Reviews with content warning for Murder - Elektra

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!

Content Warnings

clairiewairie's review against another edition

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dark tense 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

3.0

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maritzelle's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

La importancia de la salud mental eda?

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danireyes98's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I was really excited for Elektra, since I’m a massive fan of Greek mythology and modern retellings. However, I was left underwhelmed and displeased by this book. While it was very well written, I feel that unlike other retellings, like The Song of Achilles, that made me fall in love with the characters and care about their story, this novel felt like I was reading pure mythology, unattached to the characters and being like “oh, how tragic” without truly caring for them.

Moreover, the characters straight up annoyed me, expect for Cassandra whom I just felt bad for. I get that they sowed the seeds of their own tragedies, but Clytemnestra and Elektra felt underdeveloped and very one note. I felt that if they had just talked their antagonism would have been resolved, and I hated that, because it would have been better if they fought with each other, tried to make the other see sense and still failed to fix the relationship. They were both driven by single minded revenge, which is fine, but I wished they had been more complex, and struggled in a deeper way instead of falling flat.

However, I loved the build up and the scene of Iphigenia’s sacrifice. It was incredibly well written and made me truly feel for the characters, I wish the author had been able to convey such emotions throughout the book.

In general, I enjoyed certain parts of the book, and I always love learning some new mythology along the way, but this was a disappointing retelling with a bland ending.

Content Warnings

ckyoung's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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bellsdixon's review against another edition

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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

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natashaball's review against another edition

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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

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wytherwytch's review against another edition

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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.

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