I received an Audiobook ALC of this work from the publisher, via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

On the aural side of things, I thought all three narrators did wonderfully. That said, I do feel like Clytemnestra’s voice comes across as too old. One often overlooked aspect about the Greek epics is that it’s actors are all a lot younger than you would think. Otherwise, all of them delivered their lines impeccably and with much emotions, making this a fun and engaging listen.

Moving on to the narrative itself. All things considered, this book is a collection of beautiful sentences stitched together with bad writing. Why do I say that? Well, it all has to do with the lack of purpose running through the narrative that Jennifer weaves. One does not have to look further than the book’s title to see what I mean. Despite being the titular character, Elektra appears much later in the story while Clytemnestra and Cassandra’s point of views dominates in the first part. Even though Cassandra’s story is captivating, she feels shoved in unnecessarily as her story is largely tangential to the mother-daughter pair and she mostly fades into the background towards the end. Including her as a POV character, from my perspective, distracted us from the core of the story and the overall effect is an over-arching narrative that seems more like wallowy navel-gazing. Many other reviewers have already called out Elektra’s characterization for being weak and while I somewhat agree, I can’t help but feel like this could be easily remedied with the sections on Cassandra (as fascinating as they are) removed and replaced with a further development of Elektra’s voice.

This work does have its clever moments though. I particularly liked that bit where Elektra’s decision to marry is told across two chapters. While Elektra cooly rationalizes it as an act of survival, Clytemnestra regarded the situation as an act of petulant rebellion. Seeing this contrast was delightful and made the story seem a lot more nuanced and sophisticated. So really, it’s not that there’s nothing interesting about the stories this book tells. It’s just that this novel’s potential is held back by its poor construction.

Overall this is not something that I would recommend to lovers of Greek mythology as there isn’t much that’s new or remarkable about it. That said, this could be a good stepping stone for those who are eager to learn more about classical antiquity.

My thanks to NetGalley and Wildfire publishing for the opportunity to review this audible book.
Yet another brilliant mythological retelling by Jennifer Saint superbly narrated.
Highly recommend.

The excellent narration of this book made it all the more enjoyable. We follow the lives of Clytemnestra (sister of Helen of Troy), Elektra(her daughter), and Cassandra(Princess of Troy). After Agamemnon takes Cassandra back to Mycenae as his prize we hear about how Elektra idolises her father, Agamemnon, and cannot understand why her mother hates him so much and how she, in turn, hates her mother. With lots of vivid descriptions I enjoyed reading this well known story from a different perspective. Thank you to Net Galley for an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first Jennifer Saint retelling I have read and I found it to be a beautifully told, and engaging alternative view of the events of the Trojan War.

Having now listened to all of it, I did feel a little misled by the title, I was really intrigued to read it as I knew nothing about Elektra's story prior to reading this, so was kinda surprised to keep hearing from Clytemnestra and Cassandra, and very little from or about Elektra, it was kind of an Elektra origin story, but her story ultimately doesn't really go anywhere.

I also thought this was going to be a feminist retelling, but it didn't read that way to me, but just as the events of Troy from the perspective of two women and, to some extent, the child Elektra growing up with an absent father. Those women had just as much agency, independence, and courage, as they seem to have in the legends, they can't escape their fate, they don't or can't prevent or influence the actions of any of the make characters, they are not regarded with any kind of respect by any of the male characters, and they don't really stand up for themselves or attempt to be seen or heard.

With the above in mind, I would still recommend the book to readers of mythological retellings, as long as readers do not expect anything different except for the female viewpoint. It was an interesting, mainly dual perspective, though sometimes it did feel like Cassandra was there in order to have the more well-known and 'interesting' events of Troy included, rather than for her impact to Clytemnestra or Elektra's stories, she only fleetingly touches their lives, and Elektra's reaction to her, in particular, meant that I could not relate to Elektra from that point on.
<spoiler> When Cassandra is captured, raped, and assaulted by Agamemnon and brought back to Mycenae, Elektra has idolised her father so much, that she is envious of Cassandra for having Agamemnon's favour or attention, which was really disturbing for me to hear</spoiler>

The audiobook is really well done, with different narrators for each of the different viewpoints, I would definitely recommend the audiobook.

Please read trigger warnings, though some of the events are off-page, or non-graphic, they are still there, and there are potentially shocking events for those who do not know the story.

I am new the Mythology genre and found this to be a very accessible introduction to the genre.

Following three women during the Trojan war I was interested to see the different experiences depending on where the women were during that period of time.

All three women were very well written and while I did not agree with Elektra's view of her father I could understand why she may view him that way.

The audiobook for this was excellently narrated and I'm very pleased I read and listened to this one.

This retelling of Elektra relates the Trojan War from the perspective of Clymenestra, wife of Agamemnon, Cassandra the princess of Troy and Elektra daughter of Clymenestra.

I loved hearing those three different point of views and more precisely hearing about those fearless women. I expected to learn more about Elektra but in reality the story focuses on the three women at equal parts. Beth Eyre, Jane Collingwood and Julie Teal did such a good job at giving voices to the characters, they embodied them perfectly.
However, I found some passages really long, some characters tend to repeat themselves or repeat what has already been said.
The mythological part seems pretty much accurate, but i am not an expert in Greek mythology.
Overall, it is a compelling story and I loved the atmosphere of the book.

Enjoyed the narration and the beginning of the book, found that near the end I stopped paying as close attention. Unsure it this was because the narration was so relaxing or because the book was a bit of a slow burner imo.

If you enjoy Greek mythology you’ll most likely enjoy this but just be aware it’s a slow one.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this arc, so grateful to have been able to listen to this in advance.

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

Needed more clarity between some characters and felt dull often. Which is wild considering the story it’s based on. It didn’t really feel like a feminist retelling either from my perspective.

I was not expecting ELEKTRA to be my final book of 2022! I was expecting it to be a paperback, but then I started a puzzle and my brain decided to be OK with an audiobook while doing that, and thus this was the last book I read in the year (I finished at about 5 to midnight!)

Like with ARIADNE, this book might be called after one woman, but it's a misnomer of a title as it's really about three women and, in some respects, Elektra is the secondary narrator. Really this is Clytemnestra's book (as implied by her being the first one mentioned in the blurb), her story of grief and how her need for revenge clouds her remembrance that she has other children.

Elektra is then, probably, the secondary narrator. She has a very different view on it to her mother as she idolises him and, in his absence, makes him into someone perfect. It was interesting seeing the difference in their views, how it drives them against one another because neither can let go of what they think is the right way to live.

Cassandra is also in the book, to give some view of the Trojan War. I was glad that there wasn't much of that war (as it's been retold so many times now.) Instead, the book focuses on Cassandra not being believed and how that makes her feel, her attempts to save the city. There are mentions of the major events in the Trojan War, but they are not the focus, and that was a very refreshing change.

There are three narrators, one for each woman, which is useful as it's in first person and only the first chapter from each of them has a name informing you which narrator you are dealing with. I would have liked it if they said the name each time as I usually had to wait for a few sentences before I could work out which character we were with (I don't find it easy to distinguish unfamiliar voices.)

However, I did very much enjoy it, and it's made me more interested to read the next book by her, ATALANTA.

"Elektra" by Jennifer Saint is, a Greek retelling about Clytemnestra and her daughter Elektra and Cassandra during the Trojan War.


I would give Elektra" by Jennifer Saint a 1-star review because, 1; it isn't even historically accurate 2; I would think this is more about Elektra but it isn't and 3' there isn't any kind of twists it says its a retelling but there isn't anything new like I said,

This is my first Greek mythology retelling and I really enjoyed it as an audiobook. I listened to it in two days and was impressed by the beautiful prose and intriguing characters. On my tiktok review, I gave it 4.25 stars. My username is @amberbayleyauthor

I’m really getting into Greek mythology retellings at the moment and this was brilliant! I love the drama, the tension, and being in a world that I find so fascinating.

The audiobook was really great too - excellent narration and kept me interested! I have Atalanta by Jennifer Saint on NetGalley too that I’m excited to start in the new year after finishing this!

Love!! Just as good as the audio book for Ariadne. I will always read Jennifer Saint’s retellings.beautiful writing which comes across gorgeously on audio.

Elektra is a good feminist mythological retelling of some of the Trojan War’s most overlooked characters.

Clytemnestra. Cassandra. Elektra. Three women inextricably connected to the Trojan war, tragedy and vengeance, powerless to save those they love.

I was intrigued to read the in-depth stories of these three women, who are often treated more as an after-thought in traditional versions of the Trojan War. I liked seeing chapters from all three’s perspectives and it gave a good breadth of storytelling. The voice of each is distinct and reinforced in the audiobook by the great decision to have separate voice actors for each.

For me, the excellence of Saint’s writing really shows in Clytemnestra’s view points. I found them very insightful, skilfully written and augmented by a powerful voice performance. She is a distraught, clever and determined woman and mother.

We meet Cassandra and Elektra as young girls. I thought it was an interesting take on Cassandra for her to keenly seek the “gift” of prophecy. Her chapters grew on me; moving from a similarity to Elektra through to a poignant moment of understanding between her and Clytemnestra.

Elektra was a character I knew little about and I was excited to find out more. However, although she may be the titular character, there is not much from her until closer to the end. I understood her motivations and yet found her a hard character to understand. She grated on me at times.

I would highly recommend the audiobook. It would be helpful if each chapter started with whose viewpoint it is, (as happens in the other formats,) as it was confusing at first.

Having previous read Jennifer Saint's Ariadne and loving it, I was really excited by this book.

I like the narrator. Was a great choice for reading this novel.

For a book titled Elektra, to me, it didn't feel much like Elektra's book. I'm not sure that made sense, but hopefully it did. I love Cassandra, but I'm biased because I feel for her in mythology anyways. Helen not so much.

This is one of those books I have to be in a very specific mind place for, I think.

Another excellent re telling of Greek mythology, making the stories accessible to all.. These type of books help to bring the sometimes unknown woman to the front of the Myths.

Elektra is not just about one woman, its the story of three different woman, Elektra, Clystemnestra and Cassandra. We discover through the book how these three woman are each are effected by the Trojan War.

Although the title of the book is Elektra I felt that the story around Clystemnestra , who is Elektra's mother, wife of Agamemnon and sister of Helen of Troy fame, a much more interesting character. Maybe the author chose Elektra as the title to make it easier to ask for in book shops.
One thing for sure, it that the women of Greek mythology are as deadly as the men.

Thank you to the publishers and Goodreads for an advanced Audio copy in return for a honest review.

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I am a newbie to Greek mythology and my only knowledge really comes from children’s stories as I haven’t ventured into this much in the past. However, this book was very easily accessible for someone like me who doesn’t understand or know the mythology behind it and it was made clear throughout.

I love a mythological retelling, especially when the focus is on the often forgot about women. Saint is unparalleled at these re-tellings and her research and knowledge of the myths are truly awe inspiring. She did an amazing job at giving the overlooked women a voice and a backstory I had never heard of.

This book had multiple narratives focusing on three different women, this format worked really well for the novel, although I definitely found myself having favourite and least favourite protagonists, the eponymous character actually being my least favourite.

The writing was poetic, it flowed well although at times I found myself being a little confused at who’s chapter we were on and it would take me a while to realise, so I suppose more differentiation between chapters would of helped me personally, although it didn’t take away from the story too much.

My biggest issue with the book was my dislike of the character Elektra, I found her intolerable, childish, petty and couldn’t understand her favouring her awful father over her mother after everything Agamemmnon did to them and her own sister. I just couldn’t get on board with her contempt. This bugged me through out but again, didn’t take away too much from the overall plot.

Im so glad I got to listen to this on audio format it definitely elevated the experience for me.

This book is a wonderful telling / retelling of the Greek myths, something that I immensely enjoyed reading when I was growing up.

At the heart of it we have three formidable women: Clytemnestra, Cassandra, and Elektra.

Clytemnestra is the twin sister of Helen of Troy. Helen marries Menelaus, and Clytemnestra marries his brother, Agamemnon. The two brothers belong to the House of Atreus, which is cursed because of the family’s past bloodsheds. Clytemnestra’s wish to lift the curse ends when Helen falls in love with Paris, and the two of them flee to Troy.

Cassandra is the Trojan princess and sister of Paris. She is given a gift of prophecy by Apollo, but she quickly realises it’s a curse, as no one believes her visions – her family regard her mad. She can foresee the fall of Troy, but no one listens to her.

Elektra is Agamemnon’s and Clytemnestra’s daughter, the apple of her father’s eye. When Menelaus raises an army to attack Troy, Agamemnon follows to fight alongside his brother. Elektra desperately misses her father and awaits his return from war.

I truly enjoyed this book. I was captivated by the Greek myths, the violence of men, and women who were left behind and had to carry on as normal.

All three women were strong and resourceful, especially Clytemnestra. She was by far my favourite character. The chapter where she and her daughter Iphigenia arrive at what they believe is Iphigenia’s wedding to Apollo, was by far the best one in the book. It was brutal, yet honest. The aftermath portrayed a raw mother’s grief, followed by Clytemnestra’s revenge.

My least favourite character was Elektra. She idolised her father and resented her mother based on gossip. I wish she could have spoken to her mother a bit more and ask her the questions she was asking others. Maybe the outcome would have been different.

This audiobook was beautifully narrated by Beth Eyre, Jane Collingwood and Julie Teal. I definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Wildfire/ Headline Audio for approving my NetGalley request to listen to this wonderful audiobook.