Blog Tour: Elektra by Jennifer Saint

Elektra by Jennifer Saint

4****

I have long been a fan of Greek mythology, and when I see a new retelling, I instantly gravitate towards it. I really enjoyed Jennifer Saint's previous book, Ariade, and was excited to get a chance to read Elektra! As it happened, I read this shortly after reading Clare Heywood's excellent Daughters of Sparta, which tells much the same story, albeit in a different manner. I don't want to dwell on comparing the two, though I did feel Daughters of Sparta was, perhaps, done with a greater commitment to historical detail. For example, in the way the women behaved, their curbed freedoms, even the way the names were spelled, which was somewhat inconsistent in Elektra, where the author chose only to spell er name with the "K" as would have been correct, but Clytemnestra and Cassandra with "Cs", though, as far as I know, there is not letter "c" in Greek. Nitpicky, I know, just something I noticed, yet which, of course, did not take away from the overall telling of the tale. Besides, I am no scholar, so likely there is a reason for this discrepancy, which I simply do not know.

The story itself was familiar to me, and yet I felt engaged from start to finish. I have always seen Clytemnestra as a victim, Agamemnon as a monster, and so this version of the story appealed to me. I don't want to give anything away for the readers who are unfamiliar with the story, but I felt for all the characters, so many women who were used as pawns in the games of men and gods and suffered for it. The writing flowed well, and there was no choppiness when Saint switched from one POV to another, though the most compelling chapters for me were the ones told by Clytemnestra.

If you are a fan of mythology or retellings, this may very well be for you. I am certainly looking forward to seeing what Jennifer Saint comes up with next!

Thanks to Flatiron Books for a copy of Elektra by Jennifer Saint in exchange for an honest review.