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.

Maybe one day when we have read all the versions of all greek stories, we will truly have a complete picture. For now, I am content with this new revelation of another side of the Troy story. The plot revolves majorly around the plans and life of what happened in the background when Agamemnon left with his fleet to Troy to bring back his brother's wife Helen. Driven by the grief and rage for the loss of her daughter, Clytemnestra has deprived herself of any further emotional attachments. A young man appears on her doorstep and offers her a revenge strategy she cannot refuse.

I am not sure though why the book is named Elektra when her main part appears in the book only after 70%. From my pov, the story was focusing more on Clytemnestra (Helen's sister) and Cassandra (Hector and Paris's sister). Which makes a less convincing case on the title of the book. But the cover is surely gorgeous.

A 3.5/5

Thank you for the digital ARC @netgalley @wildfirebooks @waterstones

What an amazing book!

Jennifer Saint is amazing at Ancient Greek retellings. Ariadne was already great, but the author really outdid herself with this one.

Elektra follows the cursed house of Atreus, a family with known figures like Elektra herself, as well as Agamemnon and Menelaus. I'd say that although the book is called Elektra and I get the choice since she is the most prominent woman of the lineage, to me it should be called Clytemnestra because she stole the show. Helen and all the women that are in some way a part of this story, of which the Trojan War is a huge part, are given an opportunity to speak for themselves.

Overall, there was an obvious evolution in terms of Jennifer Saint's writing from Ariadne to Elektra because the first, although great, sometimes felt a bit too didactic with its urge to let the women of these stories speak their minds; this time, it was more organic and really shifted the focus in a seamless way.

The narrator for this audiobook was great!

Thank you, NetGalley and Headline Audio for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.