ELEKTRA: The mesmerising retelling from the women at the heart of the Trojan War Hardcover – Import, 28 April 2022

The tone and content is decidedly feminine, reflecting the ruminations and intrigues of the female mind. Both Ariadne and Elektra have similar treatment. Personally found it a bit excessively embellished but an experience that mythology buffs should enjoy nevertheless.

This book was an average read. Like the writing was pretty decent, nothing extraordinary. I guess when it comes to Greek Mythology you need to make your writing pretty much impactful as everyone already knows the story. Like for example The Song of Achilles. Everyone knows the story but still it left a really strong impression- that's good writing. This book was a fast read, loved the characters but the writing was decent and didn't have any effect on me as a reader.

An ARC of a book on mythical women? Sign me up! Review up on my Bookstagram along with similar books: @sto.ries_by.tJennifer Saint was on my radar ever since I discovered Ariadne, so I scooped at the opportunity of reading this book before its release, major props to the folks at NetGalley!If there's one thing that the Classical myths establish, it is that morality is grey, and man's actions are not monolithic events growing out of themselves. Every decision, choice and action is a leaf on the branches of a tree that is life, influenced by the winds, the soil, the creatures living in it, and the trees around itself. This book makes it clear like no other. It gives voice to the voiceless women on Oresteia by Aeschylus, and Electra by Euripides: women of the household of Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek Army in the Trojan War, well known from Homer's Iliad. So this is a collection of events that happen at the intersection of several myths.It starts from Clytemnestra's childhood, her lax days with Helen, until they are swept by their husbands to their new lives. Things seem good, although Agamemnon isn't the ideal man one would imagine heroes to be, until Paris abducts Helen (or probably Helen went voluntarily, she never gets to tell us in the myths). Thanks to loyalty for his brother, Menelaus, whose wife was Helen, and being bound by an oath, Agamemnon goes to lead the huge army of Greeks against Troy, except his hubris causes him to displease Artemis. Here begins the bloodshed of his generation, carrying forward the curse of his ancestors (that often happened among these mythical characters). As Agamemnon kills his daughter Iphigenia in cold blood, tragedy unfurls.This is the story of the women where they get to voice their thoughts, their perspectives, and their tug of war with fate and choice. The complex premises of destiny, divine intervention, ignorance and revenge come together in a simple narrative of personal thoughts from the perspectives of Clytemnestra, Iphigenia, Cassandra, Elektra and more. The narrative moves from Greece to Troy, showcasing a sort of unity in the diverse lives of these women, with their varied exoeriences. It evokes the question the myths intended to: who was wrong? And like the myths intended, no answer is yielded.If you're still wondering if this book is worth it, it absolutely is. Forget the traditional plots and the mystery of ends. This is a story you know, yet at every juncture there is something new. It makes you feel what the women had felt. It makes you grind your teeth at the irony of life, as you silently watch the tragedy unfurl. It's like going back to the festival of Dionysa in Athens, but now it's the women who write their stories.