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I, Medusa

A Novel

Author Ayana Gray
Ebook
Random House Group | Random House
On sale Nov 18, 2025 | 336 Pages | 9780593733776
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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From New York Times bestselling author Ayana Gray comes a new kind of villain origin story, reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine.

Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone else’s story. Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parents—both gods, albeit minor ones—she dreams of leaving her family’s island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home.

In the colorful market streets of Athens and the clandestine chambers of the temple, Meddy flourishes in her role as Athena’s favored acolyte, getting her first tastes of purpose and power. But when she is noticed by another Olympian, Poseidon, the course of Meddy’s promising future is suddenly and irrevocably altered.

When her locs are transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identity—not as a victim, but as a vigilante—and with it, the chance to write her own story as mortal, martyr, and myth.

Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart’s deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.
© Ayana Gray
Ayana Gray is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically-acclaimed Beasts of Prey trilogy. Her works have been translated in ten languages across five continents. Originally from Atlanta, she now lives among the rolling hills and tangling rivers of Arkansas. View titles by Ayana Gray
“Ayana Gray brings her fresh, dynamic storytelling to one of the most legendary and misunderstood women of Greek myth: the monstered, maligned Medusa. I loved how this novel engaged with all the girls that Medusa was and could have been, and conjured something vivid and striking and new. Medusa’s myth never ceases to be relevant and important, and this heartfelt and compelling book delves into all the complexities while sweeping the reader away in a beautifully written story.”—Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Hera and Atalanta

“Ayana Gray captures the diversity and sweeping expanse of classical antiquity in this tense, poignant, and compassionate reworking of the myth of Medusa. Deeply relevant to both the ancient and the modern worlds, the novel packs a punch as hard as stone—yet still leaves room for the fragile joys of the mortal condition, from sisterhood and romance to self-discovery.”—Samantha Shannon, New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Season series and The Roots of Chaos series

About

From New York Times bestselling author Ayana Gray comes a new kind of villain origin story, reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine.

Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone else’s story. Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parents—both gods, albeit minor ones—she dreams of leaving her family’s island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home.

In the colorful market streets of Athens and the clandestine chambers of the temple, Meddy flourishes in her role as Athena’s favored acolyte, getting her first tastes of purpose and power. But when she is noticed by another Olympian, Poseidon, the course of Meddy’s promising future is suddenly and irrevocably altered.

When her locs are transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identity—not as a victim, but as a vigilante—and with it, the chance to write her own story as mortal, martyr, and myth.

Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart’s deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.

Author

© Ayana Gray
Ayana Gray is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically-acclaimed Beasts of Prey trilogy. Her works have been translated in ten languages across five continents. Originally from Atlanta, she now lives among the rolling hills and tangling rivers of Arkansas. View titles by Ayana Gray

Praise

“Ayana Gray brings her fresh, dynamic storytelling to one of the most legendary and misunderstood women of Greek myth: the monstered, maligned Medusa. I loved how this novel engaged with all the girls that Medusa was and could have been, and conjured something vivid and striking and new. Medusa’s myth never ceases to be relevant and important, and this heartfelt and compelling book delves into all the complexities while sweeping the reader away in a beautifully written story.”—Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Hera and Atalanta

“Ayana Gray captures the diversity and sweeping expanse of classical antiquity in this tense, poignant, and compassionate reworking of the myth of Medusa. Deeply relevant to both the ancient and the modern worlds, the novel packs a punch as hard as stone—yet still leaves room for the fragile joys of the mortal condition, from sisterhood and romance to self-discovery.”—Samantha Shannon, New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Season series and The Roots of Chaos series

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