Scan barcode
woolgathering_jane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
„Love is for fools and children.“
„And yet we live, Leaneira. We live.“
What a masterpiece of a book, wow. The prose was excellent, it reminded me of the Bridgerton narrator, but like hundred times better. It's witty, engaging and easy to read. The story was unfolding at a slower, but nevertheless enjoyable pace, and I loved how the narrator didn't tell us everything, how we were invited to think about the story and its characters and come to our own conclusions about some things. I adored the wide cast of woman characters, who were all masterfully written - complex, sometimes unlikeable and messy, driven, and so real. The only issue I had that there - ironically - too many male characters for me to keep track of, I kept forgetting who was who, lol. It also felt like just a glimpse into the lives of the gods and the mortals alike, like there is so much more to come - you can imagine my delight when I found out that this is the start of a series.
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
bobthebard's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexual assault
Minor: Slavery
mossbird's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Within its first few pages, Ithaca throws you immediately into the belly of the beast while also establishing quickly that, unlike other stories of Grecian mythos, this tale revolves around women. I adore this altered perspective on Greek mythos as so many of the writings and stories are male-centric and Hera's bitter scorn towards those who have cast her aside and underestimated her provides a refreshing and, at times, entertaining view. It serves as a reminder that not only is Hera the goddess of wives, she's also the goddess of queens.
It is a beautiful thing to see powerful women being angry and destroying anyone who tells them they shouldn't.
Hera's unending persistence and resilience, and how it echoes in the characters she blesses, is truly a wonder and joy to read, even as she 'loses' conflicts. There are three primary examples we can see this in: Penelope (Queen of Ithaca), Clytemnestra (Former Queen Regent of Mycenae), and Elektra (Princess of Mycenae). Each of these three echo aspects, or epithets, of Hera.
It's worthy of mentioning that Helen of Troy is also referenced in the context of being blessed by Hera, though I won't be using her as an example as she does not actually appear in this novel.
In Penelope, we see the facet of Hera that is purely the goddess of Queens. She sacrifices everything for her kingdom, for her people, with even the fate of her son falling to a place of lesser import for the majority of the book's pages.
Through Clytemnestra, we see the facet of Hera that is the goddess of not only Queens, but of Women and, to a lesser extent, Mothers as well. Clytemnestra is referred to throughout the novel as being one of Hera's favoured in a variety of ways and we see this in the way she interacts with others throughout the chapters.
Finally, and my personal favourite of the three, we have Elektra. Elektra is an incredibly unique character, her viewpoints a mishmashed blend of the misogynistic views of her father and the strongwilled determination of her mother, and due to her much younger age than the other two listed here, we get to see much more of her character develop and be shaped by the presence and proximity she has to the Divine.
We also get a very interesting view on Hera's thoughts and feelings of her fellow Olympians. Her distaste for Zeus is palpable while her fear is also entirely understandable. The relationship between Hera and Athena, particularly the way it develops, was one of the major highlights of the novel for me and something I really really enjoyed. Hera is not simply the narrator of this story, she's equally as much of a character as any other and that's really what sets this novel apart for me.
Graphic: Murder and War
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
fronk10's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, and Violence
kate001's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexual assault and War
Moderate: Violence
vikingllama's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
maddlecat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Minor: Slavery
hello_lovely13's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Slavery and War
deadnberried's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
I went into reading this thinking I knew what it was going to be and it was decidedly not what I imagined.
A huge fan of Madeline Miller's Circe and Song of Achilles, I expected Ithaca to be a similar blend of raw humanity, rich characters, and the thin veil between mortals and gods that infuses everything with magical potential, be it for good or ill. This book seems to have been written attempting to do those things, but through such an incredibly jaded, bitter lens that the story is a slog to get through.
Advertised as Penelope's side of the story (ra-ra, Penelope ruled Ithaca for ten years, let's see how this badass rose to the challenge!), we instead get an incredibly dejected, dispiriting novel about being crushed under the thumb of patriarchy. Women's lives and happiness don't matter, men are animals and will do what they want to women, even royal women can't escape man's ownership and brutality, even GODDESSES can't. Penelope is regularly condescended to by the council that 'helps' her rule Ithaca, while she does all of the actual work of keeping an economy running herself behind the scenes, her son is as different from his hero father as it's possible to be (and Odysseus isn't that great actually), Hera is almost powerless so she just hovers behind Penelope wringing her hands and bemoaning the fate of women in a man's world. This book is just a bummer.
Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, and War
sauvageloup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
pros:
- the characters all have distinct personalities and dialogue, which is written well. Penelope is focused, hera is snippy, telemachus is foolish, etc. but they're all complex too. there were some nice additions to the canon, kenamon and teodora (or I didnt remember them anyway), and it was nice having some decent characters.
- there is dry humor, especially in here's perspective
- I like the concept on focusing on outwardly quieter female power, and looking at hera and penelope, and the other women from a different angle than the mythology does.
cons:
- it did feel too slow a lot of the time, with a lot of meandering and introspection.
- it was frustrating seeing telemachus ignore his mother repeatedly, and aspects of the myths play out, but that's not a book criticism, just that inevitable tragedy isnt rly my genre.
so overall, I appreciated the writing quality and definitely enjoyed meeting Claire North and hearing her discuss her work, but this wasnt quite my type of book, a bit too slow.
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Xenophobia