Reviews tagging 'War'

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

178 reviews

havefa1th's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

This book is very good but sometimes it just feels very slow and I'm hoping for it to hurry up. Another thing is that I struggled to sympathise with Elektra, the literal namesake for the book. I found the other povs far more interesting

but unfortunately they both die before Elektra

. By the final ten-ish chapters, I just desperately wanted the book to finish.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Pregnancy, War, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Grief, Sexism, Slavery, Child death, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Classism, Death of parent, Rape, and Self harm

alexiasophii's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

3.5

Of all the books that retell The Trojan War I've read in the past months, this was the one I liked the least. Primarily because of Elektra's character. I know I'm biased since this isn't my first book on the Trojan War and I'm very familiar with most characters, but I just could not like Elektra. There's one quote, in particular, that annoyed me profoundly and made me hate her:

" They buried the woman [Kassandra], the one I saw walking behind him. No one has told me how she died. I wish that I could have talked to her: perhaps she could have told me stories about my father. The slaves say she was a princess of Troy. She was so lucky to be chosen by a king, the greatest king in Greece, to be brought here to a palace that must be as fine as the one she left. Finer, I’m sure. Whatever wealth Troy possessed, Mycenae had Agamemnon. And she did too, for a little while. "

I mean... how ENTITLED do you have to be to think that a SLAVE is "lucky" to be driven from her home, used by your father, and see her family and home dead and burned just because... what? You miss your daddy? I swear, this character just boiled my blood. And, once again, I'm on  Clytemnestra's side in this whole ordeal, though I still find myself wishing she had influenced her children not to be so devoted to Agamemnon but oh well. 
Overall, this book is not as good as the ones I've read before and the MC really annoyed me, so it's a 3.7 stars for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape

Minor: War, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Violence

whosjessanyway's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.75

This was my first experience reading anything by Jennifer Saint. This is a book about female rage, about revenge and the cycle of violence, about “a war fought by men and blamed on women” told through women’s eyes. 

Jennifer’s writing was very compelling, I loved every minute of it. This was not my first greek mythology retelling, but it was the first one to make me fall in love with the myths all over again, driving me to watch documentaries and giving me flashbacks of other greek stories, back from when I was in middle school. 

I think this book sent me right into my greek mythology reading era, and I am glad it did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Rape and War

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Ableism, Blood, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Violence, and War

alibookedup's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

A story about the cycle of revenge and how it can curse generations. I really liked that it was written in the 3 POVs of Clytemnestra, Cassandra, and Elektra. It brings you on a full journey that spans years and comes full circle into an ending of closure, but also the tragedy that comes with seemingly righteous revenge.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and War

Moderate: Child death

yagorlreggie's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, War, Grief, Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual assault

katymat18's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault, Violence, and Rape

kristen_spencer's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Rape

spellebook's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, and War

Moderate: Death

nicnevin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Good story but I feel like the titular character honestly didn't have much to do with her own story, especially since the more interesting aspects were with Cassandra and Clydemnestra.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Drug use, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Xenophobia, Violence, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Gore, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Blood, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Classism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail