Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Elektra

I don't know why but this was an emotionally very draining read for me. Language-wise, Jennifer Saint was stunning, as always. Her narrating style is just such a wonderful flow of words and really, really enjoyable.
But - it was very hard for me to like any of the characters.

In fact, I think the only one I could really sympathize with was Georgios and how Elektra treated him and that she left him in the end - it made me so FURIOUS. He was the only sincerely kind and good person in the whole book, HE DID NOT DESERVE THIS.

Then again, I have to give the author credit for this, because it's not easy to create round characters and make them all unlikeable at the same time. And with that I don't mean there were only round characters, because there weren't. For example Agamemnon, or Aegisthus. The main characters though, they were pretty well rounded. Especially Clytemnestra, she was so full of emotions (mainly grief and anger, but I'll let that count, too), and it was almost painful to see her realize all her misbehaviour and actions that led to the events happening as they did when it was already way too late. Cassandra was okay, too. It hurt me, too, how nobody believed her, it hurt to think of how things could have ended if people had just listened to her. But I know that's how the tale is told, so Jennifer Saint would only have made a mistake in changing that.
Now, to Elektra. I don't think it's too much to say that I really despised her at the end of the book. Which was so surprising to me, because from reading the cover of the book I had thought she would be this heroic woman, brave and kind and sincere. And maybe she was brave, but she surely wasn't kind and she wasn't sincere, too. I think she was just furious, just angry, and completly filled with grief and the longing for revenge. I don't know how to feel about that because on one side it's pretty dissapointing, on the other side it's pretty genius by Jennifer Saint to create her like that as I'm sure many other readers were surprised, too.
The events themselves weren't too thrilling, because I'd read about the core plot already in "The women of Troy", "The silence of the girls" and "The song of Achilles". So I wasn't surprised when like 90% of the characters died or got slaughtered or died again. So yeah, that sadly took out a big chunk of tension for me, but I won't credit that negatively, because it's no one's fault but mine to be interersted in Greek mythology.
So yeah, judging by the fact that I'm again unable to keep my review short and could say so many more things about this book, you know it's defenitely worth a read, even though it was not my favourite favourite one. (And this is all because of you, Madeleine Miller...)
Still an impressive and somewhat kind of women-empowering piece of literature that's worth giving a try.

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mamaowlbear's review

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

Content Warnings

nialiversuch's review against another edition

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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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nicnevin's review against another edition

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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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taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

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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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