It's no secret by now that I enjoy retellings, especially ones of myths and legends and those focusing on female characters, and with the current burst in Greek myth retellings, I'm certainly spoilt for choice! I had enjoyed Jennifer Saint's previous book, Ariadne, even if I had some issues with it so I was quite curious to see how she would approach a retelling of Elektra's story, one which I thought offered even more potential than Ariadne's.

I saw Aeschylus' original play performed in theatre all the way back when I was in high school and I read Colm Tóibín's House of Names a few years ago, so I knew there would hardly be any surprises in the plot, but I was looking forward to a more feminist take on the story, giving these women more of a voice. This time, the author chose to tell the story through three POVs, giving a voice to Cassandra, princess of Troy; Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon; and the titular Elektra, her daughter. If you're familiar with the original story, you'll know that all three women had the potential for being very complex characters as they slowly move through life to fulfil their tragic destinies. Unfortunately, this book didn't quite bring that out for me.

I did like the idea to have multiple POVs and particularly enjoyed following Cassandra's and Clytemnestra's perspectives. They took up most of the narrative, leaving Elektra's to actually be the least developed point of view, both from a narrative perspective and from a character development one. There was really very little insight into Elektra as a character, with her coming across mostly as a whiny, angry, spoiled child who acts exclusively on the basis of her hatred for her mother and the idolisation of her father. It felt as though she did very little beyond sulking and trying to find ways to hurt her mother.

Clytemnestra and Cassandra were slightly more developed and appeared more complex, which is probably what made their sections more enjoyable than Elektra's. Clytemnestra's grief, in particular, hit hard, as did Cassandra's frustration with her situation. In both cases, the ways in which their being women limited their options were nicely drawn out, but still did little to make this feel more than a more modern way to tell the exact same story. It didn't really feel like a feminist retelling, only like a retelling from a female character's point of view.

I did appreciate the way the author re-wrote Helen's character though! One thing that often annoys me in Trojan war retellings is the constant woman-on-woman hate when it comes to Helen, so I was happy to see that for once she was not described as a mean girl and there were multiple displays of solidarity between women.

I listened to the audiobook for part of this, alternating it with the e-arc, and it definitely improved the experience as all three narrators did an absolutely wonderful job of bringing the characters to life! Despite my issues with the characters in Elektra, I still really enjoyed the author's writing so I'll be curious to check out her future work to see if this was just a second-book problem.

Thank you to net galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I very much enjoyed this book and its deep history. As a massive Greek mythology fan I love reading some of the lesser known tales.

Jennifer’s writing is stunning and captures the reader right from the start. She creates such a vivid story that you feel you are part of it too. You feel the highs and the lows along with each characters.

I look forward to reading her next novel and any others to follow

Elektra by Jennifer Saint is a work of historical fiction that tells the story of the house of Atreus from the Trojan War to its aftermath through the perspectives of three women: Clytemnestra, Cassandra and Elektra.

Saint draws on classical sources from Homer, Aeschylus and Euripides to pull together a single story that combines the individual works by these authors. As an introduction to this story for people beginning to be interested in Greek mythology, it works; for fans, it utterly falls flat.

Part of why I was excited to read this is that Aeschylus and Euripides are famous for their portrayals of powerful women in the Oresteia and Elektra - feminist for their time. The source material had incredible potential.

However, in Saint's Elektra, the characters all have the same voice and are passive watchers - they have no agency and do nothing, not even in the conversations and are all breathlessly waiting in a whisper. It is not a feminist retelling; the only acts of agency Saint permits her characters are the ones that men gave them thousands of years ago in the original texts. It feels like Saint cannot imagine these characters in any way outside of how men have written them and written about them for years - though even Aeschylus's Clytemnestra has more verve and dynamism than Saint's. I found her the least convincing character. Saint's classical schooling hinders her writing, rather than nurtures it from the knowledge and research she has.

Elektra merely repeats the source material in a less effective way, without adding anything to the story: a telling, not a retelling, and definitely not feminist.

This is not to complain that all modern interpretations cannot live up to the original texts, but rather that the potential that source material offered was so strong. This novel is lukewarm by comparison. Plenty of other modern novels based on Greek myths have done a wonderful job at giving a fresh voice and a new take on old myths. It is a shame that Saint's Elektra does not sit among them.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

I have always found the story of Elecktra and her family's dysfunction fascinating and as well as enjoying the plays of Sophocles and Euripides, I have really enjoyed other modern retellings, such as Colm Toibin's House of Names. This version gives much more of a voice to Clytemnestra and Cassandra, it didn’t add much to the overall story but it was enjoyable to give these characters more of a voice. Overall this was a good read and I enjoyed revisiting the story but it wasn’t a favourite of the recent Greek myth retellings.

3.5 rounded to 4.

Overall impression is: I enjoyed the story, I was eager to pick up where I left off and continue reading. It was atmospheric, interesting but there was something missing in the writing. I personally believe this book lacked causing me to feel emotions, even though you would expect to feel emotions in a retelling like this.

From our three main female characters, Clytemnestra is by far the most complex and interesting one. Then comes Cassandra and then Elektra.

Elektra was downright infuriating. Now, I don't need to like the main characters, this is something I don't require at all. I can LOVE characters who are absolutely and utterly evil and despicable. But Elektra fell flat for me. You can describe her in three words: angry, spoiled, delusional. Her reasoning and thinking made no sense at all at times, and I definitely wasn't rooting for her. Once again, it's not like you need to be team one or the other, but it's just a general thing you do when you read books: you pick favourites. I think all three characters needed to be more complex, and we needed to understand, see and feel them in their entirety.

If we were to play the comparison game, which I know the author may not like, but it feels a part of every reader's nature to compare, I do like Ariadne a lot more.

If I were to recommend it to someone, I would describe it as a Greek myth retelling that focuses on the cycle of revenge, and the detrimental effects it has on each generation.

Having read previous titles from Jennifer Saint, I knew that this would be another brilliant read. I was not disappointed. I've always loved Greek mythology and this was another engrossing book.

Gorgeous writing, great character development and framing, and a fantastic example of a feminist re-telling. Saint continues to be one of the best of this genre.

I enjoyed this more than the previous novel by Jennifer Saint - Ariadne - but I think maybe I'm alone in that. I found this had less parts where nothing much was happening and I think that's because it had three point of view characters.

Despite being named Elektra I think that her point of view was actually the weakest - she was a hard character to spend time with and to want the best for, especially when she didn't recognise what this actually would have been.

Poor Cassandra was interesting and I knew the least of her story before reading (although, I'll admit that unless it was on the Kevin Sorbo Hercules series my knowledge of the actual myths isn't very in depth). I feel like she got the rough end of the stick throughout this whole story.

Clytemnestra for me was the strongest character in this story and I think the novel should have born her name rather than Elektra's but I'll admit it doesn't have the same ring to it. I enjoyed her point of view the most and felt her emotional depth more than the other two and I also think that she is the wheel that the novel turns on.

Overall, I enjoyed the links between the stories and how it showed the varied response to shared history - also it showed how two people can see the same events so differently and how this shapes the future for everyone.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Another gem from a brilliant author. I love this author and this is one that hasn’t disappointed. This is a book that has pulled me in and I have devoured in just one sitting.
Addictive plot, great characters and a book that is worthy of all the praise.

Elektra is a beautiful retelling of the lives of three women from Greek mythology, but probably could’ve been a bit shorter.

Elektra tells us the story of Elektra, Clytemnestra and Cassandra, three women all tangled up in the Trojan war, but lesser known than the famous Helen.

It was interesting to read about the Trojan war from a different perspective than the men fighting it. The closest one to the war in this book was Cassandra, and though I understand the purpose of her POV (a different woman than Helen experiencing the war), her story felt a bit like a tool to show how time progressed, while Elektra and Clytemnestra did their thing back in Mycenae.

It seemed most of the focus was on Clytemnestra, with her plotting and planning, while Elektra did little more than skulk around angrily. Which also brings me to my biggest pet peeve with this book: barely anything happened with Clytemnestra and Elektra, but a LOT of words were used for it. There was a lot of repetition with the inner dialogue of these two POVs, which somehow made Cassandra’s POV the most interesting one, despite feeling a bit disconnected from the rest.

Despite of these things, I still very much enjoyed Elektra. The way it was written is beautiful, as we by now expect from Jennifer Saint. It was interesting to experience the war from different POVs, to see how life went on for the women that were left behind. Despite very little happening, it still felt like an epic story.

I absolutely loved this retelling of the story of the Trojan War, from the perspective of some of the women at the heart of the story. Jennifer Saint really breathed life into these classical characters, all of them flawed but their motivations now made understandable (particularly Clytemnestra, I felt.) The three viewpoints of Elektra, Clytemnestra and Cassandra were all very different and gave a well rounded feel to the story. If I had to say where my sympathies lay, however, it certainly wouldn't be with the titular character. Get a grip, love.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book – Jennifer Saint has done it again! I love the way it explored all the character's conflicting motivations, which provided great insight into why they behaved the way they did.

I dove straight into this title after reading Jennifer Saint's first novel 'Ariadne', as I loved it so much. I do like retellings of Greek mythology/characters, regardless of how much I already know about them/the history/mythology.

Told from the point of view of three women: Elektra, Clytemnestra, and Cassandra, during the Trojan war and its aftermath.

Elektra - missing her father terribly, and watching her mother Clytemnestra sit in his seat, ruling in his place, and flaunting her lover before the court. Clytemnestra - mourning the murder of her firstborn child by her husband Agamemnon, and plotting her revenge against him on his return. Cassandra - a Trojan princess punished by the God Apollo, cursed with uttering prophecies that no one will believe, captured and brought to Mycenae as a spoil of war.

I enjoyed that this was form the point of view of those suffering outside of the Trojan War, with the added benefit of having an alternate POV from inside, in the character of Cassandra.

We have heard realms of facts surrounding the classical story of the Trojan War over the years, but prepare yourself for a fresh twist - Jennifer Saint brings new insight by focusing on the perspective of three women, who are impacted by the events preceding, during and post the Trojan War: Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon and sister of Helen, whose life is torn asunder as her husband pledges the highest offering to the gods for safe passage to War; Cassandra, Princess of Troy, who is gifted by Apollo with foresight, but cursed as no one hears or pays attention to her warnings and finally Elektra, the youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, who is horrified by the bloodiness of the war her family are embroiled in. The House of Atreus is cursed to this cycle of violence and bloodshed. Can it be broken?
The book cleverly jumps between the perspectives of the three women to unravel their stories. The story of the women is gripping, heart-rending in places, and emphasises the potent inner strength of these women in the face of seeming powerlessness at the hands of selfish men and gods. Perfect for fans of similar female centred classical stories like Circe by Madeleine Miller, and Ariadne, also by Jennifer Saint. #elektra #netgalley #jennifersaint

A great retelling of the events of the Trojan war from the point of view of three woman whose lives were changed forever as a result of the actions of Agamemnon. Whilst staying true to the original myths and Homeric stories, this book delved into the psychological impact that the war had on the women left behind and the woman captured and taken. This book is vey well written and gives you a real insight into life in ancient times during a time of turmoil.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and held my attention. I will be reading more from this author :)

I wanted to love this, especially as I recently read and was totally gripped by ARIADNE. The sad reality is, ELEKTRA just isn’t up to the same standard in my opinion. I found the story lacklustre and we skipped over large time periods where nothing seemed to happen, the characters were flat (especially Elektra and Cassandra), and as someone who has not extensively read Greek mythology, I found myself having to Google gods and myths that weren’t explained. It took me days to finish as I wasn’t excited to come back to it and I was relieved when I reached the end. Second books are tough, hopefully the next will be better!

I really enjoyed Ariadne by Jennifer Saint last year, so when another classical retelling was announced I requested an ARC, and was lucky enough to be approved. This has another stunning cover. This turns out to follow not just Elektra’s story – daughter to Agamemnon, walking dumpster-fire that he is – but also Clytemnestra, her mother, and Cassandra, famously disbelieved oracle of Troy. Once again the theme in these retellings focus on the women’s side of the story – we all know the tale of Troy and its heroes, but not so much the royal women connected to these heroes. I knew parts of the story, but not all of them, and it was a suitably uncomfortable read – and very quick to, considering it is a classical setting and tale. Very keen to see whose history Saint will cover next!

I loved Ariadne and it has been one of my most recommended titles in store this year, having chosen it for my book of the month at the point of paperback release, as well as having Jennifer across for an event. I was concerned that Elektra wouldn't capture my attention in the same way - but I needn't have worried.

Just like Ariadne, the author had me invested in the characters almost immediately. Although I, like many, was well versed in the myth concerning Helen and the Trojan Wars - I had very little knowledge of Clytemnestra and Elektra, or even Cassandra. All three women take centre stage with the novel focusing on their POVs. Their complexities are explored and they come alive on the pages. Jennifer Saint excels in creating well rounded and relatable women, fleshing them out with flaws, whilst sensitively navigating their often difficult relationships and their roles in the myth.

Jennifer Saint has without doubt become a must buy author for me, and I cannot wait to read more from her.

Oh god this book was everything I wanted and more. I was scared that I wouldn't love this as much as Ariadne but I honestly think I ended up loving this one more.

I love Jennifer Saint's writing style, how it completely grasps hold of you and has you never wanting it to let you go.

I loved seeing this story told from the perspective of these three women, who you honestly don't see a lot of. Cassandra is such an interesting character and I wish more authors wrote from her perspective!

I haven't been able to stop thinking about this book and I cannot wait to read what Saint comes out with next.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.