Elektra: No.1 Sunday Times Bestseller from the Author of ARIADNE

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Not to mention how she thinks Cassandra should feel so glad (!) to have been kidnapped by Agamemnon because the place she lives in now is so pretty and a palace like the one Cassandra grew up in and how being raped by a king (especially one like her fantastic father) is such an honor. *tears out own hair* I also wanted to say that I think it's absolutely beautifully that in every re-telling I read, there's always a mention of how drowned Achilles is in his grief after Patroclus left the land of the living. A specific quote, "He would not burn his beloved's body until he had sat I’m Not going to summarize the book any further since it’s a well known story. Suffice it to say it is a twisted tale of vile acts committed and the subsequent feeliings of hurt and betrayal. But mostly it is the tale of revenges planned and executed that makes this a true Greek tragedy. In the last few years, The Iliad and Greek Mythology has been fertile ground for authors. In particular, the retelling of myths and stories from minor characters, specifically the female characters. If you love Greek Mythology, it’s been a great couple of years. Despite these minor issues, being a lover of Greek mythology I truly enjoyed this novel and can confidently recommend it.

The house of Atreus is cursed- through generations of murder, usurping’s of the throne of Mycenae, and cannabalism. We are introduced to this house of Atreus in the generation of Menelaus and Agamemnon. First through Agamemnon’s marriage to Clytemnestra; then his daughter Elektra; and then his slave and captive, Cassandra.We have all come here today for the same purpose,” he continued. “We all wish to wed the beautiful Helen, and we all have good reason to think that we are a worthy husband to such a woman. She is a prize beyond any that we can imagine, and the man who can call her his own will have to go to great lengths to protect her from those who would seek to seize her away from him.” How did they have the stomach for the fight still, I wondered. How could it be possible to rise every morning to that same grim, relentless slaughter, and then drink and sleep and wake to do it all again? I found Elektra really hard to sympathise with at times- she is a selfish character and her empathy for others is hardly there. She chooses not to see things from Clytemnestra’s POV where her father, Agamemnon (Clytemnestra’s husband) purposely murders and sacrifices Iphigenia for a wind to take the army to Troy. Instead as Elektra takes the view of the sacrifice being god ordained- she cannot understand why Clytemnestra is grieving and hating her father. She then spends her time on out thinking about revenge. She also doesn’t seem to care about others around her- especially how she treats her friend Georgios and has a weird Oedipus complex about Agamemnon.

Well its Greek mythology and for me that brings its own air of mystery, intrigue and tragedy. A sub-genre I will never tire off. Across the seas, Cassandra is a princess with the gift of foresight but, cursed by Apollo, nobody believes her when she tries to warn them of the future. She knows that Paris will bring ruin on her people, that her city will eventually fall, but she can’t stop the events already in motion. Elektra feels equally powerless. Growing up with the father she adores fighting a war in a foreign land, she lives for his triumphant return. In his absence, Agamemnon becomes a god-like figure and it pits Elektra against her mother. Elektra knows that Clytemnestra is plotting something terrible, she just doesn’t know what. As the war rages on, the ferocity building on both sides, Elektra becomes consumed by her own rage, turning it on the one person who always tried to protect her. And once we get to the "action", it's over in two sentences and then the book keeps droning on and on and on for far too long yet again. Negative stuff: this book is still no better than Ariadne, but it at least got a little bit interesting after Agammemnon's death. I feel like Saint's retellings just follow the original texts too closely, but that's on me, not her. With the stories of the characters she's chosen so well-defined and told already, she has very little leg room for her own added flair or take on them. Helen was painted in a light not so different from others': pretty, perfect, cunning Helen who could do no wrong. And I hate to compare her to Madeline Miller, because other reviewers must've done this countless times, but Miller's prose just shines through with her work, which is why there are just SO MANY memorable quotes from TSOA & Circe. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Saint. Her chapters, while the events themselves are highly compelling, the way she tells them is just dull. Simply dull. Yeah, someone's being murdered, mutilated, etc., but the way Saint describes it feels the same way as she might a grocery list. A few description of the weather, the palace pillars, palace floors, maybe people around them, and tada, scene's done. On to the next. And the next. Next. And the nex— [GUNSHOTS]

Mind you, this is a messed up tragedy that even gets the furies involved, but most of that is AFTER the war is won. This wonderful book is told from the POVs of all three women and each chapter is clearly labelled so you know who’s POV you’re reading at any time. Saint really puts her own style and voice to these myths in a way that very few have successfully accomplished, and you really are able to fully comprehend all that has happened to the ladies, and just what mindset and reasoning you would have to kill your own mother and whether or not it was morally right to do so. Because let’s face it, the Gods did not approve of family murders. This was quite the re-telling. Told from three very different women's point of view. A Mother, and two daughters. Two princesses and a Queen. Defined by their titles, looked down upon for their gender. It was powerful, unkind and rich in myth. Just like any re-telling should be.