I adore Greek myth re-tellings and this one did not disappoint. The story is told from 3 perspectives, this can be confusing with the audiobook at first, as I did not feel it was obvious at first. However, once you realise the book comes flowing to life. If you are a fan of Circe, Song of Achilles then this one you will also love.

The story was interesting and great if you love Song of Achilles, Circe or any retellings generally speaking; however this is a novel told from 3 POV. It's a fact I realized about 2/3 into the book😐. Listening to audiobook I didn't know who's telling the story at the moment and it's my biggest complaint that it wasn't more divided.

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

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.

I thought the audiobook narration was spot on - usually I have to speed the playback up, but this was paced at just the right speed for me. The different voices fit the three narrating characters perfectly, and I just thought the whole production was great.

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

I loved Ariadne by Jennifer Saint so was very much looking forward to listening to Elektra. I have really enjoyed the recent flurry of Greek retellings that have been published and the story in this book is fantastic. Full of strong female characters, Gods and Goddesses, royalty, war and murder; this book had it all! However, despite the huge excitement within the text I felt that the audiobook narration let it down a little. I found the three narrators' voices very similar and it was difficult to discern who was talking at times. I also found that they lacked excitement and passion, particularly during really exciting passages of text. The voices were so calm and soothing throughout, I actually found them quite soporific which did not really fit with what was happening within the book at times. I have a copy of the book and may have to give it a re-read as I found the audiobook let it down somewhat by being quite flat.
My rating reflects how good the book is, but is lower than it should be because of the audio sadly.

Just finished reading Song of Achilles so this was a great follow on read!! Really enjoyed this and all 3 narrators gave a great POV changeover. The story itself was very interesting. I'm new to greek mythology so really enjoyed learning the next part of the story. Real soft gentle tone of the book and a really nice listen!

I'd already read this book so I knew I loved the story already but as I needed to reread it for my book club I thought id try the audiobook. I absolutely loved the narrators! And how I knew whose chapter we were on because each woman had her own separate narrator! The pacing was brilliant and I couldn't fault it. I've already recommended the audiobook to my entire book club.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5

I received the audio version courtesy to NetGalley, so a huge thank you!

This book started out strong, I was invested in the characters, the story and the beautiful prose.
However, maybe I’ve just read too many Greek mythology retellings as it seemed to feel more ‘meh’ than something imaginative and creative. Although, I guess this can be an issue with retellings.

However, if you do want to hear mythology retellings from the perspective of woman, this is a good book full of coherent, achingly lovely story arcs and familiar relationships.

I would recommend this to fans of Daughters of Sparta first and foremost and then, of course, Song of Achilles for the male perspective.

There is little we do not know about the facts surrounding the classical story of the Trojan War. However, Jennifer Saint brings a new insight by focusing on the perspective of three women, who are impacted by the event 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 toothed 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 audiobook cleverly jumps between the perspectives of the three women to unravel their stories. Their voices expertly provided by Beth Eyre, Jane Collingwood and Julie Teal. 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

Many thanks to Headline Audio and Jennifer Saint for the advanced audio copy of Elektra via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.

Disclaimer: the negative slant on the audio perspective is largely due to my misophonia. I have an intense dislike for ‘mouth noises’. Audible swallowing, smacking noises, general un-edited auditory mouth *stuff* really gets to me and put me off this audiobook.

Elektra follows an interesting retelling of the Trojan war, from some of the key women’s point of view. Jennifer Saint has woven in figures of myth and legend along with those of flesh and blood with a matter-of-fact-ness, which isn’t seen as often in this type of retellings. Often in this type of story there is a veil of supernatural syrup, a ‘playing with the gods’ tale. But this story felt much more solid. This is told in a more ‘this is real life’ sort of way. And real life just happened to have the occasional god, or demi god, walking around in it. As you do.

I suspect that ‘Elektra’ was not Saint’s original title of choice, as she was not the protagonist of the book. But as Clytemnestra was already taken this season, it would have to do. Perhaps a different title may have suited the story better, however.

The narrators suited the individual characters well. However, I found it extremely difficult to get into the story as, after the first three chapters, they did not announce the character at the beginning of the chapter, instead expecting the listener to have already memorised the narrator’s voice. Unfortunately I’m not that good and I was confused, and annoyed. And as my misophonia had me well and truly distracter, I almost stopped listening at this point. Eventually I got the hang of who was who, and got into the story. It definitely took me a while, though.

Overall, the story was interesting. It was perhaps a bit over-long for my taste. I hope there is a final edit to smooth out the ‘mouth noises’ for future listeners’ enjoyment!

Moods: dark, emotional, mysterious, sad
Pace: slow-medium
Character development: weak
Plot or character driven: plot
Diversity: low
Spice: 1/5
Trigger warnings: Animal death, Blood/Gore, Cheating, Death, Death of a family member, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical or mental abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self Harm, Sexism, Sexual abuse/assault/harassment, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, War

Rating
Story: 3.5/5
Audio: 3/5

Loving retellings these days, they are really having a moment and I’m totally into it. Jennifer Saint is brilliant and I loved the narration of the audiobook.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me listen to this audiobook in exchange for my review.

Thank you SO much to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

Before I get into it I'd like to say that this audiobook completely changed my perception of listening to a story. I was immediately drawn in to the story and I couldn't get enough of it.

I am not an individual who knows much about Greek mythology so reading this was like a breath of fresh air. I was sucked in straight away and I found myself thinking about what was happening when I wasn't reading the story.

I loved it!

I love any Greek mythology retelling and Elektra is up there with the best.
I'm new to audio books and really enjoyed the narrator for this as well as the actual story. For me, the narrator makes the book though for audiobooks. Without a good voice to read the story it isn't enjoyable so I'm glad they chose a great one for this

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for this audio copy.

I love a Greek myth retelling and Elektra is no different.
The spin on the original well known characters was great.
The narrator was a great addition to this novel. Her voice was clear and pronounced her words excellently. She had a very good story voice too.
The story itself was great and the pace was excellent, keeping the attention of the reader firmly in place.

One of the things I love about myth retellings is how each one brings attention and emphasis to a different part or character of the myth. I was expecting Elektra to have much more focus and building of, well, Elektra. It's an enjoyable read, well written and relatively well paced, but unfortunately didn't blow me away. Clytemnestra and Cassandra were really interestingly developed, but Elektra sadly felt quite one-dimensional.

For the most part, though, it tells an alternate perspective on the Trojan war in a beautiful yet brutal way. Flipping between the three women added a lot of dimension to the sides of the war - really liked having both Greek and Trojan women's stories told.

The audiobook version is well produced with good narrators, but I'd have liked to have the character names at the top of each chapter as it led to a bit of confusion throughout.

I love a myth re-telling, but this didn't quite hit the spot for me as much as Ariadne or other recent re-tellings of The Illiad specifically.

The narrators were spot on - and I enjoyed the multiple strands of perspective that were woven together. I think what frustrated me, was that I was expecting a little more from the Elektra story line - as the eponymous character. Clytemnestra and Cassandra were an added bonus - but I wanted more from Elektra, and ironically, her storyline felt the least developed.

I think I would have given this 5 stars, if there weren't already many recently published feminist re-tellings of The Illiad that just hit the mark in a bit more of a satisfying way.

I've really been enjoying the growth of the retelling of ancient myths and times of legend recently, and Elektra's 3 pronged attack had plenty to get stuck into. I listened to the audiobook version and thought the different narrators were fantastic in giving an extra layer to the story and a bit of extra depth.

The story of Troy is an interesting one on its own, but seeing it from Clythemnestra's point of view as she seeks revenge against her husband, the interaction with Apollo from Cassandra and the thirst for blood from Elektra all kept things going at a good pace. It's the second novel from the author but my first time reading her work, so I can't speak for her previous novel, but I think if you are a fan of the likes of Circe or the Wolf Den, then you will probably quite enjoy this - a perfect holiday easy read.

I really enjoy retellings of the Greek myths.
This is an excellent story about the three women in the center of Troy, Clytemnestra, Cassandra and
Elektra. It is bloody, horrifying, and unbelievable.

I was immediately hooked.

The audiobook edition was very well produced. However, I would not have minded if each chapter started by stating who the narrator was. I had trouble telling the voices apart - and it led to some confusing situations.

But other than that - noting but high praises from me!

Many thanks to Netgalley, Headline Audio and the author, for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I expected this story to be completely about Elektra and from her POV. But this book surprised me with the story being narrated by not only Elektra, but her mother Clytemnestra and Cassandra, the cursed princess of Troy. Three woman impacted by Agamemnon, the king of Mycenea.

Having been Greek mythology geek growing up, I knew the stories of these women obvious;y as said by the greek men who wrote history, buy Jennifer Saint spins the tale from the women, by the women with clear view of everything only they have to suffer because of the power and glory hungry men in thier life. The story starts with Clytemnestra and her twin sister Helen, and their betrothal to the brother of Mycenea and then progresses into their lives with family and children. We also at the same time witness the birth of Paris of Troy and the prophecy of the downfall of the great Trojan empire by him through the eyes of Cassandra, his sister.

This is a complete book of Greek tales, we have Gods and Godesses being ruthless, Powerhungry men who couldn't care any less for their people except for the glory war and blood would bring, curses, violence, murder, war, death and carnage. The whole story is clouded by the tragedic atmosphere of the impending doom.
I really enjoyed the audiobook and the narrators were perfect. Every characters ire, pain and joy was well communicated in the narration. Just from the story, I do not think I sympathasised with Elektra for a minute and I don't think I was supposed to either. She was a stubborn, coddled, princess that represented the female flag bearers of patriarchy. I loved how the story gradually moved and advocated actions by everyone except for Elektra.

TW: Sexual Assault, Death, Murder, Cranage, Blood, Gore, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Slavery

A drawing and immersive story on the legends of Troy, steeped in fantastic storytelling which throws you into the streets and times of Rome.

We’ve got gods, Helen of Troy and her twin sister Clytemnestra. We have Cassandra, cursed to see the future to be believed by no one. Achilles and hectar, Priam, menaleus and Agamemnon, and of course Elektra. Many famous names of myth brought to life.

The audiobook was effortless to slip into and brought the pages to life. Greatly narrated and a wonderful format to consume the book with.

I did drift in and out of this and as my chapters didn’t state who the character POV was I did get a little confused at times as to who the chapter was dedicated to but the story was an entertaining one. Elektra’s character was one that I have to admit, I didn’t warm to and found her a bit meh! But there was other characters I could get behind. I was confused at the title as the book has multiple points of views and Elektra doesn’t feature as much as the other characters. The writing however was spectacular and written very well and not to mention how stunning the cover art to this book (and audiobook) is.

It’s definitely a great read for all those who love mythology, stories of Troy and historical type fiction.

4.5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Headline Audio for sending me the ARC.

If you like:
- Greek myth retelling
- strong female characters
- multiple POVs
- war of Troy
- revenge stories
- Gods interfering with humans

…then I highly recommend this book!

I listened to the audiobook for this and I was extremely happy I did because it was fantastic!

Jennifer Saint did a great job telling us Elektra’s story and more generally Agamemnon and Clythemnestra story using 3 compelling POVs.

Surprisingly the book has 3 POVs but it made the story so much richer for it.

We follow Clythemnestra from her marriage to Agamemnon all the way to her end, her daughter Elektra and then Cassandra from Troy.

Clythemnestra and Cassandra know absolutely terrible hardship and the author does an amazing job at describing how powerless women could be in ancient Greece in the face of the society and yet both show an inner strength and dignity despite their circumstances which is fascinating to read. Saint describing their inner thoughts and feelings give much needed human emotion to otherwise very distant myths that can be difficult to relate to in our times.

Clythemnestra the Mycaenean queen is formidable in her revenge against her husband for the sacrifice of their daughter to appease the wrath of Artemis. Her chapter witnessing her daughter’s death was heartwrenching and the voice actress brought me to tears.

Cassandra’s plight is just as saddening. She is the definition of what happens when you anger a Greek God. The poor girl knows almost no respite and her chapters were hard to listen to but her perspective from Troy and the war were enlightening and I enjoyed her relationship with Helen.

Helen of Sparta is quite present in the book and her reunion with Clythemnestra was one of my favourite scenes.

Finally Elektra… Agamemnon’s daughter bent on revenge. She is utterly delusional and unapologetic of her anger and grief. The way she treats her own mother and her friend Giorgios was frustrating. Her POV was at odds with the other two and brought much tension until the culminating end.

I did think the last chapter glazed too quickly over the death and the aftermath and would have liked a little more, but this book was an incredible retelling for anyone interested in Greek mythology and I cannot wait to dive into Jennifer Saint’s other books.