Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

17 reviews

amschelly153's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Beautiful writing. A+ to Jennifer.
These characters though made me want to scream. But she did a fantastic job writing them, just really frustrating circumstances lol.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gore, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Blood, Abandonment, Confinement, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Grief

nicnevin's review

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

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Slavery, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, War, Abandonment, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, and Misogyny

Minor: Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Incest

microbemom's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

The story of three women that are little control over there lives is both moving and sad.  We see the story from three different perspectives each as interesting as the others.  One sees visions, one obsess with her father, and one that lets revenge rule her life.  

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Rape, Death, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Death of parent, Violence, and War

anapthine's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Thank you Net Galley and Headline Audio for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows Elektra, the daughter of Agamemnon, who greatly looks up to her father. When he leaves for Troy she is heartbroken and for years longs to be near him. Along with her mother Clytemnestra and the sister of Paris (the Trojan Prince who fell in love with Helen) called Princess Cassandra, this incredibly clever novel tells the story of Troy from many different points of view.

Because I love Song of Achilles with all my heart, I was worried this book would just be another tale about Troy, not really adding anything - but how wrong I was. Elektra adds so much to the story of the Trojan War, with how Princess Cassandra feels watching the war unfold beneath her.

Princess Casandra got the gift of prophecy from Apollo, but no one believes her when she speaks of the dangers.

My favourite point of view was Clytemnestra’s, as it was full of humility, grief, revenge, anger and sorrow.

The audiobook itself was incredibly well done, showcasing the emotions of the characters beautifully.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Kidnapping, Blood, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Slavery, Trafficking, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Abandonment, Child death, Confinement, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Pregnancy

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

hmatt's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.25

I really like the way this author writes women's voices, and I think it particularly suits this sub-genre of Greek myth retellings. I hope they continue to write in this genre and I will happily pick up whatever comes next.

That said, I didn't find this retelling quite as compelling as I've found others. Cassandra is the only one of the three POV characters who is arguably likeable at all, which is definitely intentional, but also it did impact my reading. It was a struggle for me to empathize at all, really, with the other two. I also wasn't quite convinced by the choice to just narrate from these three specific characters. Elektra and Clytemnestra make sense but, again, Cassandra is a bit of a random pick/stretch for me. It felt like it was a choice made deliberately so that this book wasn't too similar to A Thousand Ships - which, honestly, read that before you read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, War, Grief, Classism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Confinement, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Genocide

Minor: Animal death

tmickey's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Slavery, and Confinement