to Artemis, I was so happy to see her featured in a retelling at last, and this book totally captures her wild and ruthless nature, even when showing her more nourishing sides. Her presence is felt in the entire book, like a true goddess would, and her bond with Atalanta is so powerful yet menacing. The other really great character I wanna give a shout out to is Meleager. My gosh. He’s always portrayed like the one virtuous man on the Argo, and here was no different. His characterisation is so perfect, he truly is the dream man of Greek mythology and everybody’s been sleeping on him. It’s only fair that Atalanta gets to bag the best men. I also really enjoyed the role Heracles gets to have as the original bear boyfriend, he’s flawed but I still love him. Honestly I could talk about each and every character in this book, everyone gets their own distinct personality and makes the story as rich as it is. 
One thing I did notice is that, as great as this book is, retelling the Argonautica is hard and the structure of the travel novel is inherently weak. It’s a lot of first we did this, then we did that, then we landed there etc. It’s not a surprise there are no Odyssey retellings following Odysseus himself, and frankly the Argonautica is less exciting as far as the journey itself goes. In any case, having Atalanta there and seeing her relationship with the Argonauts and Meleager grow made it still very interesting. Plus, of course, the story of Atalanta is much more than Argo. Ultimately, combining the myths was a winning strategy and I truly loved this book, I could talk about it for hours. One of the best retellings out there.