Elektra is the daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. When the king calls for all Greek men to come together to go rescue Helen from the man in Troy who kidnapped her, a thousand ships are needed to carry them all. The war is expected to be short but ends up taking ten years. Clytemnestra spends that decade plotting what she will do when the King returns as he performed an act of betrayal before he left. It was an act that negates their marriage and her love for him.

When Agamemnon returns, the next act plays out. Clytemnestra has spent her time with another man, Agamemnon's cousin, whose father he killed to gain the throne. He returns with Cassandra who knows the future but is cursed that no one believes her. Now Clytemnestra takes her ultimate revenge and her children are placed at risk. Her son is spirited away to safety while Elektra marries a commoner to escape the palace.

Jennifer Saint grew up interested in Greek mythology. She was a teacher when she wrote her first novel Adriane which is the story of the Minotaur. This was her second novel and since this, she has written several more novels all based in mythology and the stories many are familiar with. In this one, she gives the reader insight into the House of Atreus and retells the story of the Trojan War. Elektra is not a main character until part three when her story of her hatred for her mother and her adoration of her father is told. I listened to this novel and the narrator did a great job, her accent adding to the reading. This book is recommended for historical fiction readers and those interested in mythology.

This is a very good book. I recommend. Good for those who enjoyed Madeline Millers Greek mythology retellings.

Truly an exceptional listen. The way Saint mines the myth to give us a poignant tale about a daughter's divided loyalties and the way our mothers can be our greatest mirror and our greatest antagonists. I truly enjoyed this audiobooks!

I first want to thank NetGalley for giving me a copy of Elektra on audio book! I find it hard it sometimes hard to get good ARC’s of audio books so I was very excited about this!

I loved the narrator and found their voice to be so soothing. I will say that maybe I am just not a mythology girly because I STRUGGLED with everything else about this book. I also felt this way about Lore so I truly think it is just me. If you LOVE mythology and weird f’ed up stories, this book is most definitely for you.

Some of the stories though… man they were hard to listen to. I usually like mini stories put into one book or multiple POV’s but again, I just don’t think this topic is my favorite. I don’t like hearing about men being men (aka horrible) and it ended up bring me down a bit.

3 stars

Slightly better than “Ariadne,” this book had a relatively good story which was somewhat easy to follow. Good narration, but somewhat monotonous, although I believe that’s simply the narrator’s style. Will give “Atalanta” a try and definitely consider reading Saint’s next book, “Hera.”

Recommended to those who enjoy Greek/Roman mythology.

(I received this ALC via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you.)

Elektra by Jennifer Saint
Narrated by Beth Eyre; Jane Collingwood; Julie Teal
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: General Fiction (Adult)
Published: May 3, 2022

Elektra by Jennifer Saint is a standalone novel. I wanted to love this book, but I really struggled with it. The story was interesting, but it just didn’t work for me.

The narration by Beth Eyre, Jane Collingwood, and Julie Teal was really good!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is another great entry from Saint. For readers who enjoy a deeper dive into their favorite characters from mythology this one will be enjoyed. The audio helps so that you are hearing names said correctly. While not all the characters are truly demential, most readers will just enjoy the story. There is a little lacking in the gods throughout the story so some might forget this is a retelling.

Ariadne opened the floodgates for other retellings, but Saint still does it best. The story of Elektra is one I first learned about in psychology class, so it was interesting to read a literary version of the tale instead of just a synopsis.

I’m a sucker for a greek mythology retelling and while I did prefer Ariadne a little bit more than this book, it was still so incredibly well done.

Let me start with what I enjoyed about Elektra. In general, Elektra examines the fate of these famous Greek women. Their lives, dooms, triumphs, and fates. Saint always has us questioning the burdens these women have to bear because I think we can all agree that Greek mythology was not kind to women. From that premise alone, I enjoyed areas of Elektra. Specifically I enjoyed Clytemnestra and Elektra's story. The story of a mother and a daughter.

Two people who do not understand each other, the sacrifices they have made, and the fundamentally different ways in which they see each other. One as a traitorous wife and a grieving mother and another as a spoiled child or a loving daughter. But I think where Elektra let me down is in its treatment of Cassandra which I found to be lacking in relation to the other two POVs.

My first ever audiobook was Elektra by Jennifer Saint! I think lovers of Greek mythology will really enjoy this audiobook, told from the point of view of three characters:  Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, their daughter Elektra, and Cassandra, sister of Paris. When I listened to this I had recently read (and loved) the Song of Achilles, so it was fascinating to hear about the pivotal roles that these lesser-known women played in the events of the Trojan war. Plus, I loved all three narrators! Although I wished they started each chapter by saying their character's name, because I did get a little confused at times. Many thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy of this audiobook to review.

I really love Jennifer Saint's writing! I think she does a wonderful job showing how war affects women, both waiting back at home and in a war zone. I'm not usually a fan of books centered on the Trojan war because I don't like battle scenes, so this was great in that it summarized what was happening in the battles, without putting us there. The stories of Elektra and Clytemnestra showed how war can still ravage those family members far away from the site of the war and demonstrated the tragedy of cyclical family trauma. Cassandra's story shows us those living in a war torn city, that are not fighting in the war, and was a great example of how women have often been silenced even when they might have access to the bigger picture. This was a fantastic read!

I DNF’d this at 45% - I couldn’t focus on it mainly due to the narrator having such a non-emotional reading voice.

My second retelling recently, and I’m hooked!

Elektra centers around the lives of three women, Clytemnestra, Cassandra, and Elektra, and I loved how their stories were intertwined.

I was gifted the audiobook, and the narrator did a fantastic job at differentiating between each woman, telling her story.

*many thanks to Macmillan Audio/Netgalley for the gifted copy for review.

Saint has done it again. Wonderful read if you are into retellings of ancient stories. Narrator was good and easy to follow through the set of characters. Would read/listen again. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for granting me access to an e-arc audiobook.

This book almost did it for me.
I love a good greek mythology book but this one didn't keep me interested for very long. I ended up abandoning it about halfway through, which I usually don't do, but I didn't feel any connection to any of the characters. I would recommend this book if you're passionate about greek mythology, but not to an average reader.
Rate: 3

Another great retelling. I enjoy the strong female lead characters. The narrator dies a great job of distinguishing between the different women.

Retellings of Greek and Roman myths are certainly on trend at the moment and Elektra follows suit. What sets Jennifer Saint's book apart from the others, is her deep dive into the lives of three women, Clytemnestra, Cassandra, and Elektra and how entangled their stories become. However, I found Saint's previous book, Araidne, much more compelling as the character of Elektra, was incredibly hard to sympathize with and I found myself wishing the story only about the other two characters.

I love learning more about mythology and these types of books really help teach that. Electra was no different. It’s such a educating and well written read

This was my first Jennifer Saint book and I was underwhelmed. As someone who enjoys the Greek retellings written by Madeline Miller I had figured I would love this book. It was a good story and told well, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm sure this book would be great for others who love this kind of storytelling though!