Clytemnestra

"Uhhh I’m not sure about this one 😳 After reading a short synopsis- it had a dark start but a powerful and strong lead female character which I naturally loved. I got game of thrones vibes cough Goffrey…"

"I love books about feminine rage! This was so hard to put down. Phenomenal! "

"Iliad and odyssey told from feminine perspective and done very well"

"Really put me through the ringer"

"Loved! I was a fan of Circe and Song of Achilles and hadn’t been “back” to ancient Greece since then. I really enjoyed learning more about this side of the story. We love a powerful queen! I appreciate the inclusion of the family tree and other Greek terminology notes in the printed book. I found myself referencing it often."

"Clytemnestra joins the (IMO totally amazing) barrage of re-envisioned mythology novels. In the vein of Madeline Miller's incredibly popular novels Circe and Song of Achilles, Clytemnestra follows the eponymous Spartan through her life of incredible strength and horrifying pain. I found this story to be at turns extremely emotionally uncomfortable and a rollicking adventure, but it was always satisfying. Clytemnestra is portrayed as the girl next door, not as classically beautiful as her sister Helen (yes, THAT Helen!), but possessing an uncommonly strong character, mind, and body-for a woman of these times, at least. This doesn't particularly bother her, but it is something she thinks about a lot. She marries for love and has a child but loses them early and is remarried against her will. Though 30% of the novel builds up to this point, here is where the story really takes off and where Greek mythology fans will begin to recognize the story. Helen leaves voluntarily with Paris to Troy in this version, and Agamemnon and Menelaus plot the war to get her back, while Clytemnestra is left behind to rule Mycenae. Plenty of familiar faces make an appearance, but I enjoyed seeing it from this warrior queen's point of view. Clytemnestra has an acute sense of fairness and justice. She believes that revenge is best served cold, and several offenders receive their icy comeuppance long after they've forgotten the offense. She is introspective about her childhood and upbringing, and she understands that this history guides her perspective and decision making. She learns to lead her city as a feared but respected ruler and raises her children with little assistance. Basically, Clytemnestra is the quintessential boss bitch. I love how her strength and her pain are equally addressed, how her inner turmoil comes out in fantastic ways around other characters. I was surprised at how much I identified with this woman who "lived" so many centuries ago. This novel exhibits excel"

"Amazing historical fiction of a strong Queen and all her struggles with men who do not respect her. Also brings in the Trojan war and many other Greek hero’s, princesses and villains! Loved it!"

"An intense story of a broken but strong woman. I didn't want to put it down."

"Ripped my heart out - 4.5 / 5<br/><br/>This book absolutely ripped my heart out at every opportunity. I went into it not knowing who exactly Clytemnestra was and with only a foggy idea of all the major points it covered. All of the motions Clytemnestra went through, knowing she was too far to pull herself out of it, I went through it with her without issue no matter how intense it got throughout. That was all thanks to the very approachable writing style of the author. <br/><br/>It was also very refreshing to have all of the major characters you interact with being women. Not to say there weren't guy characters that entered focus often, but many of the characters that got a lot of attention were women.<br/><br/><spoiler><br/>The vengeance felt fun in a way that I hadn't really expected. Clytemnestra never got over Tantalus and I don't blame her, because I didn't either. Where all the main characters in her life were women, Tantalus wasn't excessively masculine and relied on cleverness and kindness, which made him stand out so much next to the brawny-brutal-mostly brainless types she was very familiar with. It was such an interesting and refreshing combination that I was down for immediately. Especially when getting further into the book where there's a distinct lack of respect for women, it deepened the fantasy that her life with Tantalus would've been perfect.<br/><br/>Anyway, when she finally did get her vengeance on Agamemnon, it rang a bit hollow. Any gains she would make were always overshadowed by something else happening. Like immediately when Aegisthus killed Cassandra and took away Clytemnestra's chance to "save" Cassandra, a princess stolen and robbed of all her dignity very much in the way Clytemnestra had been herself. There was just so much taken from Clytemnestra that no amount of vengeance or taking back (and becoming the kind of person that wrecked her life) would ever be enough to make it right. <br/><br/>At points I wanted a little novella for how happy she might've been if she'd lived her happier life with Tantalus. But then there was the letter from Helen that described her life in Troy and how the people hated her for being Greek. That made me wonder how happy Clytemnestra would've been with Tantalus back in Maeonia. But my grief-vengeance-brain could only think of how amazing it could've been for her. Her character was a hyper resilient and powerful woman so I like to think she would have managed just fine and lived a life of her own making with the husband she chose.<br/></spoiler><br/><br/>As much as I don't enjoy finishing a book and feeling just generally depressed, I adored the rollercoaster I went through. The pacing and writing style kept me interested and engaged throughout the entire book. One of the only points of critique I have are the time skips. I'd have loved to see more of some characters, but that just goes to show I loved her character/world building. Also if I had made it to the end with literal years of moments to make me even more sad/mad I might not have finished it. Plus this book was already pretty long at 450 pages, so what can you do? I still loved it.<br/><br/>All that being said, I needed a pick-me-up after this one but it was totally worth it!"

""You were born free and you will always be free, no matter what others tell you."<br/><br/>"Clytemnestra" by Costanza Casati tells the story of Queen Clytemnestra that led up to her becoming the most infamous of the Greek world. <br/><br/>I would give "Clytemnestra" by Costanza Casati a 5 star review because, 1; I love the cover 2; I really loved how this is a stronge female lead 3; While it tells her story but it also tells the story of others like Helen of Troy and 4; it was really nice to learn more about this queen."