Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Electra by Jennifer Saint

72 reviews

remuslibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Child death, Death, Grief, Sexism, War, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Rape

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

 Elektra by Jennifer Saint was worth the wait! I really fell in love with Saint’s writing when I read her other novel last year, and this follows suit. I read this book so fast, and it is a great retelling of Greek mythology. I love the characters and the emotions they convey throughout the pages, and while I was a little confused at first, the characters that Saint selected to narrate were fantastic. I loved the juxtaposition between Elektra and her mother, and I loved the edition of Cassandra, to see Agamemnon’s wrath from different angles (wife, child, and enemy). This is a really great read, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. I know this one just came out, but I can’t wait for Saint’s next book!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Genocide, Death, Misogyny, Classism, Toxic relationship, Murder, Slavery, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment

ruby_mae_read's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Slavery, Murder, Misogyny, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, War, Child death, Sexual assault, Violence, and Blood

acasiamae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Murder, Gore, Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, Slavery, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Child death, and Sexual violence

Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Slavery, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, War, Abandonment, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, and Misogyny

Minor: Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Incest

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

i really enjoyed this. Clytemnestra's storyline and perspective was by far the best in my opinion. Elektra's storyline, while connecting the characters and giving us a new perspective, was a little lackluster at times. if not for that i would have enjoyed this even more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Blood, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, War, Grief, Sexual content, Torture, Vomit, and Violence

lydiavsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

This feels like too low of a rating: its a beautiful beautiful book, I just didn't personally connect with it as much as I'd hoped, and so I can't rate my experience with this book as any higher.

I love Ariadne by the same author, its one of my favourite books, which unfortunately meant I couldn't help but compare Elektra the whole time. The writing was beautiful, the characters were complex and nuanced and real, but I just didn't click with it on the same level that I did with Ariadne. Its entirely personal and I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from reading this at all. 

That said I really did enjoy this a lot. I loved Cassandras perspective especially, as well as the exploration of the complex relationship between Elektra and her mother. Its a mother/daughter relationship dynamic that isn't often explored from both sides. I do almost wish we'd had the perspective of Helen at times, her character really stood out to me and I wish we'd had more time to explore it, especially her relationship as a sister and a mother.

 In many ways Elektra's perspective was the one I struggled with the most: I think it was an important one and deliberately challenging but the lack of connection I felt to her did I think hinder my enjoyment. Saint's aim within her retellings is to give voice to the women often overlooked within mythology, and she absolutely does that for Elektra, and the other women in this book. And the stories of different women will of course resonate with different people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Blood

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I liked the writing style of this book and I thought the events (that I already know) were told well, I just didn't care about some of the povs and I thought the ending was a bit underwhelming. Still a good overall story 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Murder, Animal cruelty, Child death, Violence, War, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Rape

indigo5545's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

beautifully written, and i love the different perspective Saint was able to shed light on

i always thought clytemnestra killed cassandra out of jealousy,, but this version aghh makes it so much better bc it’s out of kindness yusss

yayyy feminism 
#internationalwomansday

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, War, and Violence

Minor: Sexual harassment

kaitlyng's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Blood, Grief, Death, Violence, and Infidelity

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Child death, Animal death, and Cannibalism

Minor: Misogyny, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts