#Threads That Bind

[more-than-ideas]

threads that bind

[wingsofhcpe]

anyway if yall want something greek-mythology inspired to read, please pick up Threads that Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou. It's a post-apocalyptic fantasy romance (soulmates!) with lots of queerness in it, inspired by various mythologies but centered around greek mythology, with a greek-coded protag & cultural elements strewn across, and written by an actual greek woman who lives in Greece. It's also the first book I see by a greek author to be written & published in English/abroad first, and to go semi-popular on western reading circles.

we need more like this. please support her.

[evilios]

Threads That Bind was my first introduction to Kika Hatzopoulou's writing, and a pleasant one. It's a refreshing novelty among mythology-inspired books as it features an otherwise untouched by them genre: a fantasy crime novel.

Hatzopoulou's writing is dynamic and flavorful, she's very talented at creating action sequences and fast-paced, intense interactions. Her text is heavily inspired by different concepts of cultural and mythological landscapes of Greece, Ancient and modern: the main heroine, Io, is a descendant of a long line of Fates-born capable of seeing and cutting threads of one's life and all the things dear to the person. Alongside her equally powerful sisters, Thais and Ava, she's in the middle of all the action, uncovering the mystery of a spree of suspicious murders.

Io is a deeply sympathetic character that's easy to relate to due to her social standing and the deep personal, familial crises she is going through: grief and loss, growing apart with the family, finding your point in life, hoping for one day when things might get better. She's simply well-written and interesting to follow.

If you enjoy a fun and dynamic narrative built around the concepts of predetermined fate, destiny and justice, sisterhood and family, otherness, and free will, then I'd heavily recommend this book.

No major plot spoilers, some things I want to specifically point out:

Personally, I adore how many solid female characters Kika introduces. The majority of the reoccurring cast are women and they're all utterly brilliant. I am deeply in love with Bianca and I adore Rosa with my whole heart. There's a dangerous sapphic character who does not die and is in a relationship with another woman. There's a transwoman (who is I believe in a relationship) whose queerness is not obtusely focused on but rather treated as it should be: as a normal thing. You do not learn she's trans until one mention of past deadnaming (no name mentioned) appears. There's a hint that the main character might be bisexual. There's a nonbinary character relevant to the plot. There are multiple secondary characters using different pronouns. Queerness is treated by Kika as a usual everyday thing and it's very refreshing to see.

Kika sets the action in a city that resembles Athens: it has an Acropolis where elites live, the slums, the poorer areas and the more immigrant-populated areas. No real geographical location is ever marked but by some small cues you can figure out that the fictional city and its surrounding areas are heavily inspired by Greece with proximity to Egypt, Slavic territories, and Near East.

Main character's love interest (this book has a soulmate story as a background but it's not annoying/in your face) is coded to be what would equate to real world Egyptian, based on cultural codes. A lot of characters are heavily diverse, Kika uses a lot of names that sound Greek, Italian, Russian, and Arabic. It's a very modern Mediterranean-coded story.

I ADORE the attention Kika gives to her side characters. There's a character named Chimdi who is passionate about sculpture, and her mini-story is actually deeply impactful on how you perceive the Muses. The Muses are the only "other-born" who go by the names of the original Nine Muses and it's treated as a "marketing move" — there are so many analysis points the author makes and I just adore it.

Instead of having divine descendants follow individual Gods (who might or might not be mentioned), Kika makes the divine "other-born" descend from groups of divinities only: three Fates equate three sisters, countless oneiroi equate to multitudes of oneiroi-born, Muses equate to the rare event of nine girls being born in a family, and so on. It's fun how she puts it together.

This book very openly and directly hates cops and I love it for that. Kika overall comments a lot on social injustice, immigration laws, mistreatment of ostracized native population vs. ostracized immigrant population, xenophobia, and other matters of social segregation. Corrupt government and people just getting by are the background of her story.

There's one element at the very end that I'm a little worried about because I do not like this trope, but with Kika's gentle and careful approach to her own cultural narratives, I have faith it will be encountered properly in the sequel, Hearts That Cut.

There are a lot of topics she touches upon, and I do heavily recommend this book.

[couldvebeenus]

The Red Thread, Ann Hood 《君の名は》Your Name, Dir. Makoto Shinkai Red, White and Royal Blue, Dir. Matthew Lopez Smiley, Guillem Clua 《紅線》Red Thread, Dir. Yijun Pan & Anh Vo Threads That Bind, Kika Hatzopoulou

[the-final-sentence]

'Let's bring down the gods.'

Kika Hatzopoulou, from Threads That Bind

[notsopersonalcharlie]

everyone go read Threads that Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou. not only is it a beautifully crafted true crime mystery story that includes Greek mythology and the ins and outs of childhood, sisterhood, and found family, but it is also so well written from an LGBTQ perspective because these people just exist. you don’t even find out a character is trans until we’ll over halfway through the book and there is no over explaining just a mention of deadnaming without doing it. i can stress enough the fact that this book drew me in and i can not wait for another one to come out

[mistwraiths]

5 stars

This was an AMAZING book. I read it when I was extremely sick so unfortunately I didn't write a review but I would 100% recommend it. It's neo-noir and takes descendants of certain gods/monsters/mythological beings certain powers.

It follows the main character who is a descendant of the three fates, so her sisters and her have powers. She's the Cutter, the one who can cut the strings of Fate. I loved how she used her powers as like a private detective. I loved the messy dynamics of sisterhood and family. The discussion of fate and destiny too.

It was so refreshingly unique and just so well done. Can't wait for the sequel.

[booktineus]

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[shxpeshifterr]

Sundays are for fantasy books

[teartra]

One thing I love the most from Threads that Bind is the fact that Io wears spectacles. Please, more badass female mc with spectacles

[gemsofgreece]

https://parallaximag.gr/agenda-parallaxi/biblio/i-thessalonikia-poy-eide-to-vivlio-tis-na-ginetai-pagkosmia-kykloforia

There will be a greek book called the Threads that bind and the story is quite interesting so far. About a girl with the power of the fates, greek mythology, modern noir setting in Greece.

Now i really do hope this book succeeds a lot like any Greek author who wants to make it big globally. Also the story is what we have been saying on this blog. A greek story mixing Greek mythology and modern without exploiting it, but trying to question the philosophy behind the myths of our culture, in her story specifically how much choice a person has in their lifes.

Looks promising! And honestly I love that she writes under her real Greek surname without making it short English-like, like many Greek celebrities abroad, even though the book is written originally in English and will be first published in USA and UK (she has studied the English language and literature) and will then be translated and published in Greece! Also love the Fates theme. But I really hope she doesn’t fall on the traps foreign writers fall on, in order to attract a young foreign audience… this worries me a little.

[bookishlyvintage]

Threads That Bind, Kika Hatzopoulou [thoughts]

[mandalorian-chiara]

Gracie Abrams wrote Risk for Io and Edei and I AM RIGHT

(Yes this is your sign to read Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou, I’m looking at you Percy Jackson and AGGTM fans)

[ninasbookshelf]

[the-algebra-thing]

btw guys I finished threads that bind and it warrants further examination in order to earn my complete endorsement as does everything else but I can say fresh off my first time through that it was insanely fantastic

[between-the-pages657]

Couple of thoughts on the ending:

BIG leaps in logic to find out who the bad guy was and there were way too many twists and turns to keep up

I thought for sure that Io was going to cut the fate-thread. Imagine the angst!

I JUST WANT EDEI AND IO TO BE HAPPU DAMMIT!

I also love how morally grey everyone is.