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paige (ptsungirl)'s Reviews > Elektra
Elektra
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"I wonder how we can hold up the weight of our destiny on just our shoulders."
°�*⁶�
This was quite the re-telling. Told from three very different women's point of view. A Mother, and two daughters. Two princesses and a Queen. Defined by their titles, looked down upon for their gender. It was powerful, unkind and rich in myth. Just like any re-telling should be.
I loved it. More, I was moved with it.
Clytemnestra grew up in Helen of Troy's shadow. She was a second choice (even when she wasn't). Yet she ended up married to a "great" hero all the same, Agamemnon. Clouded by grief over his choices, her life becomes tainted with ending his. A mother's grief.
Cassandra, the Princess of Troy, named the mad daughter. She says no to a God and is cursed with the sight while no one will believe a word she says. Plagued by knowledge, and unbelieved, she does essentially go mad. But only in the way someone not believed can. All because she said no. A woman's grief.
Elekra, Clytemnestra and Agamemnon's daughter, blinded by love. She can't understand that the God's are cruel, that maybe her father was wrong for all he did, and clouded by grief over his loss, her life becomes tainted with ending her mother's. A daughter's grief.
Though grief is universal, how we feel and react to it is not. I loved (while I hated) every second of walking through their grief and seeing all the different ways one deals with it. I hope Jennifer Saint never stops writing about greek mythology. I'll read absolutely anything she writes.
I also wanted to say that I think it's absolutely beautifully that in every re-telling I read, there's always a mention of how drowned Achilles is in his grief after Patroclus left the land of the living. A specific quote, "He would not burn his beloved's body until he had sated his vengeance" gave me the chills. I love that it's a universal thought that they were in love, that... they are half each other's soul, as the poet's say (The Song of Achilles).
- Paige
°�*⁶�
This was quite the re-telling. Told from three very different women's point of view. A Mother, and two daughters. Two princesses and a Queen. Defined by their titles, looked down upon for their gender. It was powerful, unkind and rich in myth. Just like any re-telling should be.
I loved it. More, I was moved with it.
Clytemnestra grew up in Helen of Troy's shadow. She was a second choice (even when she wasn't). Yet she ended up married to a "great" hero all the same, Agamemnon. Clouded by grief over his choices, her life becomes tainted with ending his. A mother's grief.
Cassandra, the Princess of Troy, named the mad daughter. She says no to a God and is cursed with the sight while no one will believe a word she says. Plagued by knowledge, and unbelieved, she does essentially go mad. But only in the way someone not believed can. All because she said no. A woman's grief.
Elekra, Clytemnestra and Agamemnon's daughter, blinded by love. She can't understand that the God's are cruel, that maybe her father was wrong for all he did, and clouded by grief over his loss, her life becomes tainted with ending her mother's. A daughter's grief.
Though grief is universal, how we feel and react to it is not. I loved (while I hated) every second of walking through their grief and seeing all the different ways one deals with it. I hope Jennifer Saint never stops writing about greek mythology. I'll read absolutely anything she writes.
I also wanted to say that I think it's absolutely beautifully that in every re-telling I read, there's always a mention of how drowned Achilles is in his grief after Patroclus left the land of the living. A specific quote, "He would not burn his beloved's body until he had sated his vengeance" gave me the chills. I love that it's a universal thought that they were in love, that... they are half each other's soul, as the poet's say (The Song of Achilles).
- Paige
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Quotes paige (ptsungirl) Liked
“What was the loss of a parent compared to that of a daughter? I didn’t want him here, comparing his grief to mine.”
― Elektra
― Elektra
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Gillian
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Jun 03, 2022 06:38AM
Beautiful review Paige! I’m excited to read this book!
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@gillian thanks! I hope u like it as much as I did :)
