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mariefoxprice's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really loved this book. I was invested in Helen and her story from beginning to end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Slavery and Animal death
daisytudball's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fantastic fantastic book. Even though it’s a long story, I was completely absorbed for a full week. Enjoyed every bit of it. There is obviously a large amount of war and death content and in the middle, I did find it a little tedious but it soon amped back up again.
Read if you want an escape :)
Read if you want an escape :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Pregnancy, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Death, Murder, Torture, and War
cathy_alice's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
Graphic: Rape, War, Murder, Death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Suicide and Grief
shellroch285's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Rape
sofipitch's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
When I first read this book, about 4 years ago, I really enjoyed it. But this summer I finally read the Iliad itself and I've been reading a lot of other mythology adaptation novels and this one kind of falls flat in comparison.
When it comes to adaptations of the Trojan war, I've noticed that authors tend to villainized one side, Acheans or Trojans, one particular character. However the Iliad itself doesn't present clear villians, both sides and characters have good and bad characteristics. They are simply being puppeteers by the gods. I can understand taking a few liberties to make the story make sense but ultimetly this book overly demonizes both Agamemnon and Achilles. The only thing I'm really thankful for is that trend didn't continue to Menelaus, because we know who wins the war and that Helen ultimately has to go home with him.
Which brings me to the romance between Helen and Paris. When I first read this I much prefered the idea of Helen actually falling in love with Paris rather than raped and abducted. I think a story about a woman held captive for 10-20 years would be really dark. It also doesn't make her a seductress which a lot of other adaptations like because they hate women. But ultimately the romance still fails to make Helen sumpatjetic bc of all the misery she ends up causing. The author tries everything she can to try and not place the blame of the war on Helen and it still doesn't make me sympathize with her, or Paris. Ultimately both the Paris and Helen from the actual Iliad by Homer are the most sympathetic.
Finally, most novel adaptations follow the greek tradition of dramatic irony. They expect that you know the story, however the characters don't. So greek plays would often have characters say things, in an oblivious manner, that foreshadows their own doom. "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller and "Ariadne" by Jennifer Saint both also invoke this and they do it really well. It invokes the tragedy of the characters and their story. However, this book does a really, really, bad job of that. Better to have not bothered. At some point Helen gets the gift of prophecy but she will randomly say or think actual lines from the Iliad. Some other prophetic characters, who everyone knows they see the future, do the same. And the characters do nothing to act on it. So rather than dramatic irony we have characters predicting the future and then ignoring it. The most impact you ever get is feeling unsettled. Additionally when they introduce Cassandra the characters say she is gifted with prophecy but cursed that no one will believe her. It literally makes no sense as to why they would know that! The proper way to introduce her is to say she's crazy, because that's all the characters would actually know! George assumes you don't know how the Trojan War goes so she often give the reader, and consequently the characters, knowledge that they shouldn't have.
Normally I really like Margret George's books. But I think I just have way to many opinions on the Trojan War and greek mythology. I can forgive slight changes to the story, every adaptation does that, but this book had way too many frustrations for me to really enjoy it the way I did the first time.
When it comes to adaptations of the Trojan war, I've noticed that authors tend to villainized one side, Acheans or Trojans, one particular character. However the Iliad itself doesn't present clear villians, both sides and characters have good and bad characteristics. They are simply being puppeteers by the gods. I can understand taking a few liberties to make the story make sense but ultimetly this book overly demonizes both Agamemnon and Achilles. The only thing I'm really thankful for is that trend didn't continue to Menelaus, because we know who wins the war and that Helen ultimately has to go home with him.
Which brings me to the romance between Helen and Paris. When I first read this I much prefered the idea of Helen actually falling in love with Paris rather than raped and abducted. I think a story about a woman held captive for 10-20 years would be really dark. It also doesn't make her a seductress which a lot of other adaptations like because they hate women. But ultimately the romance still fails to make Helen sumpatjetic bc of all the misery she ends up causing. The author tries everything she can to try and not place the blame of the war on Helen and it still doesn't make me sympathize with her, or Paris. Ultimately both the Paris and Helen from the actual Iliad by Homer are the most sympathetic.
Finally, most novel adaptations follow the greek tradition of dramatic irony. They expect that you know the story, however the characters don't. So greek plays would often have characters say things, in an oblivious manner, that foreshadows their own doom. "The Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller and "Ariadne" by Jennifer Saint both also invoke this and they do it really well. It invokes the tragedy of the characters and their story. However, this book does a really, really, bad job of that. Better to have not bothered. At some point Helen gets the gift of prophecy but she will randomly say or think actual lines from the Iliad. Some other prophetic characters, who everyone knows they see the future, do the same. And the characters do nothing to act on it. So rather than dramatic irony we have characters predicting the future and then ignoring it. The most impact you ever get is feeling unsettled. Additionally when they introduce Cassandra the characters say she is gifted with prophecy but cursed that no one will believe her. It literally makes no sense as to why they would know that! The proper way to introduce her is to say she's crazy, because that's all the characters would actually know! George assumes you don't know how the Trojan War goes so she often give the reader, and consequently the characters, knowledge that they shouldn't have.
Normally I really like Margret George's books. But I think I just have way to many opinions on the Trojan War and greek mythology. I can forgive slight changes to the story, every adaptation does that, but this book had way too many frustrations for me to really enjoy it the way I did the first time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, War, Death, and Grief
Minor: Confinement
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