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]

The fact remains, however, that all the able-bodied men of Greece went to fight the Trojans. The rest, as they say, is history (or mythology in this case). Ok, so if you know the Trojan War, there isn’t a great deal of new material here. And having recently read A Thousand Ships and The Women of Troy, maybe it was just too much similar.

If you are a fan of mythology or retellings, this may very well be for you. I am certainly looking forward to seeing what Jennifer Saint comes up with next!

Despite these minor issues, being a lover of Greek mythology I truly enjoyed this novel and can confidently recommend it. Nevertheless, I wanted to read this if only for my love of mythology and I am glad that I did despite this not being as good as the author's previous book.

The House of Atreus carried a curse. A particularly gruesome one, even by the standards of divine torment. A Greek mythology retelling, when done right, takes us into the hearts and minds of seemingly remote characters and makes them come alive. And so this story does too, though with mixed results. Clytemnestra and Cassandra's narratives were undeniably fascinating, and for that, this was a worthwhile read for me. So, I propose that we all swear that, no matter whom she chooses, we will all join him in protecting her. We will all make a most solemn vow that we shall defend his right to have her—and keep her—with our own lives.”

Daughter of Zeus, that’s what the stories said of Helen. While I was born red-faced and squalling from the commonplace indignity of childbirth, my sister supposedly tapped her way delicately through a pure white eggshell and hatched whole and beautiful. The legend was adorned with fanciful details—it was well known that Zeus could adopt many forms, and on this particular occasion he had appeared to our mother feathered and snowy white, gliding down the river toward her with unmistakable purpose. My huge thanks to Headline Audio via NetGalley for giving me a chance to listen to Elektra by Jennifer Saint, I have given my honest review. Each main character of this book is very well narrated by Beth Eyre, Jane Collingwood and Julie Teal.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 think I preferred Ariadne by Jennifer Saint as I was less familiar with that story. Also I found Elektra infuriating. Her constant obsession with her dad Agamemnon was just hard for me to grasp. I could see that every man in the room was imagining it. They had all envisaged being the one to have her, but Odysseus had soured the dream. They gazed up at him, enrapt, waiting for him to reveal the solution to the conundrum he had presented.

In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition? As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur - Minos's greatest shame and Ariadne's brother - demands blood every year. We learn of Helen's marriage to Menelaus and why she chose him; of Clytemnestra's marriage to Agamemnon and her giving birth to all their children; of Elektra's childhood; of Cassandra's curse and why she received it from the god Apollo. Then, there is the war and the return of Agamemnon and ... more. I'm usually VERY careful and suspicious about retellings and "feminist takes". The reason is that what is called feminism nowadays, to me, is revenge porn. Every man's an enemy. URGH. Clytemnestra I loved to read about!! I found her to be super fascinating. Jennifer Saint also wrote the death of Iphigenia with so much sadness from the point of view of Clytemnestra, that you are grieving with her (this is the scene that made me cry).

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The story and its characters swept me up and engulfed me, I could not put this one down' REAL READER REVIEW