A review by charity1313
Daughters of Sparta by Claire Heywood

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.
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