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melstephens's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual assault
kaitlyng's review
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Fire/Fire injury
swalk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
An intriguing retelling of the War of Troy from the viewpoints of three women embedded at the very heart of it; Cassandra Princess of Troy - blessed by Apollo with the gift of prophecy, Clytemnestra wife of Agamemnon, and Elektra, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.
Elektra does not appear until about halfway through and we don’t learn an awful lot about her overall, which was surprising given the eponymous title. I can see that the author was laying the groundwork for the climax of the storyline as there is a definite building of tension, culminating in a series of disastrous events. So it didn’t bother me too much, however a bit more about Elektra earlier on would have been nice.
The narrators are all excellent and suit the writing style well elevating the story.
Elektra does not appear until about halfway through and we don’t learn an awful lot about her overall, which was surprising given the eponymous title. I can see that the author was laying the groundwork for the climax of the storyline as there is a definite building of tension, culminating in a series of disastrous events. So it didn’t bother me too much, however a bit more about Elektra earlier on would have been nice.
The narrators are all excellent and suit the writing style well elevating the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Murder
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual violence and Blood
nexusgoblin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Slavery, and War
microbemom's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The story of three women that are little control over there lives is both moving and sad. We see the story from three different perspectives each as interesting as the others. One sees visions, one obsess with her father, and one that lets revenge rule her life.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Death, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and War
entropyre's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
carissa230's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Clytemnestra's husband is off to war, but there is some good that may come. He has found someone to marry their daughter. However, on the wedding day Agamemnon slits her throat for good winds on his voyage. Clytemnestra spends the entire war planning how she will kill her husband when he returns.
Cassandra worships Apollo. When she meets him she refuses him her body and is cursed to see the future, but never be believed. Cassandra sees what will happen with the war, she tries to warn everyone, but nobody believes her.
Elektra lives her life waiting for her fathers return. When Agamemnon returns tragedy strikes. Elektra dedicates her life to making her mother pay for what she did.
I would definitely have done the same as Clytemnestra in the situation. Nobody could watch their spouse slit their daughters throat and not take revenge on him. I do not understand the point of Elektra. She was so angry with her mom for killing her dad, but she barely knew him. Also her thirst for vengeance was the same as her mother, but she didn't see that at all.
Cassandra worships Apollo. When she meets him she refuses him her body and is cursed to see the future, but never be believed. Cassandra sees what will happen with the war, she tries to warn everyone, but nobody believes her.
Elektra lives her life waiting for her fathers return. When Agamemnon returns tragedy strikes. Elektra dedicates her life to making her mother pay for what she did.
I would definitely have done the same as Clytemnestra in the situation. Nobody could watch their spouse slit their daughters throat and not take revenge on him. I do not understand the point of Elektra. She was so angry with her mom for killing her dad, but she barely knew him. Also her thirst for vengeance was the same as her mother, but she didn't see that at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
maaikereadsbooks_'s review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Many thanks to Headline Audio and Jennifer Saint for the advanced audio copy of Elektra via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.
Disclaimer: the negative slant on the audio perspective is largely due to my misophonia. I have an intense dislike for ‘mouth noises’. Audible swallowing, smacking noises, general un-edited auditory mouth *stuff* really gets to me and put me off this audiobook.
Elektra follows an interesting retelling of the Trojan war, from some of the key women’s point of view. Jennifer Saint has woven in figures of myth and legend along with those of flesh and blood with a matter-of-fact-ness, which isn’t seen as often in this type of retellings. Often in this type of story there is a veil of supernatural syrup, a ‘playing with the gods’ tale. But this story felt much more solid. This is told in a more ‘this is real life’ sort of way. And real life just happened to have the occasional god, or demi god, walking around in it. As you do.
I suspect that ‘Elektra’ was not Saint’s original title of choice, as she was not the protagonist of the book. But as Clytemnestra was already taken this season, it would have to do. Perhaps a different title may have suited the story better, however.
The narrators suited the individual characters well. However, I found it extremely difficult to get into the story as, after the first three chapters, they did not announce the character at the beginning of the chapter, instead expecting the listener to have already memorised the narrator’s voice. Unfortunately I’m not that good and I was confused, and annoyed. And as my misophonia had me well and truly distracter, I almost stopped listening at this point. Eventually I got the hang of who was who, and got into the story. It definitely took me a while, though.
Overall, the story was interesting. It was perhaps a bit over-long for my taste. I hope there is a final edit to smooth out the ‘mouth noises’ for future listeners’ enjoyment!
Spice: 1/5
Trigger warnings: Animal death, Blood/Gore, Cheating, Death, Death of a family member, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical or mental abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self Harm, Sexism, Sexual abuse/assault/harassment, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, War
Rating
Story: 3.5/5
Audio: 3/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Animal death, Gore, Self harm, Sexism, and Death of parent
nicoleamanfu's review
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Rape and Slavery
starship_olympus's review
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I enjoyed it overall, but the middle of the book meandered a bit. It took a little bit of slugging through that bit to get to the parts that moved forward.
I can’t help but feel that a fifth of it could have been cut, at least of Clytemnestra, post sacrifice. Hers were the slowest bits, there were only so many ways to read about revenge, and it felt repetitive.
I really liked Cassandra, she was the most interesting character imo, with Elektra’s narration being second.
But overall it was wonderful to read these well known stories from this POV. Inventive and fresh!
I can’t help but feel that a fifth of it could have been cut, at least of Clytemnestra, post sacrifice. Hers were the slowest bits, there were only so many ways to read about revenge, and it felt repetitive.
I really liked Cassandra, she was the most interesting character imo, with Elektra’s narration being second.
But overall it was wonderful to read these well known stories from this POV. Inventive and fresh!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping