I really enjoyed this retelling of the well known Greek myth. I found the characterisation to be very convincing and the characters, although not all likeable, totally captivating. The split narrative definitely worked in keeping me engaged and I loved the different female perspectives.

An excellent retelling of the Fall of Troy, as told by three women affected and inter-connected by the generational cycle of blood-letting vengeance. Clytemnestra, the sister of Helen and the wife of abusive leader Agammemnon. Cassandra, an acolyte of Apollo and the sister of Paris, who is cursed with the ability to fortell tragedy but is never believed. And finally, Elektra the agrieved and bitter daughter of Clytemnestra and Agammemnon. The current trend of retelling and reinvigorating the classics does not appear to be abating. This is a very good example of why this is likely to continue. Far removed from the classical heroic storytelling, Saint is able to flesh out the well known tragedies with emotional and graphic context of women affected by and subjected to violence. It is a compelling and atmospheric read despite the fact that we all know where this ends.

Honestly I’ve been a bit confused about the choice of the title because till the second half of the book Elektra is just a very marginal character still there was Clytemnestra who is one of my favorite characters ever so I didn’t really mind (still if you want to read a great retelling about her I highly recommend Daughters of Sparta).

The choice of telling Elektra’s story is very interesting, she is not a likable character, she is just a girl who has put her father on a pedestal and is unable to see things clearly. Saint did an amazing job in understanding her way of thinking.

While reading this I actually felt so much pity for Orestes, a boy who is not ready to kill his mother cold hearted, but who is very very unsure till the very end. I just wanted to enter the pages and tell him: please don’t do that, and his final moments with Clytemnestra are just excruciating!

I appreciated this book more than Ariadne actually, it could be even be because I’m more familiar with the story but I think it’s really easy to create a connection with characters like Clytemnestra and Cassandra.

Thank you NetGalley and Elektra for the eARC in exchange for a honest review.
I adored this Saint's 'Elektra', devouring the book in less than 24hours.
Saint skilfully entwines three narratives that vary in temporal and spatial landscapes together so that we see the progression from youthful naivety into vengeful womanhood for Clytemnestra, Cassandra and Elektra. She navigates the discourse of childhood neglect into understanding the autonomy and agency that each character possessed in their life and the lack thereof in their deaths. Saint portrays them as honestly and vividly as she can without the judgement of the male gaze that has lingered over them since they were first conjured.
She wonderfully explores characterisation through their interpersonal relationships with their mothers and fathers particularly, as well as their beliefs, their loyalties, and their decisions.
Throughout the narrative, the pacing remains constant allowing the plot to remain immersive. Elektra is an impressive feat of storytelling prowess. I will be recommending to all.

Thank you to Headline and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The stories where Clytemnestra, Elektra, and Cassandra intersect have always been particularly interesting to me because of the multitude of perspectives involved, so I was very excited to read this new retelling of them, especially because I loved the author's first book Ariadne!

The book switches between Clytemnestra, Elektra, and Cassandra's POVs, giving us an insight into each of the pivotal characters' thoughts, feelings, and priorities. Clytemnestra and Cassandra are characters that are easy to sympathise with and feel empathy for because of their tragic circumstances.

What I wasn't expecting was that I would find Elektra's POV quite challenging to read, although in hindsight I probably should have. This wasn't in any way because of bad writing. In fact it was pretty much the opposite: the author conveyed Elektra's feelings so well that it wasn't until close to the end of the book that I was finally able to get past how infuriating I found her and sympathise with her a little bit. My reaction to her characterisation was wholly based on my INTENSE hatred of Agamemnon, and I do wonder how I would feel about her if I wasn't already very familiar with the original myths.

I was very intrigued to start this book, since Ariadne was a very interesting read. I enjoyed Saints writing and wanted to see what she could do with another Greek myth. Turns out that while Ariadne was good, Elektra is just short of brilliant.

The story follow three women on different sides during the Trojan war. Clytemnestra is the queen of Mycenae, twin sister of Helen and a grieving mother who will seek revenge for her murdered eldest daughter. Elektra is her youngest daughter, who misses her father and worries about her fate. Lastly is Cassandra, a princess of Troy and cursed to speak the truth but never be believed.

At first I wasn’t sure how I was going to like having three different POVs. It turns out that it was exactly what this kind of story needed for me to really enjoy it. The books main characters are three very different women, and it is hard for me to pick a favourite. All three of them had their own strengths and flaws, there was no clear-cut good or evil person. Which is down to Saints careful writing of the characters, and just writing in general. There was always something interesting happening, without it feeling either forced or too much. The language is poetic and wonderful, and I couldn’t help but to get sucked into the world within the book. It’s the best mythological retelling I’ve read so far, and I can’t wait for Saints next book!

Elektra by Jennifer Saint is a retelling centred on the curse of The House of Atreus and the Trojan War, it’s causes, and aftermath told from the perspectives of three women affected; Cassandra, Princess of Troy cursed to see the future but not be believed; Clytemnestra, sister of Helen and wife of Agamemnon; Elektra, youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon.

After reading and loving Jennifer Saint’s debut, Ariadne, I couldn’t wait to read her new novel, Elektra and I was not disappointed. Elektra has a darker, more violent tone to the story than Ariadne, but this is perfect for this retelling. Each woman’s story is shaped by the vengeance and brutality, and all are overlooked in their power and significance to the wider story. Clytemnestra is consumed by her determination to seek revenge for a great betrayal and whose rippling effects touch the life and actions of her youngest daughter. Elektra is unwavering in her adoration for her beloved father and seeks her own revenge on his behalf, thus continuing the curse on her bloodline. Cassandra’s story is perhaps the most wretched, cursed by Apollo to know the truth, but her ravings never believed and her reluctant acceptance of this was utterly heart-breaking.

I think Jennifer Saint has crafted a brilliant piece of historical fiction, she brings to life the feelings and inner thoughts of each of these characters, and I enjoy how she centres the women of this well-known story in her own retelling, breathing fresh life into and a new perspective on this story. I very much look forward to reading further retellings by Jennifer Saint in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for a digital copy for review.

I really enjoyed seeing the three different women's stories in this book and seeing how their stories intertwined. I think this book shouldn't be called Elektra as it's a bit misleading as she is the one who the story focuses least on and instead takes a focus on her mother. I did enjoy this story and I read it in one sitting but I found it to not really be a feminist retelling of female empowerment but instead to be one where women defend men's wrong doings so definitely not something I wanted. I also felt there was a lack of beautiful quotes which is what made me love Ariadne so much, her writing was so beautiful and impactful, all of which felt lost in this book. Overall a good book but not comparable to Ariadne which is what I was hoping for.

I must admit that I felt a modicum of intimidation when I first turned the page and began reading Elektra.
To my shame, I have yet to read Ariadne, even though I own a stunning edition. I let the enormity of the praise it received strike fear in me, and now, with Elektra releasing on Thursday, April 28th, I had to bite the bullet and venture into Jennifer Saint’s dazzling world.
How foolish I was to delay this eloquent read!
The language is some of the most breathtaking that I’ve ever read. It flows with the ease of wine from a decanter in a vivid and luscious way. A lyrical read that dazzles you with the glorious world-building told through the eyes of three magnificent women.

In a story that spans the decades, we follow Elektra, Cassandra, and Clytemnestra, their lives being joined together like the threads of a delicately woven tapestry as they take us through the tragedy and pain of war, watching as it tears their lives and worlds apart and how love is twisted and transformed into nothing more than bitterness and revenge. And the path each of them takes.
And, of course, there are the Gods. Rarely seen, yet always felt and ever-present, is it they who are the true bringers of destruction?

Elektra is a richly captivating tale that enthralls you with every page.
Beyond mesmerising, I cannot wait to read Ariadne and am excited for what is next to come from Jennifer Saint.

I adore Saint's writing and she brings the world of greek myth to life. This book kept me on my toes and it was so hard to put down. I have not read many greek mythology books, but Saint truly captures my interests with her works. This one was just as amazing as Ariadne and I would totally recommend it to anyone who loves a well written story that keeps you wanting to know more.

I didn't read Ariadne and I was curious to see what this retelling of the story of Elektra was going to be.
The stories of the Atreidae are a complex mix of violence, revenge, and the women in this family were already strong women as told by Sophocles or Euripides.
As for Cassandra I think that the novel by Christa Wolf was the mother of all the Greek mythology feminist retelling.
That said I think that the author did a good job in developing her version of Elektra/Clytemnestra and Cassandra but even if I liked them I felt like something was missing and the mythological heroines were stronger and more complex.
It's an interesting read, the characters are fleshed out, and the historical side is well researched.
But I felt like the voice of the characters was too modern for such majestic and archaic heroines.
I'm sure this book can be appreciated by a lot of people, especially if you never met this women before.
It was not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

„The day might come when I'm tired of feminist mythology retellings. But I wouldn't bet on it.“ - This comment on Goodreads perfectly summed up my feelings after reading Elektra. Yet another Greek myth retelling that has left me wanting more.

Elektra tells the story of three women, Clytemnestra, Cassandra and Elektra, whose lives are impacted by the Trojan War in different ways. While all three of their stories revolve around the relationship and bond between mother and daughter, Jennifer Saint manages to sketch out three completely distinct experiences and gives each of her characters a perspective that is unique to them. While I personally could not particularly empathize with Elektra as a person, I still appreciated experiencing the story from her point of view. I mainly attribute this to Jennifer Saint’s talent for developing storylines and characters over several decades and giving the reader an insight into the motivation behind their actions without ever making it feel too lengthy or too condensed.

The only critique that I have is that the title of this book was quite misleading to me, as I felt like this was much more Clytemnestra’s than Elektra’s story and I kept on waiting for that to change, which never happened. The book spanned Clytemnestra’s entire life and most major plot points were either centered around or even led by her, including a turning point that felt similar to Ariadne’s in her own story. In comparison, Elektra and Cassandra felt like much more passive characters.

Ultimately though, Elektra can definitely keep up with Jennifer Saint’s previous novel Ariadne and will not leave you fans of Greek myth retelling’s disappointed!

Elektra follows in the vein of Saint's previous book, Ariadne examining a well known Greek myth through the eyes of the female population.

Elektra is focussed on the Trojan war and the Helen of Troy. Seen primarily through the eyes of Helen's sister Clytemnestra, Cassandra the daughter of Priam and Elektra the youngest daughter of Agamemnon.. The story is a well known one and this book is unlikely to tell you anything that you didn't already know. However, the domestic perspective and the relative inability to act due to their sex, allows these female characters to highlight the true consequences of male warmongering.

Beautifully written this is sure to be a hit with fans of historical fiction.

So, first things first - I didn’t love this book, and I hate reviewing books I didn’t love. Just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t reduce the time and effort and spirit that go into a writing a novel. Give it’s been a topic of discussion on booksta today - please don’t tag the author or publisher on to this! They don’t need to know I didn’t like it for exactly this reason!

Also, tbh, I have this account because I like books and talking about ones I didn’t like so much just makes me a bit sad. And that is even worse when the book in question is one I’ve been excited for for a while. I liked Ariadne, and I’m still on the Greek myths hype train, so I was really excited to get my hands on this one.

Unfortunately though, Elektra fell very flat for me. The title character wasn’t one I related to at all, and for a feminist retelling I found her very, well, anti-feminist. I also found the different POVs too similar to really be distinctive, instead feeling confused about which character I was with.

I did enjoy the sections focused on Clytemnestra and I would have loved if the whole book was from her POV - her sections were absolutely fascinating and were where I felt most engaged in the book.

If you don’t already like Saint, I don’t think you’ll find anything new here that you wouldn’t have found in Ariadne. I will still pick up her next book when it comes out, out of interest, but unfortunately won’t be rushing to recommend this one to friends.

Ariadne was one of my favourite books so I was so excited to receive a copy of Elektra, I adore a feminist retelling of Greek mythology and Jennifer Saint is one of the best at it. What i found really interesting in this story was how dis-jointed and not United the women appeared to be, which is really interesting as it tends to be a cliche in a lot of literature and history that women are United in times of war and grief and I loved that this dispelled that myth. Emotion and anger, hurt, betrayal drives revenge and can cause extreme bitterness and some to violence. I loved the honesty and true portrayal of women at their best and worst however it is portrayed. I found this to be an all consuming read, easy to pick up but not so to put down again. I look forward to so many more books from Jennifer Saint as she has a definite addict in me

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Elektra follows three women linked together by events not always under their control. Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon and sister of Helen is left devastated when the Gods demand a sacrifice. Cassandra, Princess of Troy and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed. And Elektra, youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon who is caught up in the cycle of violence.

We see the events surrounding the Trojan War through the eyes of these three women and it brings a fresh take to a story which has been told many times. War is often a tale of men but Jennifer Saint manages to demonstrate how often the decisions of these men impact the lives of women. War always has a cost and Elektra shows just how far reaching this cost can be.

The women each have distinct voices which makes it easy to distinguish between the chapters. The writing is beautiful and even if you know these myths you’re still drawn in by the way the characters come alive. In fact, the wedding of Iphigenia became more tense and dramatic because I knew how it ended.

Each character is complex and while not always likeable, their motivations seem real and believable. The relationship between Clytemnestra and Elektra was one of the highlights, a realistic portrayal of what love and grief can do to a mother and daughter.

The themes of loss, betrayal, violence and revenge are all dealt with masterfully and show that history can and does have a habit of repeating itself. And even if you know what’s coming, as Cassandra did, you can’t always do anything about it.

This is a skilful retelling of a well-known myth, but also a fascinating exploration of the lives and feelings of three key women, two of whom in particular have been ignored and neglected in previous retellings.

The characters and writing style are engaging, and the three very different first-person viewpoints work well. The titular character, Elektra, is somewhat unusual in having been given her own platform by the ancient Greek tragedians as well as later playwrights, but her story here nevertheless manages to bring something new to her portrayal. The other narrators, Clytemnestra and Cassandra, have been sorely neglected in the literary canon, and are here given powerful voices which help the reader understand their suffering, desires and motivations. Clytemnestra in particular is shown in a very different light from her usual portrayal as pure evil.

The author does a good job of weaving together the familiar strands of the myth into a compelling and convincing story - or as convincing as a mythological retelling can be.

My only small criticism is that the last 25% or so, after the end of the war, felt excessively drawn-out. But overall this was gripping and enjoyable, despite my familiarity with the story.

With thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Jennifer Saint has delivered another brilliant retelling of Greek mythology!

As in her first book, Ariadne, Saint focuses on telling the stories of the women who are far too often overlooked. This book is centred around the House of Atreus and the events of the Trojan war, but rather than focusing on the men in battle it’s told from the point of view of the women caught in the middle.

Clytemnestra, the wife of Greek leader Agamemnon, is the strongest voice of this book. She is written with such nuance and care, diving deeply into her grief and desire for revenge.

There are also chapters told from the point of view of Cassandra, a Trojan princess and prophet. It was particularly refreshing to have her take centre stage, but I was left wanting more from her story, she could very easily carry a whole book in her own.

The final narrator is the titular Elektra, daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. Despite the title, Elektra is least present of the three narrators. However it still feels fitting that the book is named after her, a large theme of this book is the legacy and consequences of your actions and Clytemnestra and Agamemnon’s both culminate in Elektra.

I’m well familiar with the story but it was definitely interesting to hear it from the perspective of each woman. Saint doesn’t deviate greatly from the traditional mythology, it doesn’t shy away from depicting some of the more horrific events and our narrators are still very much constrained by the male dominated world they live in but that doesn’t mean their story’s aren’t worth telling.

The writing is such a strength of this book, it was a joy to read and so easy to consume! Even if you have no knowledge of Greek mythology I think you would pick up the story quickly and I’m sure I’ll be recommending it as a great entry point to the genre in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. It is a great retelling of Greek mythology. I’ve read a few books recently that feature the myth around Helen of Troy and the women that surround her and this is definitely one of my favourites. The characters are written so powerfully and with so much character that they really bring the story alive. This book has definitely increased my understanding and love for the Greek myths. I can’t wait for more….

Wow, what a brilliant retelling of such a powerful story. I loved Ariadne last year and was awaiting the next read from Jennifer Saint with baited breath. I wasn’t disappointed. This is a wonderful story full of strong female characters - I loved how the stories of the three women wove together - their strengths and flaws made for such a rich tapestry. The writing is beautifully descriptive - the horrors of war side by side with the glittery and excessive jewels of the palaces really brought the history to life.