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lilacdragon's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence
Minor: Rape
charity1313's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.25
A retelling of the Trojan War is going to inevitable be graphic and tense. Very interesting perspective and well written but some of the time/character jumps felt...awkward. Helen didn't seem as well developed and well rounded as Clytemnestra. I realize this is written to skew our sympathies away from Helen and toward Clytemnestra but I think there is room to explore both, which does happen eventually but just not to the same extent.
As much as I knew about this story beforehand the versions I've read and heard were obviously somewhat sanitized as they left out the details of child sacrifice and poor Prince Hector's fate. Both descriptions haunted me a bit. She did a great job writing them but it was a bit triggering for this combat veteran.
As much as I knew about this story beforehand the versions I've read and heard were obviously somewhat sanitized as they left out the details of child sacrifice and poor Prince Hector's fate. Both descriptions haunted me a bit. She did a great job writing them but it was a bit triggering for this combat veteran.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault
chambersaurusrx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, War, Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Sexism
therealslimkatie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Hard to get into but did pick up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
alyssa_b_dub's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
catriona99674's review against another edition
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I found this book overall to be disappointing. As a book about Helen and Kyltemnestra I was looking forward to a retelling of the myth of Troy from these women's perspectives. However from the beginning to the end of the book both women lacked agency in their own stories. I appreciate that the author was working within confines of the myth and that agency for Greek women in this period was limited but it was remarkable how little action either woman took and for vast amount of the book they were both just passively reacting to things going on around them without evening seeming to want to do anything. This made them feel like props rather than real people and almost entirely unempathetic because how can you empathise with people who don't even think about doing anything?
Also the frequent time jumping meant that the book never dwelt on anything. Lots of terrible things happen in this book but the author never spends any time in the aftermath. So the thing happens and then we instantly skip forward years ahead so that our characters have already dealt with the immediate consequences of the event. This meant that nothing really landed like it was clearly supposed to and the author failed to evoke and real emotions or look at anything in any real depth.
The author created some really interesting opportunities to explore different types of abuse and neglect but the constant skipping forward meant that we never spent enough time anywhere to fully feel the weight of these.
The author also had a chronic case of tell don't show. There was very little dialogue in the book and most of the the word count was made up of the author telling us what Helen and Klytemnestra had discovered in their time jumps about the men around them. Rather than being allowed to come to conclusions ourselves about other characters the author told us exactly what we should think at all times but failed to demonstrate it through action or dialogue in most cases.
The book was also strangely paced. There was never enough time in this book. The chapters were very short, time was constantly jumping forward and events would be discussed and them dropped. This meant that not only did we spend very little time exploring the events of the book and their consequences and aftermath we also spent very little time in the lives of these two women. Also they seemed to ever do was weave.
I dont often say this but this book needed to be longer. It did not have the word count to tackle the lives of both these women and the consequence was that nothing was explored satisfactorily. Various plot points were also discarded half way through the book and the ending was unsatisfactory.
Overall I was left unsure what exactly the theming of this book was supposed to be and what the story the author was trying to tell was exactly.
Saying all that it was still mostly an easy read and I did finish it. I would be interested in seeing what this author does yet and I hope she will improve in her future writing projects.
Also the frequent time jumping meant that the book never dwelt on anything. Lots of terrible things happen in this book but the author never spends any time in the aftermath. So the thing happens and then we instantly skip forward years ahead so that our characters have already dealt with the immediate consequences of the event. This meant that nothing really landed like it was clearly supposed to and the author failed to evoke and real emotions or look at anything in any real depth.
The author created some really interesting opportunities to explore different types of abuse and neglect but the constant skipping forward meant that we never spent enough time anywhere to fully feel the weight of these.
The author also had a chronic case of tell don't show. There was very little dialogue in the book and most of the the word count was made up of the author telling us what Helen and Klytemnestra had discovered in their time jumps about the men around them. Rather than being allowed to come to conclusions ourselves about other characters the author told us exactly what we should think at all times but failed to demonstrate it through action or dialogue in most cases.
The book was also strangely paced. There was never enough time in this book. The chapters were very short, time was constantly jumping forward and events would be discussed and them dropped. This meant that not only did we spend very little time exploring the events of the book and their consequences and aftermath we also spent very little time in the lives of these two women. Also they seemed to ever do was weave.
I dont often say this but this book needed to be longer. It did not have the word count to tackle the lives of both these women and the consequence was that nothing was explored satisfactorily. Various plot points were also discarded half way through the book and the ending was unsatisfactory.
Overall I was left unsure what exactly the theming of this book was supposed to be and what the story the author was trying to tell was exactly.
Saying all that it was still mostly an easy read and I did finish it. I would be interested in seeing what this author does yet and I hope she will improve in her future writing projects.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and War
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Grief
Minor: Miscarriage
isabellejulianne's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-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
4.5
I think this book would pair nicely with The Song of Achilles since both are written about the Trojan War, but more focused around Helen and Klytemnestra’s side. This book was beautifully written and truly captured women’s struggles in a strict patriarchal society. I was not a fan of the ending. It did not seem to wrap up the story in the way that I wanted it to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Miscarriage, Slavery, and Violence
taylorrudolph's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this followed helen & klytmenestra’s lives perfectly through the trojan war. i loved getting to see helen’s point of view as it is barely ever told. i learned of kyltmenestra’s story in a “thousand ships” by natalie haynes. i loved this story even though i have read countless retellings of the trojan war, any perspective never gets old
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Slavery
mmatti300's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book honestly was a little disappointing. While I really enjoyed having klytemnestras perspective, the rest of the book felt very dry and exactly the same as every other Trojan war retelling. Maybe I feel this way simply because I have read quite a few, including the YA series Nobody’s Princess and Nobody’s prize that we’re similarly from Helens perspective. The writing style was also rather lackluster though there were a few stellar descriptions that fully encapsulated the vitriol and disgusting actions of the men. Since this is a debut, I can only hope that the strength of descriptions that Heywood showed glimmers of will be clearer in future books. A good book, interesting additions of Klytemnestra but overall more cookie cutter than I would have liked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Child death, Death, Blood, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Cannibalism, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
rileepickle's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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? Yes
3.25
I really enjoyed this novel, especially towards the end. I think the biggest issue I had with it was that it shifted from focusing on Klytemnestra to focusing on Helen in the latter parts of the novel. I found Klytemnestra's story much more interesting than Helen's, although Helen's was intriguing as well. I didn't like the way this novel ended, and had more questions about some of the plot points that weren't answered. Overall though, a fun and emotional read with lots of jarring scenes and important themes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Miscarriage, Child death, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Toxic relationship
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