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cathy_alice's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and War
Moderate: Slavery
lia_24's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I never thought I'd say this but I love Hera and even more so I love her blunt and honest narration of the story of women that history reduced to mere wives.
Hera's love for the Greek Queens is incredibly moving and her telling of the place women occupy in society is terrifyingly honest.
You're caught between laughing at her insults towards men and her fellow Gods, only to be hit with a passage describing the abuse women are victim to on the daily which makes your stomach turn.
There could not have been a better narrator for the story of Queens than their goddess.
Hera's love for the Greek Queens is incredibly moving and her telling of the place women occupy in society is terrifyingly honest.
You're caught between laughing at her insults towards men and her fellow Gods, only to be hit with a passage describing the abuse women are victim to on the daily which makes your stomach turn.
There could not have been a better narrator for the story of Queens than their goddess.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery, Rape, and Sexual assault
booksthatburn's review
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
As the first book in the series, ITHACA tells a chapter in Penelope’s life while Odysseus is aware. It tells a complete story, then ends rather dramatically in a way that foreshadows the sequel.
One of the difficulties in embarking upon retellings of Greek myths for a modern reader is that merely trying to lay out the relevant backstory involves listing several people Zeus assaulted, and a great deal of other violence, just to say the origins of a particular hero or the parentage of a demigod. ITHACA has a refreshing and circumspect approach to this and other similar difficulties which come from delving into stories where women were generally not considered to be full persons. ITHACA aims to tells the stories of the people the poets ignored, the women and slaves who were excised from their own stories (unless relegated to paragons of virtue or warnings of catastrophe). Hera is the narrator, telling what happened while Odysseus was on Calypso's Island, indulging in passion, and Penelope is at home in Ithaca, keeping dozens of suitors at bay. She keeps them just hopeful enough to refrain from war against Ithaca to claim her hand and her husband's responsibilities. In this retelling, there’s a cleverness and frustration to Hera. She, who was the goddess of queens, made small by Zeus and the imaginations of mortal men. Squeezed into the role of the goddess of wives, stifled by the implication that wives and mothers are less than men and distinct from warriors. Instead, ITHACA slowly disrupts that status quo as Penelope shows how she is a queen in fact and in name.
Because everything is from Hera's perspective, she doesn’t know exactly what Penelope is thinking. Hera's most frequent interactions are with Athena and Artemis, as she is deliberately hiding her activities from Zeus, and any god who might carry tales to him. There’s a loneliness and a hunger in Hera, as the way she can only accomplish things while beneath Zeus's notice mirrors the way that the wives, mothers, and queens, who pray to her must conceal their cleverness. When they produce something that men like, their ingenuity is misunderstood, or assumed to have another cause. When their cleverness threatens the men, either truly or only in their minds, then the women must be stopped through social pressure or violence.
The suitors cannot believe that Penelope continues to feed so many without gold, refusing to accept that she is a shrewd tradeswoman who manages her household well. Those who press her on the matter seem to think that hidden gold is a readier explanation than competent husbandry of goats. As if feasts are made of metal and gems, the men refuse to understand that barter and bargain can produce feasts with the resources of the farms and fields.
I’m very pleased with the worldbuilding, the narrative style, the focus as shaped through Hera, and many small moments in the story. I’m very excited to read more, and I’m glad this is a series instead of a standalone book.
One of the difficulties in embarking upon retellings of Greek myths for a modern reader is that merely trying to lay out the relevant backstory involves listing several people Zeus assaulted, and a great deal of other violence, just to say the origins of a particular hero or the parentage of a demigod. ITHACA has a refreshing and circumspect approach to this and other similar difficulties which come from delving into stories where women were generally not considered to be full persons. ITHACA aims to tells the stories of the people the poets ignored, the women and slaves who were excised from their own stories (unless relegated to paragons of virtue or warnings of catastrophe). Hera is the narrator, telling what happened while Odysseus was on Calypso's Island, indulging in passion, and Penelope is at home in Ithaca, keeping dozens of suitors at bay. She keeps them just hopeful enough to refrain from war against Ithaca to claim her hand and her husband's responsibilities. In this retelling, there’s a cleverness and frustration to Hera. She, who was the goddess of queens, made small by Zeus and the imaginations of mortal men. Squeezed into the role of the goddess of wives, stifled by the implication that wives and mothers are less than men and distinct from warriors. Instead, ITHACA slowly disrupts that status quo as Penelope shows how she is a queen in fact and in name.
Because everything is from Hera's perspective, she doesn’t know exactly what Penelope is thinking. Hera's most frequent interactions are with Athena and Artemis, as she is deliberately hiding her activities from Zeus, and any god who might carry tales to him. There’s a loneliness and a hunger in Hera, as the way she can only accomplish things while beneath Zeus's notice mirrors the way that the wives, mothers, and queens, who pray to her must conceal their cleverness. When they produce something that men like, their ingenuity is misunderstood, or assumed to have another cause. When their cleverness threatens the men, either truly or only in their minds, then the women must be stopped through social pressure or violence.
The suitors cannot believe that Penelope continues to feed so many without gold, refusing to accept that she is a shrewd tradeswoman who manages her household well. Those who press her on the matter seem to think that hidden gold is a readier explanation than competent husbandry of goats. As if feasts are made of metal and gems, the men refuse to understand that barter and bargain can produce feasts with the resources of the farms and fields.
I’m very pleased with the worldbuilding, the narrative style, the focus as shaped through Hera, and many small moments in the story. I’m very excited to read more, and I’m glad this is a series instead of a standalone book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Death, Gore, Blood, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Classism, Grief, Sexism, Misogyny, Death of parent, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, Rape, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Cannibalism, War, Slavery, Murder, and Child death
Minor: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Incest, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
khaleesiofrivia's review against another edition
It was way to slow and there was an assault that was completely unnecessary to add. That’s an immediate stop for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
introvertsbookclub's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
A unique offering in the outpouring of Greek myth retellings that provides an entirely new perspective on Penelope, Clytemnestra, and its narrator Hera. The novel shares its focus between a cast of compelling female characters and undermines the male characters whose abuse of power and mediocrity gets in their way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
theblerdnewsletter's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The reason I didn’t give it 4.5 stars is because I would love to see Hera’s telling of when Odysseus comes home.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Incest, Violence, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Child death, Slavery, Infidelity, War, Blood, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Trafficking
linguisticali's review
dark
medium-paced
3.0
The truly relentless references to rape were my least favourite thing about this. Whatever point you want to make about the poets lionising male heroes who are actually Bad Rapists... we get it. Point made. Otherwise it was... fine? I didn't hate it but I won't read the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, and Rape
brittishrcoming's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: War, Misogyny, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Slavery, Rape, and Sexual assault
bridgetdeveney's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
miranda_lynn1234's review against another edition
I really don’t like the perspective it’s written from, I wish we could truly get a feel for what the character is feeling at the time and a better grounding to the main characters just not for me sadly
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape