Reviews

A Spartan's Sorrow by Hannah Lynn

erin_woolton3's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

sea_uh_dahmay's review against another edition

4.0

elektra they’ll never make me like u

smolhandsdan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

coscole's review against another edition

sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

kylosten's review against another edition

adventurous sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This started out as a good retelling of Clytemnestra after being married to Agamemnon.
The writing style was good. Adding emotion to the characters to give meaning behind their actions was also well done overall. I liked that Clytemnestra, at the heart of everything was motivated by a deep love for her children and the story did a good job showing the tragedy of her story lies in a society rooted in misogyny.
I think having some idea of the original stories is helpful since this starts in the middle of Clytemnestra's story.

The incest storyline in part 2 felt like it was just there to appeal to Song of Achilles fans and a bit disingenuous tbh. While I appreciate LGBTQIA+ storylines and representation it felt like it would have made more sense as a strong brotherly relationship. The romantic aspect kind of came out of nowhere.
And I understand incest was likely viewed differently in the time these stories were written since there are marriages between cousin/affairs among family members (and that some interpretations of the two characters are romantic). It just felt unnecessary here and took away from the overall second half for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child death and Incest

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

jenny_barton's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

4.0

friesenag's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

sgrant24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad medium-paced

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

5.0

circesnightmare's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.5

karmkeigh's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

Coming from any of Madeline Miller’s work, this just doesn’t hold up. While the story itself is fine and certainly has its own merits, particularly in terms of sheer drama, the quality was lacking. Also, what was that about Orestes and Pylades??

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Incest