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A review by poetic_liz
Ithaca by Claire North
4.75
I should give this book five stars for its relentless, ruthless, bitterly honest narrator and it's beautiful, ugly, pretty use of words. So many of those quotes will stay with me. The book balances beautiful prose with harsh commentary, lyrical stanza with curse words, poetic descriptions with vulgar and heartless wording.
As someone who read way too many books on Greek myth, this was very refreshing to read, both in terms of narrator, style choices and timeline chosen. It is truly unique amongst other retellings and focuses on women very differently than most "women focused"/"feminist" retellings do. Often I dislike them for trying to hard or not enough. This book wasn't ashamed to face the bitter truth of the lives of women and goddesses. It was ugly, disturbing, and utterly beautiful.
The thing that keeps the 5 stars away is that I wasn't happy with some of the plot choices made. This is completely on me and my personal taste, other people may love it. The book would for sure be 5/5 if I could only give full stars.
I beg everyone to read this, to approach it with an open mind, ready to be disappointed by your heroes and the female characters alike, for they are all human. And what can I say? Humans are built like gods, so be ready to be disappointed by the gods as well.
As someone who read way too many books on Greek myth, this was very refreshing to read, both in terms of narrator, style choices and timeline chosen. It is truly unique amongst other retellings and focuses on women very differently than most "women focused"/"feminist" retellings do. Often I dislike them for trying to hard or not enough. This book wasn't ashamed to face the bitter truth of the lives of women and goddesses. It was ugly, disturbing, and utterly beautiful.
The thing that keeps the 5 stars away is that I wasn't happy with some of the plot choices made. This is completely on me and my personal taste, other people may love it. The book would for sure be 5/5 if I could only give full stars.
I beg everyone to read this, to approach it with an open mind, ready to be disappointed by your heroes and the female characters alike, for they are all human. And what can I say? Humans are built like gods, so be ready to be disappointed by the gods as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Rape, War, Slavery, and Misogyny