Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin for letting me read an ARC of this phenomenal book!

First of all, I think it’s really important to address that this book is NOT like Girl, Goddess, Queen. It’s a lot more focused on Greek mythology and the concepts of war, love and what a person would do to protect those they love. It’s more complicated in its plot structure and writing style but if you can get past that, it truly is a phenomenal retelling of the Iliad and the story of Troy.

I looooved the switch up to sapphic romance between Cassandra and Helen, how that grew, especially dealing with asexuality. They are both such strong female voices with district characteristics that make them such wonderful, well rounded characters.

Basically this book teaches two things: men suck, and so do the Greek Gods. And trust me, I will lap that shit up any day. The two different POVs add to the world building and character development and we truly get to see how much Cassandra and Helen have been wronged by men. Cassandra by Apollo, cursed to live with prophecy that will not be believed. And Helen, running for abusive marriage into a loveless marriage just to espace.

Overall, the story was excellent, the romance added extra to the story, and I really enjoyed it!!

I received an advanced review copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating.

Bea Fitzgerald's "The End Crowns All" weaves a mesmerizing tapestry, re-envisioning the timeless saga of Helen of Troy with a contemporary flair. Within its pages, ancient myths entwine with a riveting storyline, delving into the realms of love, authority, and fate. Amidst the tumult of the Trojan War, where Helen's journey ignites conflict, this rendition offers a profound exploration of emotional depths and intricate political landscapes, breathing new life into a classic tale.

The protagonist, Cassandra, is gifted the power of prophecy by her patron god, Apollo, but this divine gift quickly turns into a curse. Her visions, which no one believes, center on a mysterious girl destined to ignite a war. Cassandra's arc is a poignant exploration of faith, betrayal, and the struggle to be heard. Helen, on the other hand, finds herself entangled in the treacherous web of Trojan politics, far from the romantic escape she envisioned. The interplay between these two characters is both intense and tender, driving much of the book's emotional depth.

The novel's strengths lie not only in its lush storytelling but also in its profound exploration of themes such as fate, choice, and the power dynamics within relationships. Fitzgerald manages to balance the grandeur of epic battles and the intimate moments of personal connection, creating a narrative that is both sweeping and deeply human.

Readers will find themselves enchanted by the rich tapestry of characters, each brought to life with nuance and empathy. The portrayal of women in this retelling is particularly noteworthy, presenting them as multifaceted individuals with agency and depth, far beyond the traditional archetypes often found in mythological tales.

In essence, Fitzgerald has crafted a novel that not only honors the legacy of its source material but also challenges and expands upon it. "The End Crowns All" stands as a testament to the enduring power of myth and the timeless nature of love, making it a compelling and unforgettable read.

What truly sets "The End Crowns All" apart is its Sapphic retelling of the fabled fall of Troy, laced with the irresistible tension of rivals-to-lovers friction and slow-burn pining. Fitzgerald's prose is both lyrical and accessible, making the ancient world come alive in vivid detail. The romance between Cassandra and Helen is beautifully crafted, adding layers of complexity to their characters and the story. This novel is more than just a retelling; it's a reinvention that invites readers to see the familiar myth through a new, inclusive lens. For fans of historical fiction, mythology, and epic romances, "The End Crowns All" is an absolute must-read.

When Cassandra’s patron god, Apollo, offers her the gift of prophecy she jumps at the opportunity. But when she fails to follow through with her end of the bargain it angers Apollo so he ensures that no one believes one her visions of war and the girl that appears to be the one who starts it.

Helen flees Sparta for the pursuit of love but far from the home she knows Helen finds herself navigating the backstabbing of the Trojan court and the Princess who is intent of driving Helen from Troy in any means possible. When the prophecy of the war comes to fruition and the Trojan army cannot contend with it Cassandra and Helen have to join forces as they might just be the ones to win the war and save the city of Troy from ruin. 

I loved Girl, Goddess, Queen so when I was accepted to read this arc I was so excited and at first I was not gelling with Cassandra’s character in the same way I did with Persephone but after I gave my head a wobble as they are both completely different characters I began to like Cassandra and her story.

I really enjoyed this sapphic retelling of the fall of Troy and the growth of Cassandras and Helen’s friendship, whilst in the background the knowledge that they have stronger feelings for each other than just friends. This is told from a dual point of view, Helen and Cassandra, and I liked the way the chapters alternated between the 2 women. Overall a great story and if you like Greek mythology retellings you will love this but if not still give it a read because it is written so well it doesn’t feel like a history lesson. I look forward to the next book as I really think Bea Fitzgerald is going to be an auto buy author for me.

FYI please check the trigger warnings at the start of the book.

this was amazing!!

i’m a big greek mythology fan AND a lesbian so obviously i was excited for this, and it did not disappoint.

Cassandra has always been incredibly interesting to me, so seeing inside her mind was brilliant. i loved how she would try her best to help even when no one would believe her.
i also liked how both her and helen’s stories tie together men always being in charge. helen is in an abusive marriage and can only escape by being with another man who she has to pretend to love, then when he dies must immediately remarry again, while cassandra became a priestess to avoid marrying a man, only to be cursed by the god she refuses, and have visions of a war she cannot control.

Helen was also amazing. i loved how desperate she was to do anything to get control of her own life, and that she does manage to start fighting again.
i also very much enjoyed their romance. it felt very believable and was developed beautifully, along with the platonic and familial ones.

highly recommend!

Wow. Wow wow wow. I don't even know where to start with this one. I adored this book with all of my being and sapphic-loving heart.

So, I'm a HUGE fan of Girl, Goddess, Queen. It was one of my best reads of last year; it embodied everything I love about mythology retellings. So when it was announced that Bea would be entering her blue era and publishing another myth retelling, I was beside myself with excitement. Near catatonic. And boy oh boy did it not disappoint.

For starters, this book has a very different vibe to GGQ. Even though they're both YA, I would say that The End Crowns All felt much more adult; dare I say it dealt with more adult themes?

Another reason that I adored this book is due to the representation of Helen. She has been dragged and vilified throughout history, and it has always bothered me. So, I loved the fresh take on her characterisation as being a woman who has been bartered for and won throughout her life; she was not some harlot who enjoyed causing havoc through her relationships. The same goes for Cassandra. She's an odd character that I feel like has largely been ignored or side-lined in plays and retellings. A big fan of Clytemnestra, I am fully aware of her dreadful association with Agamemnon. So, I adored that she took the centre stage in this book; she's such a wonderful and interesting character.

And their relationship was honestly beautiful; their love and friendship, despite everything being against them, was one of the best things about this book. I adored them.

Even though he was an absolute scumbag, I really enjoyed Apollo as a kind of chorus. He dipped in and out, and appeared only to Cassandra (and by extension, the audience) and kind of summed up the story as it progressed (as well as thickening the plot). I thought it was a really clever idea to create a sort of modern chorus. I also had complete faith in Bea that she would not change the narrative and continue to represent Apollo in all of his awful glory; I have always hated him, and I still hate him.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Please read it, you will not regret it!!

A truly decadent Troy retelling. Focusing on Helen and Cassandra this intricately weaved tale gives us the story we always wanted. When prophecy,gods, love and war are involved - you know it's going to get messy! Absolutely five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Princess. Priestess. The most beautiful girl in Troy. Cassandra is used to being adored – and when her patron god, Apollo, offers her the power of prophecy, she sees an opportunity to rise even higher. But when she fails to uphold her end of the agreement, she discovers just how very far she has to fall. No one believes her visions. And they all seem to be of one girl – and the war she’s going to bring to Troy’s shores. Helen fled Sparta in pursuit of love, but it’s soon clear Troy is a court like any other, with all its politics and backstabbing. And one princess seems particularly intent on driving her from the city before disaster can strike... But when war finally comes, it’s more than the army at their walls they must contend with. Cassandra and Helen might hold the key to reweaving fate itself – especially with the prophetic strands drawing them ever closer together. But how do you change your future when the gods themselves are dictating your demise?

Cassandra is someone entirely used to getting what she wants. Until she isn’t. She’s an interesting character because she truly goes on a long journey of finding herself and her true worth. In the beginning she is undoubtably a brat and I was not a fan of hers. But as the book progresses and things turn more and more against her, she adapts and changes to become more pleasant and more admirable. I think in the end she comes into herself and is quite a good character!
Helen is a woman who knows her own mind but has been forced into a box and the threat of harm if she tries to fight against it is too much for her. She seems, frankly, like quite the bitch initially. But I found myself warming up to her as the book went on. I liked her interactions with other characters and did really appreciate seeing her assist so many other women to ensure they felt safe and strong in their own bodies. She is quite the girl boss for sure.

Having read Fitzgerald’s debut last year and being so enthralled by it, I knew I couldn’t pass up the idea of getting an early copy of this book! I’m not the biggest fan of Greek mythology - I only read the first 5 Percy Jackson books in 2022! - but thankfully the plot wasn’t too difficult to follow. I’ll admit to getting lost a few times but I think that’s just because there is so much going on with so many different people involved. That being said, the story flowed well and held my attention. I didn’t feel too overwhelmed at any point which was great and always felt eager to pick up the story. There are quite a few triggers to this story but they’re all mentioned at the beginning of the book which I think is super important. There are some harder hitting things that could be very difficult for some to read so I’m grateful for the pre-warning. The characters are all pretty good, there are just so many of them! I think that is the unfortunate downside of books centring on Greek mythology. Everyone seems to know everyone and everything is interlinked and woven together. Because of that, it is very difficult to keep the cast small. This, I found, did make it a little tricky to keep up at times but I think I did okay. There is a fair amount of romance in this book - both forced and fake, and tender and blossoming. I think the biggest thing is the fact there is great Ace rep! Fitzgerald has truly done a wonderful job on this front. The true romance was so lovely to read! The ending was pretty good. I felt like it wrapped up the story very well and whilst it was slightly open-ended, I felt rather satisfied by it.

Overall, The End Crowns All is a perfect book for Greek mythology lovers!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you again to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an advanced copy of this book. Review will be live on my blog on release day.

A YA romantasy reimagining of the Greek myth of Troy. This feels like two books smashed together: one enemies-to-lovers romcom and one serious literary novel about women's role in society, patriarchal control and types of abuse. There's good representation but the whole things feels insincere when there's fake marriages and couples hiding in closets. There whole thing could also have been about 100 pages shorter. Not one for me.

I loved GGQ so was so excited to receive this ARC (thank you Netgally) but I just didn’t click with this book and took almost a month to finish. I enjoyed the first 20% but then I spend until 90% saying “Where is the horse?!” I think with hindsight a few things were against me and this book:

1. Lesbians have so many feelings and there was a lot of brooding! (Says the lesbian reviewer!)
2. My Greek epic knowledge is very limited and there was so many people that I took along time figuring out who was who - kindle was a big help here with the highlight a search feature
3. I don’t like going into something knowing the big reveal (aka the horse!), granted a lot more things happened but I think I am not a fan of reading a story I already kind of know.

I did love the positive message from this book about female empowerment in a world in which men have all the power and I did love the Persephone/Hades cameo. This wouldn’t put me off another of Bea Fitzgerald’s books but maybe not a Greek retelling.

Longer review closer to pub date but I sped through this fresh, inventive, heartrending, but also beautiful and hopeful take on the Fall of Troy through the POVs of Cassandra and Helen. Lots of nuance and depth in even the supporting characters and their situations. A sapphic love to defy the Gods, and how! Highly recommended.

Wow just wow, I loved this helen of Sparta/Troy retelling with the choatic but loyal Cassandra.

The author does a fantastic job of highlighting the hypocrisy of men in an archaic era where women are second rate citizens living at the whim of Misogynists. Cassandra really bares the brunt of fate this entire story and the cruel ways of the gods. Helen is not what you’d expect and shes pretty much thrown into this story at the desire of the gods as much as Cassandra is.

This story is powerful, chaotic and cruel story but I couldnt put it down.

Bea Fitzgerald does it again !

I am all for Sapphic story’s and asexual romance in books more power to them.

Helen finally gets a real relationship rather than it being about her launching a thousand ships she goes in search of love !

It’s an angry rage filled book , the women in Scientology Greece really only had a smidge of power so it’s nice to see a book retelling it in maybe a way you didn’t expect it.

Definitely an older reader , only because it might be quite daunting and very mystic and classic heavy.

I loved this book I love classic retellings! What wonderful story will be next?
Jason and Medea?
Maybe not Greek at all more folklore!
These books are beautiful inside and out !

Bea Fitzgerald knocks it out of the park with her second Greek re-telling - a sapphic story of Helen and Cassandra during the Trojan War.

With priestess given, and then cursed with, the gift of prophecy and a woman who flees her husband and starts a war, nothing goes quiet as planned for these two women (or the Gods who thought they owned them).

I’m not up to speed with my Greek mythology, but I still loved ‘The End Crowns All’. It was a lot more war heavy than ‘Girl, Goddess Queen’, but the romance and character development of both Helen and Cassandra was fantastic. We love strong women here!

Thank you Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved Girl, Goddess, Queen so so much when I read it last year and I loved The End Crowns All even more which I did not expect going into it but am not annoyed about. <When reading this definitely feels older than Girl, Goddess, Queen with the content and the discussions covered, along with being harder to read with the content in it in many more ways and less of a fun summer romcom feel but not necessarily in a bad way.

The End Crowns All is a sapphic re-imaging of the Trojan War that follows Cassandra who has been gifted prophecy but cannot hold up her end of the deal that comes with it leading to her being cursed and discovering how much worse things can become for her. We also follow Helen who left Sparta for a new love but things are no longer feeling as easy as they should.

As this book is not yet out I don’t want to go into too much detail about what goes down but it was so good and if I could rate it six stars I think I would.

We get both Helen and Cassandra’s perspectives throughout the story which was such a powerful way to tell the story because you can really understand how this impacts them as characters and what they actually want from life instead of what they are being forced to have. The way we began to see Cassandra’s curse impact how she feels, how others view her and what she wants was really powerful and in many ways being in her head and experiencing just some of those visions helped that. And I loved at first seeing Helen from Cassandra’s point of view to then learn her as a character myself and who she was. The way Bea wrote this story was powerful and done in a way that I don’t think could have been more impactful in the long run.

I grew from the start of the book of not being massive fans of either Helen or Cassandra to absolutely loving them by the end. We got to know them in a way that meant I felt I could really understand them and they felt like they had a depth that I don’t always see, especially in Young Adult. The representation that we had was fantastic and the discussions that emerged from their past and present experiences were also done in an amazingly powerful way.
I also really enjoyed getting to know many (but definitely not all of) our side characters. There were a few of Cassandra’s siblings who I really liked and enjoyed reading about when they appeared in scenes and some other characters who we frequently saw that you can’t help but grow to like. The gods were absolutely horrible for much of this book but is that really a surprise?

As we grew closer to the end of the book I really struggled to stop reading needing to know how it was all going to end and as the amount of pages we had less became less and less I was definitely concerned about how it was all going to go down and if these amazing characters would get the happy ending I was desperate for them to have.

This was definitely a more challenging read than Girl, Goddess, Queen that is heavier with the myth however that did not stop it being an amazing book that I am so happy to have now experienced and soon be able to have on my shelves to look and everytime think of how important this story is and will be for so many people. This is almost guaranteed to be one of my top books of the year and I cannot wait to see what Bea Fitzgerald’s third YA will be about because I’m pretty certain I’ll love it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is dark, nail-biting, yet written with a light, gentle touch that makes it easy to read and relate to. Both of the heroines are layered and engaging, which is quite a feat since at the start neither of them are particularly present people! But they are drawn with such skill and humour that they pull you right in, and it's a joy to watch them grow into powerful and compassionate women.
Even though the plot deals with gods and ancient wars, the themes feel very modern - there is definite relevance to rape culture, and an important message for all young women to have courage in the face of systemic abuse. The representation of asexuality within a culture that didn't have the language for it is beautifully done, and helped me achieve a deeper understanding.
It's not 5-star for me because it was a bit too revenge / stabby, but I did thoroughly enjoy this gripping story.

I devoured GGQ so I assumed I would feel the same way about The End Crowns All, however, Fitzgerald's second offering was much more of a slow burn.

The first 50% of the novel was too slow. I had to encourage myself to keep reading, which I hadn't expected. A lot of it felt repetitive and I found it frustrating. Things started to pick up in the second half, but it was probably the final 20% of the novel that pulled this up for me.

I did enjoy it, but it felt a little too long and a little too slow.

I adore retellings of mythology, and this fresh take on the Trojan War narrative was incredibly inventive.

Reading from the female perspectives of that era is something I enjoy, but TECA offers an additional layer with its inclusion of LGBTQ+/Asexuality themes. As a mother to a child who identifies as both queer and asexual, it's wonderful to encounter a book that represents both identities.

The scene involving Apollo, which focused on consent and the right to change one's mind, delivers an essential message for readers of all ages.

My sole criticism is that I found it challenging to make significant progress while reading; I often thought I had read more than I actually had, advancing only 5-10% into the book. However, this could entirely be a personal issue, as I have experienced similar situations with other books in the mythology genre.

Eagerly awaiting the arrival of my preordered copy to enjoy reading it in its physical form once more.

I love a mythology retelling, especially Troy! But this spin on the story was so creative and new. I love that more authors are taking female POVs from this era, but TECA goes the extra mile with the main characters. Cassandra’s personality at the beginning was so different to anything I’ve ever read, it was really enjoyable seeing her from a totally different angle. Also, changing the scene with Apollo was very impactful - centring around consent and right to change your mind.. a really important message for readers of all ages. The pace and the action was great! I have a lot of mythology retellings and would definitely recommend this one!

A truly glorious, beautiful retelling with more strands of twists than anything I’ve ever read. A beautiful love story with the most incredible description, story and characters.
It is truly remarkable. One of my favourite books of all time.

This is the Trojan War, but not as we know it. Firstly, a massive thanks to the amazing people at @penguinukbooks for the @netgalley approval. As per, it hasn't affected my opinions.
@chaosonolympus' blue era is electric. Just as bright and brilliant as Girl, Goddess, Queen, Helen and Cassandra's personal tragedies have always been a footnote to the glory of the men of the Illiad but Fitzgerald's take is utterly fresh, modern, and fierce.
She embraces the duality of Helen's character which is both the soft, feminine beauty of tradition and yet reminds us that before she was "of Troy" she was "of Sparta" a martial state that trained its women for combat as much as its men. Cassandra's character is much more rounded than the raving mad woman punished by a callous Apollo her ambition and her need to secure a life that didn't force her into a marriage with a man she could never tolerate let alone love is fascinating and I love the asexual rep and the way Fitzgerald carefully and sensitively deals with Cass' lack of sexual desire for others and how that does not diminish her love for Helen. It's so much fun watching the relationship between these two women, both victims of the Gods, played as pawns in a game they never wanted any part of, develop and the way they seek to fight back and wrest some control and hope for their lives as they fight curses, fate, and the gods themselves.
All the Olympians featured in this short of Iris and Tyche can die in a ditch because they're all horrible. Iris is a little rainbow and Tyche is a sneaky one.
Once again Bea deals with real and very serious issues and yet this book is still so much fun and I can't wait to learn what Book 3 has in store for us!