A faithful retelling of the classic myth; Clytemnestra stood out as a powerful woman betrayed by the men she trusted

I haven’t read the author’s first book Ariadne, but I’ve heard so much good about it that I was very excited to read Elektra.

The story is told from 3 pov’s: Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon and sister of Helen, her daughter Elektra and Cassandra of Troy.

Cassandra was my fav of the three, liked Clytemnestra, but didn’t like Elektra or understand her. She definitely wasn’t sad about her sister and the jealousy of the slaves (Briseis and Cassandra) was just weird. I sort of wanted to yell that it could easily be you who’s the slave. Especially as the house of Atreus was such a peace-loving family… Mostly I was between wanting to shake or slap her.

I liked the writing, and I think that I would like Ariadne more. I’m less familiar with the tale and characters and don’t have such strong ideas about them. I felt like the book was much more Clytemnestra’s story than Elektra’s, who has such a small role, especially in the beginning. Elektra becomes more prominent in the end though.

I really enjoyed Ariadne by Jennifer Saint so when I was invited to review Elektra I was very excited. I find the author’s writing style very easy to read which helps me to get into the story and connect with the characters (this is something I have struggled with when reading some other Greek myth retellings). Making the female characters the focus of the story and seeing things from their perspective gives a completely different view of the events. Although you know some things are going to happen from reading other versions of the myth, the way they were written meant that they were still heart-wrenching. I found myself empathising with all of the characters whose points of view we were shown, even when they were in conflict with each other. Elektra joins Ariadne as one of my favourite myth retellings.

Bravo to Jennifer Saint for shining light on lesser-known Greek Myth characters. Here, we focus on women of the Trojan War: Elektra (our title character), her mother Clytemnestra and Trojan Cassandra.

There's a reason we don't know much about Elektra as her story arch is rather flat. Not much happens to her. Similar comments could be made for Clytemnestra but I found her revenge story and motivation a wee bit stronger, yet tedious as time passed. There's only so long you can hold on to a grievance again your husband whilst simultaneously marginalising everyone else, including your children. How can she hold such strong anger against Agamemnon for the death of one of their children and fail to care one jot for the two remaining, living children? I found that irksome even if that's how her story plays out.

I have much the same comments for Elektra. It's pretty pointless, if I am honest. Her sole focus on the father she hardly knows and the deep hate she holds for her mother just felt to drag on and on. I know, that's the whole point of the Trojan War - lots of waiting, strong personalities clashing, but it did feel overly much.

The one bright light was, quite surprising to me, Cassandra. I have read loads of Trojan War novels over the years and Cassandra is always painted as a bit crackers spouting off prophecy to all who will/won't listen. In Elektra she is fully fleshed out and a sympathetic character of note. I felt for her as I never have before.

The curse on the house Atreus played out well in Elektra. It's so easy to see the building blocks of destruction in this telling. This book is a great way to make Greek Mythology accessible to those who may not know the stories well, especially the Trojan War, which can be hard to stomach but from the safe distance in this novel it is a great primer.

I honestly really enjoyed Elektra, I'm familiar with the Oresteia so this was like a really great re-working of the original and provides a needed point of view and gives more agency to some of the female characters.

I have always been fascinated by Cassandra in particular, her fate is one of the saddest in my opinion: to be telling the truth and not to be believed and as a result be powerless to stop the catastrophes that befall her family and the city of Troy. I also enjoyed the perspectives of Clytemnestra and Elektra respectively. One of Jennifer Saint's best yet! I'm eager to read whatever she writes next.

Wow. Jennifer Saint has got me hooked on Greek retellings. I fly to Rhodes on Saturday so this comes at a perfect time, as I’ve read both her books back to back.

Whilst Ariadne was beautiful, Elektra took it to the next level. It was filled with characters I loved to hate, I wanted to see what happened next and I genuinely couldn’t put it down. The imagery was stunning and I felt like I was there alongside them all.

Genuinely cannot wait to see what she brings out next, and in the mean time I need to find more Greek retellings to fill the gap she’s left in my life 😂

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I'm a sucker for feminist retellings of Greek mythology, so this was always going to be right up my street. I did enjoy the story - I think it provided a fresh take on these female characters that have often been neglected by history. However, I would really like to move way from retellings of the Trojan War, as it feels a bit overdone in the past 4-5 years. I really enjoyed Saint's previous book Ariadne for that reason. I also felt that, for a book called Elektra, we didn't get enough of her perspective. I appreciate that the other stories were needed for context, but I would have liked to explore Elektra's character a bit more.

Following on from Jennifer Saint's bestselling, and excellent, Ariadne comes Elektra, which tells the story of the House of Atreus via three women: Cassandra, Clytemnestra, and Elektra. Inevitably, given the characters and the timeline, quite a significant portion of the book is spent retelling events from The Iliad and for me, that was the weakness of the book. Over the past decade - following the enormous success of Madeline Miller's Song of Achilles - books which give a woman's perspective on The Iliad have been numerous: from Pat Barker's duology, to Natalie Haynes' A Thousand Ships, and Elektra - and particularly the Cassandra sections - didn't provide anything notably different from these. The book is stronger when focusing on events back in Mycenae and the often opposing points of view of Clytemnestra and her daughter, Elektra, and would have liked these to be developed further.

Another fab greek mythology book! I had not even heard of Elektra before in any mythology that I’ve previously read so I had no idea what was going to be happening going into this. It was fantastic - I’ve learnt about three new characters in Greek mythology and a bit more about the battle of Troy. A highly recommended book

This greek retelling focuses on the women at the heart of the Trojan War, King Agamemnon’s wife and Helen of Troy’s sister Clytemnestra, her daughter Elektra and the psychic Princess of Troy, Cassandra. The novel follows the war on Troy very closely, and with great detail, it looks into how it affects women, both the nobility as well as the working women. It showed us the kindness and the cruelty that is possible and how generational trauma influences familial relationships.

I enjoyed the fact that in this novel by Saint we got to have a look at three characters. Obviously the experiences of Elektra and Cassandra, both Princesses of the two countries at war, had wildly different rules, freedoms and rights during, and especially after the destruction of Troy. Clytemnestra’s story is particularly interesting due to her sister being the cause of the 10 year-long war and with her daughter Iphigenia being the first casualty of the war, it shows her excitement at the prospect of the birth of her first child to the grief when she is sacrificed and the revenge she plots for the decade after to avenge her firstborn daughter.

With Cassandra you can see how she doesn’t fit into her family and so she pledges to Apollo as a priestess. But when she asks him to grant her visions of the future, he curses her so that no one ever believes her predictions, regardless of how accurate they are. It proves to be her downfall and even the gods abandon her in her moments of need. I thought that she as a character was most intriguing and who I would have been keen to learn/read more about.

Having read Saint’s first novel, Ariadne, another greek mythology retelling, I had really high hopes. All in all, I think she met and exceeded all expectations, with an excellent amount of detail in the setting and in each characters introspective thoughts. I felt like Saint gave us excellent insight into these stories from the perspective of women, who are often overlooked and gave the story more depth. As much as I appreciated the triple perspective, I think I preferred the singular point of view in Ariadne. That being said, I highly recommend this to any greek mythology fan of Natalie Haynes, Pat Barker and Madeleine Miller.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting an arc in exchange for an honest review.
This story follows the lives of three woman whose stories have been retold time and time again but never done with the love and care Jennifer Saint shows.
We follow Elektra, Cassandra and Clytemnestra, 3 women whose lives are interconnected through their own personal tragedies. Whilst reading this book you will find yourself going back and forth to determine whose path is the righteous one or if indeed any are at all. Can a cycle or revenge and murder be broken with further revenge and murder?
The lives of these 3 woman were written with so much care and their stories given the upmost respect. I found myself yearning for the next part of their story. My heart breaking with them and my resolve hardening with them.
A beautifully written book that stays with you.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I just can't resist the retelling of Greek myths. I am passionate about Greek mythology and having studied Greek literature in high school I just can't resist when a new retelling comes out!

So when I read that Jennifer Saint ( I liked her previous book Ariadne) was working on a book in which there were two of my favorite tragic figures, I couldn't believe it!
The story follows the POV of three characters: Clytemnestra, Cassandra and Electra. The title of the book actually looks a bit misleading!

The reading was certainly smooth and very pleasant.
I felt involved in Clytemnestra's revenge on Agamemnon and Electra on her mother. Two characters embittered and obsessed with their intentions to the point of canceling each other out and seeing nothing else.
Unlike Cassandra, a character that I found rather anonymous and useless.

Unfortunately, like Ariadne, this retelling does not actually add anything new and original to a story already told by others. I believe that those who are able to appreciate it the most are those who are unfamiliar with Greek myths and tragedies.
Also I found some chapters rather slow while others, especially the end, managed rather quickly.

Definitely a 3.5/4 because Elektra is a nice book, in which you can feel all the anger and bitterness of Electra and Clytemnestra.

Hello hello Greek myth retelling - long time no see! This is definitely a genre that I’m guilty of underrating myself - I never think of it as one of my fave genres but whenever I pick one up I usually end up enjoying it!

Confession time: I’ve not yet read Ariadne which felt wrong as I know that is kind of the OG booksta Jennifer Saint book but I very kindly was sent Elektra as an arc via NetGalley so thought I would give it a go first.

One of the things I love about Greek myth retelling is the poignancy of the relationships in them? Maybe it’s just me but I find that there is often less description and I guess “fluff”. I really enjoyed how Elektra’s relationship with her absent father was at the forefront of her mind and yet it was her relationship with her mother that really shaped the plot.

I also loved how strong yet often victimised women were at the heart of Elektra. From beautiful Helen who’s only worth in the eyes of everyone around her was her beauty to Elektra’s mother who’s loyalty to her children was ultimately her downfall. As the reader it made me feel conflicted at times (in a good way) because I felt empathy and sorrow for these women and also resentment and frustration towards them too.

One thing I would have liked to see was Cassandra and Elektra’s characters interact? I felt that their stories were so similar and their fates felt very much intertwined i thought it would have been interesting to see these two women, plagued by an inability to take action on their wishes, actually meet.

I know that this can’t be helped given that it is a Greek myth retelling but the names Clytemnestra, Chrysothemis and Cassandra did get a little confusing at times. I also felt that the ended was a little rushed and almost felt like an anti-climax? Elektra’s bitterness and grudge against her mother and Aegisthus felt so visceral as the book drew to the end I found myself wanting her to exact her revenge and avenge her father’s death - but I found the ending to be somewhat disappointing in that regard.

Overall I did enjoy Elektra and will definitely be bumping Ariadne up my TBR. The best thing about this book was the tragic stories of the female characters within it and if you like powerful women and Greek myth retelling I would absolutely recommend Elektra to you!

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5 (3.5 stars)

Ever since reading Ariadne last year, I have loved Jennifer Saint‘s writing style. It is lyrical, it is emotional, and it is breathtaking. For me, Saint has always maintained that perfect balance between lyrical writing and raw, emotional writing, and that is one of the many reasons I adore her books. The style is something that firmly cements Saint as a spectacular writer, and I would say that she (and her books) are on par with Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles.

Elektra tells the story of the Trojan War from three different perspectives: Elektra, eagerly awaiting the return of her beloved father, Agamemnon, Cassandra, Priestess of Troy, and Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife.

When I saw Jennifer post on her story that Chapter 9 was the most brutal and emotional thing she’d ever written, I had an inkling of what would go down, but boy did it exceed my expectations. Throughout the rest of the book, the ripples of this chapter are felt on such a deep level that you can feel Clytemnestra’s grief grow and fester. The death of Iphegenia - seen through her mother's eyes - was a raw and heartbreaking event, which had me gasping as I read it.

The women are, of course, spectacularly written. I think Cassandra’s chapters were my favourite, as I’ve read other interpretations where she has been reduced to a screaming lunatic, but in Elektra she maintains her power, even if there is no one to listen. I loved the spin on her visions from Apollo, and I felt her anguish when no one listened to her. Additionally, Elektra’s burning desire to see her father and her complicated feelings towards her mother are woven beautifully into her character, and I really enjoyed the arc her character went through. Clytemnestra's journey, one of grief, betrayal, and loss, was poignantly written, and although we saw Clytemnestra do some fairly awul things, she is not reduced to a madwoman desperate for revenge; she remains a grieving mother, which I think is powerful characterisation and a real testament to the skill of Saint's writing.

Overall, this was a beautiful read, and Jennifer Saint will always be an auto-buy author for me.

I am really enjoying reading the Greek myths reimagined, and Elektra is up there with Circe in my opinion. All about the battle of Troy, but told from 3 Womens view points, this is a fantastic read that gave a new view point on an often told tale.

I loved Ariadne last year and was excited to see what Jennifer Saint would put out next and what a delight it was. Elektra is another strong feminist Greek retelling that fits in perfectly with all the others and gives us another viewpoint on the Trojan War. Her writing is lyrical and will transport you to Ancient Greece. I will say I loved Ariadne slightly more but that was mainly due to knowing this Greek myth a bit already so it didn’t have that surprising element that Ariadne had but it’s still a favourite. Jennifer Saint has cemented herself as an auto buy author after this so can’t wait to see what will come next.

Jennifer Saint does it again. It’s been a real treat that there’s been so many Greek myth retellings recently, written by women, about women and giving women a voice. This exceeds all expectations.

I’d never heard of Elektra before this book and it was fascinating to hear a whole new version of the Trojan war and more. Saint writes about the most brutal experiences with the most beautifully ornate language, the contrast is astonishing. My heart broke several times, I gasped, I cringed and I felt the fire that burned in so many of the women in this story.

It’s always interesting in many of these recent stories about Troy that Helen takes a back seat to other women. It’s almost a nod from the author that Helen has taken centre stage for years, now it’s time to here of the bravery, loss and love of other characters. I loved this book and it’s very much a deserving recipient of being number one on the bestseller list this week!

Thank you @netgalley for the eARC of Elektra in return for an honest review. Elektra is out now.

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.