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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really love Bea's ability to translate myth into contemporary literature, especially her ability to reference the fluid nature of said myths. She did this first in Girl, Goddess, Queen, where she incorporated the earlier known name of Persephone, Kore, as a part of the plot, and then in this book, then she described the different timelines as being the different versions of the myth/readings of the myth, for example Helen's exit of Sparta. I feel like many greek myth retellers like to just pick one version of the myth and present it as fact, which is what creates such hostility between the myth fans and the retelling fans, but Bea overcomes this by being very clear in her intentions, and clearly having a good understanding of what exactly is so charming about greek mythology.
The story was really good. Cassandra has always been one of my favorite greek heroes, but this book made me really, really love Helen. I think they work very well as foils for each other, and therefore as romantic interests. Their stories parallel each other, and it is crazy to me that this is the first adaptation I've heard of that dares to ask the question "what if they kissed?". And sue me, I really enjoyed the somewhat over the top diversity!! This is clearly a fantastical novel, so of course every kind of rep is there! I think authors who limit their diversity to one character in the name of realism are cowards afraid of mainstream scrutiny. Andromache as a disabled character, Cassandra's sister as a trans girl, Cassandra herself as an autistic lesbian, Helen as unapolagetically bisexual?! I love it!!!
I think the pacing missed something for me. I found myself bored at times, although I cannot explain why. It just did not give me the FEELS, at least not like her first book. That is why I took a .5 off the otherwise perfect rating. I think this might be one of my favorite greek retellings ever, especially because it does not shy away from being a REtelling! It is a "what if" story, and I love that part of it so much.
The story was really good. Cassandra has always been one of my favorite greek heroes, but this book made me really, really love Helen. I think they work very well as foils for each other, and therefore as romantic interests. Their stories parallel each other, and it is crazy to me that this is the first adaptation I've heard of that dares to ask the question "what if they kissed?". And sue me, I really enjoyed the somewhat over the top diversity!! This is clearly a fantastical novel, so of course every kind of rep is there! I think authors who limit their diversity to one character in the name of realism are cowards afraid of mainstream scrutiny. Andromache as a disabled character, Cassandra's sister as a trans girl, Cassandra herself as an autistic lesbian, Helen as unapolagetically bisexual?! I love it!!!
I think the pacing missed something for me. I found myself bored at times, although I cannot explain why. It just did not give me the FEELS, at least not like her first book. That is why I took a .5 off the otherwise perfect rating. I think this might be one of my favorite greek retellings ever, especially because it does not shy away from being a REtelling! It is a "what if" story, and I love that part of it so much.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Just as a disclaimer, I also DNFed this author's first book (Girl Goddess Queen). I'm not certain yet whether this is a soft or hard DNF, but I can feel myself forcing myself through this when I'm not enjoying it.
My issue with this book (and I think, unfortunately, this author's writing, as I had the same issues before) is that I really love the idea, the themeing, the concepts, and yet the execution just does not work for me. I find the writing style to be a bit too clunky at times, often there is too much telling and not enough showing, and - for such a long book (over 500 pages) - it feels like there is so much filler. I found the characters to be inconsistent (Helen in particular, sometimes acting like a teenage girl (which I think she is supposed to be) and other times seeming like a 30 year old) and the chemistry that was starting to emerge between them felt forced.
I like this author a lot as a person, and I think her ideas are really strong, but I just don't think her writing is for me unfortunately.
My issue with this book (and I think, unfortunately, this author's writing, as I had the same issues before) is that I really love the idea, the themeing, the concepts, and yet the execution just does not work for me. I find the writing style to be a bit too clunky at times, often there is too much telling and not enough showing, and - for such a long book (over 500 pages) - it feels like there is so much filler. I found the characters to be inconsistent (Helen in particular, sometimes acting like a teenage girl (which I think she is supposed to be) and other times seeming like a 30 year old) and the chemistry that was starting to emerge between them felt forced.
I like this author a lot as a person, and I think her ideas are really strong, but I just don't think her writing is for me unfortunately.
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
This was supposed to be super up my alley, but it sadly didn't deliver more then a (honestly, kindly given) 3 star read. Sure it was entertaining, but the exploration of themes (such as feninism and fate/choice) felt clumsy and superficial to a fault, all the side-characters were as flat as it could get and the story felt very one-beat. The concept had a lot of potential, but it felt wasted to me. The book is basically 550 pages of conversations and visions, without any action scenes, emotional death scenes or other non-forgettable scenes. The war is central in this story, yet we never get to see it or know anything about it. All telling and no showing made for an emotionally detached reading experience. Also, fyi, characters speak like 2025 teenagers (this was not a huge issue for me, but i know it is for a lot of people so thought i should mention).
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
om du vill läsa en grekisk mytologi bok med sapphic kärleks historia, läs den här boken!!
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes