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Elektra: The mesmerising story of Troy from the three women its heart

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I wanted no Trojan soldier to take what was mine; no glory-seeking warrior to seize his chance of fame by plunging his sword into Agamemnon’s heart Let him come back, I hissed into the empty sky. The spellbinding new retelling of the Trojan War drawn from the perspective of the fearless women at the heart of it all. felt there wasn’t enough new material built into the story, so it felt like a ‘telling’ rather than ‘retelling’ of a story I was already very familiar with. I have long been a fan of Greek mythology, and when I see a new retelling, I instantly gravitate towards it. A bloodline long-tainted by the damning cycle of generational violence and vengeance tarnishes this House.

When I had seen all those suitors clamour in the hall for Helen, I had believed they were there because they loved her, but I had been wrong. Finally, one day I will be tired of Trojan War's retellings but not today and definitely not with this book!If you’re desperate to read every single book written about the Trojan War, then absolutely read Elektra. I’ve heard the stories about Odysseus and Penelope many times, but wasn’t familiar with Clytemnestra. I know everyone has read Percy Jackson and the Olympiansbut since it is almost singlehandedly responsible for the resurgence in Greek mythology (and has a Disney+ series coming soon! Circetells the story of the witch that Odysseus meets on his journey home, so it is more Odyssey than Iliad, but it is still very much worth reading.

The history of the family was full of brutal murder, adultery, monstrous ambition, and rather more cannibalism than one would expect. My degree was in classical civilisations - so it meant this was a straight forward read, I knew who everyone was and what was going to happen. Utilizing well defined, three dimensional characters and believable dialogue the book for the most part flows easily.Elektra seeked her father's approval so much and got SOOO blinded by the legacy of tHe miGhTy hOuSe oF aTrEuS and revenge that she willingly overlooked the fact that her father was a cruel, terrible, spiteful, petty and weak man, the cold-blooded murder of her sister, friendship of another sister, undeniable pain and grief of her poor mother, and the grim future she set for her brother; the rose-colored glasses of childhood nostalgia for pathetic little interactions she had with her father that MEANT NOTHING TO HIM blinded her ass so much to the truth that it's honestly so fucking frustrating. While I enjoyed Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne, which I thought was an impressive debut, I found Elektra to be a more powerful and absorbing novel.

Besides, I am no scholar, so likely there is a reason for this discrepancy, which I simply do not know.ClytemnestraThe sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon - her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Or perhaps it is more appropriate to say I never could figure out why she couldn’t provide a reasonable voice to what she was seeing. There is no satisfaction here in this story, and I started getting so bored that I was sure I would DNF it.

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