Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

110 reviews

littlewishling's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A brutal book in the best way. Saint brings Greek myth to live in a way that shows it’s cruelty whilst keeping you enthralled each step of the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Sexual violence

bellsdixon's review

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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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

wytherwytch's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Alcohol

hevlav's review

adventurous 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

3.25

This book does a great job of presenting the same facts to different characters, and showing the different reactions/feelings on each of them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Death of parent and Abandonment

clauglezzz_'s review

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death of parent

Moderate: War

Minor: Pregnancy

clazbog's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest and Sexual violence

bookaholic_in_wonderland's review

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

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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

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Slavery

tourmaline1703's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I have been reading many mythological or historical retellings recently because I adoe these influences on literature, and this was another great mythological retelling. Blending the stories of the Trojan War and Orestes whilst recentering the story onto Clytemnestra, Cassandraand Elektra, Jennifer Saint creates an emotional exploration of grief, family and revenge in 'Elektra.' The worldbuilding is great, and accessible to anyone, whether or not you have previous knowledge of Greek myth.

The writing is descriptive and engaging, allowing you to truly feel the characters' emotions as their lives are turned upside down. The story is told from the three women's point of view, and each character's personality and feelings are distinguishable from the way Saint writes in each of their chapters. The contrast between mourning in sadness, in Cassandra's case, tothe vengeful grieving of Elektra and Clytemnestra is beautifully shown.

I found the plot to be well paced and intriguing, urging you to turn the page and see how everything unfolded. I thought the multiple perspectives were very effective and allowed the timeline to be clear, whilst building suspense for when the stories finally intertwined. I liked the characters as they were well developed and their relationships to each other were interesting.

Whilst this was a great book, I couldn't fully invest myself in it and I felt like I wasn't completely hooked. It is undoubtedly an emotional story, but perhaps due to my prior knowledge, the tension wasn't as tense for me and I didn't feel as upset or shocked at certain actions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment

irinalast's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War