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pixelited's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Overall I enjoyed this book and thought it offered some interesting perspectives and insights into characters I only knew through mythology. I wasn’t entirely familiar with the story, so hearing it told this way was fascinating to me and without knowing the extent of everyone’s fates, I was interested to see what happened to the characters.
However, I did sometimes find myself lost in whose perspective we were seeing through. I listened to the audiobook and while I eventually got accustomed to the different narrator’s voices, they sounded similar at some points which confused me. It also took me a while to get invested into the story, as I felt that the beginning started off slow and perhaps not as interesting as it could have been. Furthermore,I thought that it was strange that Cassandra’s perspective was written, especially after she was killed. It just seemed a bit inconsequential, and while her perspective gave us insight into Troy—I wonder if the same couldn’t have been accomplished by perhaps using Helene’s perspective instead? I also felt a deep frustration with Elektra as a character, finding that her stubbornness was somewhat unfounded and that in turn how she treats others, specifically by essentially using and throwing away Georgios and pressuring her brother to murder their mother despite his hesitations , made her very unlikeable.
I did, however, enjoy the ending of the novel with the quick perspective shifts between Elektra and Clytemnestra. I thought that was a good way to keep the energy of the moment, while making sure the reader understood how both were experiencing the moment.
Overall, a reasonably good and easy read. It was interesting but simply had some aspects that I didn’t enjoy or didn’t make sense to me. I would still recommend it as a read if you enjoy Greek mythology!
However, I did sometimes find myself lost in whose perspective we were seeing through. I listened to the audiobook and while I eventually got accustomed to the different narrator’s voices, they sounded similar at some points which confused me. It also took me a while to get invested into the story, as I felt that the beginning started off slow and perhaps not as interesting as it could have been. Furthermore,
I did, however, enjoy the ending of the novel with the quick perspective shifts between Elektra and Clytemnestra. I thought that was a good way to keep the energy of the moment, while making sure the reader understood how both were experiencing the moment.
Overall, a reasonably good and easy read. It was interesting but simply had some aspects that I didn’t enjoy or didn’t make sense to me. I would still recommend it as a read if you enjoy Greek mythology!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Rape
clarissarh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Rape and Kidnapping
bellsdixon's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Moderate: Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
natashaball's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Infidelity
wytherwytch's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I found this book a bit of a trudge. It was good in parts - the chapter where Iphigeneia is sacrificed is absolutely brilliant but otherwise it feels like a trudge to these parts. It's written from the point of view of three women so it jumps around quite a bit and I didnt love that but I stuck it out. I didn't really like any of the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Alcohol
louiseelizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Rape
clauglezzz_'s review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Heads up to anyone who still hasn't read it, it has three points of view, Cassandra, Clytemnestra and Elektra.
I really wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. I found it really repetitive at times and to me it felt like the book was telling me how to feel. I also had a hard time empathising with the characters throughout the majority of the book, I just didn't manage to connect with them. My favourite was probably Cassandra, Helen or Clytemnestra.I think Iphgenia's death was really well narrated but to me the book just went downhill from there.
I really wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. I found it really repetitive at times and to me it felt like the book was telling me how to feel. I also had a hard time empathising with the characters throughout the majority of the book, I just didn't manage to connect with them. My favourite was probably Cassandra, Helen or Clytemnestra.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: War
Minor: Pregnancy
porridgegobbler's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
3.75 stars
An easily digestible read of a well-known story from a perspective we don't normally hear from.
Definitely a book to get you out of a reading slump and bolster your knowledge and understanding of Greek Mythology, particularly the Trojan War. I really enjoyed the three perspectives and how their stories intertwined with one another.
Definitely better than Jennifer Saint's third book Atalanta, however that may just be my personal bias due to my interest in the Trojan War. But also it read better and the characters were more distinct. However at times it does suffer the same issue of heavy handed exposition of mythology, which is impressive in terms of Saint's knowledge, But not always fitting for prose in my opinion.
An easily digestible read of a well-known story from a perspective we don't normally hear from.
Definitely a book to get you out of a reading slump and bolster your knowledge and understanding of Greek Mythology, particularly the Trojan War. I really enjoyed the three perspectives and how their stories intertwined with one another.
Definitely better than Jennifer Saint's third book Atalanta, however that may just be my personal bias due to my interest in the Trojan War. But also it read better and the characters were more distinct. However at times it does suffer the same issue of heavy handed exposition of mythology, which is impressive in terms of Saint's knowledge, But not always fitting for prose in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Grief, and War
bookaholic_in_wonderland's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, and War
Minor: Slavery
emilie_anine's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Even months after reading it, I still don’t understand what purpose any of the characters served. The most interesting character, in my opinion, died somewhat pointlessly and it just felt like it didn’t make sense for her to have been in the book at all
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Slavery