Stunning story. Braveness, love and choices. Crown is the fate but what will become your destiny. Open the book and follows each step, and be patient for too much wordings on descriptions but the ending will fullfil your heart.

We all know the story of Helen of Troy but do you know anything about her twin sister Clytemnestra? This was a story that weaved in the stories and characters you know from Greek mythology but focused on characters you may not know existed.
Clytemnestra’s life was a roller coaster ride, extreme highs, and lows. She had a perfect life of love and family ripped away from her. Horrifically, she had to marry Agamemnon the man who murdered her husband and child. She becomes Queen of Mycenae and has four children with Agamemnon. Although, she rules with her husband the past is never forgotten and Clytemnestra’s hatred is always there.
At this point all the elements come to play for the Trojan War to start. Paris arrives to Sparta where he meets Helen and falls in love. Helen leaves Troy with Paris and Menelaus vows revenge. Before Agamemnon and Menelaus leave for Troy, Clytemnestra’s daughter Iphigenia is sacrificed by Agamemnon by order of a priest so they can please the gods.
After the loss of her second child Clytemnestra stops eating, sleeping and at times wants to kill herself. With the help of her children and her personal guard she eventually gets through the intense grief. At this point there is a nine-year jump. Clytemnestra has been ruling Mycenae while Agamemnon is off at war. She then starts an affair with Aegisthus, Agamemnon’s brother who has been considered a traitor to Agamemnon. This affair creates tension with Clytemnestra and her remaining children. Agamemnon returns to find that Mycenae is really Clytemnestra’s kingdom currently. All the anger that has been simmering since the death of her first husband and child comes to fruition with Clytemnestra killing Agamemnon.
I think this is a well written story about a character that has always to be thought of as an evil murderess. The story shows what led up to this and gives some compassion to Clytemnestra.

What a wonderfully crafted retelling of the ancient Greek tale. Clytemnestra has always been portrayed as the bad wife in stories and throughout history. Reading her tale sheds a new light on her motivation and shows what it really meant to be the notorious queen.

This was an excellent book on par with Madeline Miller's "Circe." I typically enjoy mythology re-tellings no matter what, but I do tend to prefer the ones that are believable, as in they could have happened. "Clytemnestra" does just that without involving the fantastical element of the gods. It also explores the character of the ultimate "angry woman" Clytemnestra, who in anger over Agamemnon's sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia, has her revenge by taking a lover and killing her husband, the said Agamemnon, when he returns home from the Trojan War. We see her life, her justifications, her calling out of the hypocrisy of how men are treated versus women. In fact, when I read this book, I had actually just finished "When Women Were Dragons," which I felt was very much in conversation with this book to a degree.

I didn't really have a complaint about it. I got to a certain point in it and just had to devote my time to reading it alone. I plan to return to Euripides and read his plays about this myth as well as watch "Iphigenia at Aulis" and "Elektra" thanks to this book.

I received this ARC via Netgalley, and I am not being paid for my opinions on this book.

I am by no means an expert in Greek mythology. Actually, I wouldn't even call myself a novice. But everyone knows the story of Helen of Troy and her sister, treacherous Clytemnestra, murderess and villainous Queen of Mycenae, right? Costanza Casati's brilliant new novel illuminates all the conventionally ignored facets of the story, showing me that I never really knew the familiar story at all.

In Clytemnestra, Casati begins the tale with the sisters' upbringing in Sparta under the rule of their father, King Tyndareus. While Helen is famed far and wide for her beauty, Clytemnestra is favored within Sparta for her intelligence, ferocity, leadership, and accomplishments. Clytemnestra falls deeply in love with Tantalus, marries and has a son. Suitors are summoned from all over Greece to vie for Helen's hand, and she unwisely selects Menelaus of Mycenae whose outward courtesy masks a cruel streak. His ruthless brother, King Agamemnon, plots with the sisters' father in the worst sort of betrayal to kill both Tantalus and Clytemnestra's infant son so he can have Clytemnestra for his own. Now forcibly married to her first husband and son's murderer, and sister-in-law to the abusive Menelaus, Clytemnestra nurses her rage. She may be a woman, but she is strong, smart, and a Spartan. She will have her vengeance.... but when and how?

I loved this book from start to finish. The complex characters come alive under Casati's skillful hands, and while the myth remains intact and clearly recognizable, the details Casati embellishes the story with keep it fresh and exciting. Shifting the focus from the male to the female heroines was a particularly enjoyable, if modern, touch. Fans of Madeline Miller, Pat Barker, or Alexandra Bracken will really enjoy this book, as will anyone with an interest in Greek mythology or anyone with an interest in feminist retellings of ancient stories.

Thank you to #NetGalley for an ARC of this novel. All opinions are my own.

5/5 I loved this book! I'm blown away that this is a debut. The prose was beautiful and lent such a unique perspective on the Clytemnestra story. I'm also a fan of characters with flawed morality, and this novel gave her such depth. Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks for an ARC of this stunning novel.

'Clytemnestra' brings a fierceness to the mythical queen and a chance to expand upon her as a character. We're told her story from childhood, through her marriage and the end of the Trojan War. While Clytemnestra becomes a fully fleshed out character, so do those around her. Her family and life in Sparta are given plenty of time to grow on us as readers and the set up for who Clytemnestra is as a character is excellent. She's fierce and unyielding but also soft and mournful. There have been a few other retellings of Clytemnestra's story that I've really enjoyed but I think this will be my favorite because it feels triumphant. It does leave off the end of the myth, leaving us on the high of her victory and it's everything I could have wanted.

I loved this book. This was my first Costanza Casati novel but it will not be my last!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Strong women of Sparta of the Classical Period (5th-4th centuries BCE) had more rights, and enjoyed greater autonomy than women in any other Greek city-state at that time. Luckily for us readers, author Constanta Casati has come forth with a retelling of Clytemnestra, sister to Helen that will enthrall all readers. As young siblings, Clytemnestra and Helen wrestled, drank and danced. But childhood innocence was soon forgotten as the path that the prophetess foretold, became a reality. “You will wed not twice, but thrice”. How could Clytemnestra fathom this, as she became a beloved wife of Tantalus, mother and Queen, only to be victim to a murdering tyrant King instead. What follows is a complex, intricate portrayal of a woman angered, and forced to take vengeance into her own hands. Many know Helen, but do many know and love Clytemnestra as well? I know readers will quickly love this sexy, sultry, gritty tale of love, lust, greed, political power by Casati. It will be awarded with many praises and I am sure Casati will grow a legion of new fans. Five out of five stars!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark publishing via NetGalley for this opportunity to read an honestly review this arc.

Woah. This retelling just simply blew me away.

As you may already know about me if you’ve followed me for some time, I am a diehard fan of myth retellings, with a special place in my heart for Classical myth. While I certainly don’t discriminate on origin of myth retellings, I enjoyed many years studying Latin and ancient Roman and Greek history while in school so I can’t help but treasure those retellings.

For this ARC, I was curious as I had an idea of who Clytemnestra was and what she represented culturally to the Greeks (spoiler: a scornful vile woman who was the epitome of a bad wife, typical. I mean she did commit murder, but still.) However, knowing this was a feminist retelling, and also knowing that the author also studied the classics heavily, I was interested to see how much it elevates her character.

In a rare turn of events, I was sucked in from the beginning. It starts out with Clytemnestra as an adolescent - a young princess of Sparta, sister of the famed Helen - who trains in what I can discern as a historically accurate upbringing for a young Spartan woman. She knows how to fight and her character preserves her own agency over her actions. She is a caring sister who cares for her family, and it shows a beautifully descriptive heroine that you cannot help but love.

As she develops, and subsequently meets her misfortune, she evolves to this vengeful queen who hurts and forces those who have wronged her to pay. As you read the story, it shows a fully fleshed out representation of Clytemnestra who has just cause for her misdeeds and vindictive deeds. You can’t help but root for her the entire time, and Costanza Casati writes the story so well that you aren’t left waiting for the plot to deliver on its own.

This is everything a good book should be, and it changed my whole perspective on a mythological woman who was left to be misjudged by time.

Bravo, a full five stars from this reader. Thank you for letting me review!

I voluntarily read an advanced copy of Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for this ARC.

I'm a big fan of stories derived from Greek Myths, and Clytemnestra is one of the better I have read in a long time. The author's ability to make Myths seem like gossip seeped in exaggeration was a great way to give us a new look at a well-known story. Even knowing what was coming, I was very invested and couldn't put down this book. I give this novel a solid 4/5 stars.

2 stars

thank you to netgalley for giving me this arc in return for an honest review! technically there are spoilers but at the same time, it's based off of classic mythology which has existed for a very long time so even though i won't go into detail, there will be mentions.

right off the bat, i have to admit i read this solely because i expected it to be not so great and i like to read and criticize myth retellings. greek mythology is something i grew up with and something i've been studying in college so i have the knowledge behind the texts, especially ones such as the iliad and the orestia, so a retelling on clytemnestra and the death of agamemnon was interesting to me! and boy do i have Very mixed feelings about it.

at the start of the book, i hated it. i found the addition of tantalus and a child with him unnecessary. although there are technically versions of the story where she was married to him (the main one i know of being something written by euripides), the addition to this felt unnecessary, especially when you take agamemnon's family into account and the fact that he's descended from tantalus. adding it in general, but especially to this, skews the timeline of the figures and having knowledge on the background of it made me dislike it.

as the book went on, it got... tolerable? i still didn't enjoy it, but when it got to the parts that do have more well-known stories to work from (such as iphigenia's sacrifice or the murder of agamemnon at the end) it got better. overall i just didn't really enjoy it, it's not the worst retelling of a story in the sphere of the trojan war that i've read but it still wasn't great.

the writing itself was good though! i thought that the writing style was well done, ignoring the plot. unfortunately the plot is... the plot... so it can't actually be separated, but i did think it was well written and the point of view was good for the style.

overall, i didn't really enjoy the book even after it got better, but again, not the worst retelling i've read. honestly? i'd probably recommend it if you Don't have a ton of knowledge on these stories or mythology and just want to read something about a powerful woman (which clytemnestra very much is, both in this and in the original mythology) but if you're someone like me that does know these things really well, it might Not be for you. or it will be! i'm just a hater. read it or don't, i can't stop you!

I recommend this book highly. It is an imagined telling of the Greek goddess Clytemnestra and her life. Just the descriptions of how the early lives of Clytemnestra and her siblings puts you right into the story. We learn of how husbands are selected, and the ruthless machinations that are behind their father’s choices. Grief and revenge from a women’s perspective is woven into the story, and makes it feel realistic. The story is complex and it’s a bit difficult to keep track of the many characters. An attached map of the locations would be helpful, as I am not familiar with Greek mythology.

This is another retelling of Greek mythology is was very well down. The story is told from the point of view of Clytemnestra. Very little is known about her except that she was the sister of Helen of Troy. She is also known for killing her husband, Agamemnon whom she was forced to marry.

It's always so interesting to be transported back to these mythical times and relive these epic stories. Although the book is quite long, I was pretty riveted throughout and am hoping the author continues to write more books like this. I received an eBook through Netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

I LOVED this retelling. I am an avid fan of Greek mythology and their retellings and this one is now among my favorites. The scene when her first son is killed broke me, and I already knew it was coming! My only xon is that the book slowed significantly by then end and the finally was not as dramatic as I wanted/expected it to be.

My only piece of feedback is I think the amount of times the frescoed walls were mentioned was repetitive. I would try to change the description or eliminate it all together in some cases.

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 excellent writing and wonderful characterizations, and it is a welcome addition to the genre. I look forward to more from Costanza Casati!

***Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC!***

Really loved so much about this, the way it was broken up, the length, the story, it all worked for me! Loved the emotion I felt with a story I’ve heard over and over.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the eARC of Clytemnestra in exchange for my honest review!

A great retelling of one of the more tragic Greek myths. I love the resurgence of love for Greek mythos in media now so I will actively consume it all. This was a great debut and I think readers will enjoy it as much as Circe!

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati tells the story of the Spartan Princess and Mycenaen Queen, most famous for killing her husband, Agamemnon (good riddance Ag's - literally no one likes you). I was casually aware of Clytemnestra, but in the most non-specific way, so this book was exceptionally thrilling for me. I was on the edge of my seat unsure of exactly where the story would take me, but thrilled to be on the ride.

It had everything I enjoy in a Greek Mythology retelling - strong complex female characters that refuse to be victims to their rather atrocious circumstances (typically forced upon them by men or gods), a healthy disrespect for religious order and societal conventions and lots and lots of classic greek vengeance (or Furies style justice).

This was a great debut - compelling, exciting, and with a unique voice! I will be keeping an eye out for all future Casati books.

I have to end with one of my favorite lines from the book: "Gods do not care about us. They have other concerns. That is why you should never live in the shadow of their anger. It is men you must fear. It is men who will be angry with you if you rise too high, if you are too much loved. The stronger you are, the more they will try to take you down."

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati is a well-written retelling of Greek mythology. The daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, the King and Queen of Sparta, and the wife of Agamemnon, commander of the Greek forces in the Trojan War, Clytemnestra is one of the most notorious women in Greek mythology. A warrior, a queen, and a loving mother, she lives in a world that does not value women and suffers many losses at the hands of her father and husband. Clytemnestra is bloody, bold and resolute, a proud lioness, fiercely protective of her children and takes upon herself the traditionally masculine role of avenger, choosing retaliation and vengeance to express her grief. While Clytemnestra is traditionally despised in the myths, I felt sympathy for this powerful queen and found poetic justice in a woman meting out harsh justice in this toxic, patriarchal world.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance copy of this book.

“She doesn’t care about marrying a king as much as becoming a great queen.”

Fabulous alternate point of view retelling of the mythological story of Clytemnestra. Great read for those who love mythology and stories of female empowerment. As a novel, it takes the myth, written with male bias, and injects it with an emotional backstory that presents motivation for WHY Clytemnestra was who she was. You view the myth through her perspective.

Clytemnestra was raised a Spartan woman, fierce, powerful, and free. She suffers brutal losses and becomes a queen mired in grief, broken yet propelled forward with hatred and vengeance toward those who wronged her. Yet she is still a fair minded, intelligent ruler. The writer does a good job of portraying her as a flawed yet sympathetic character. And also demonstrates the hypocrisies she faced as a woman trying to rule but always criticized in a man’s world.

I loved Clytemnestra’s directness, the way she challenged men. And I got a new appreciation for the Spartan way of life… tough but free. I remember learning in school that Athenians were civilized and Spartans were wild, but here I see an added perspective on being strong and free.

Overall, the author paints Clytemnestra as a powerful, strong woman. Great perspective. Good debut. And it’s a great read to delve into during women’s history month!

“But I know this. I will have my justice.”

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

#clytemnestra #harpercollins #costanzacasati