Member Reviews
I absolutely love women when they are furious. This is that book.
This is great even if you know nothing about Greek mythology outside of Percy Jackson.
This had a slow start but is SO worth persevering through.
Thank you to the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book!
I was reading The Odyssey at the same time as this and it made it a really fun journey to get a well rounded idea of the characters and see some crossover themes.
Clytemnestra is painted as a selfish villain in most pieces so I enjoyed the way the author fleshed out her character, motives, and sense of self.
Requested this for editorial background reading for review on BookBrowse:
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I usually love mythology books, and for awhile I loved this one. I though the author, Costanza Casati, wrote Clytemnestra's story beautifully, however I still felt like I didn't enjoy the book fully. I think I rated it 3.5 stars just due to the heartbreak the book made me feel in the last half of the book.
With each retelling we get a new take.
This is a little slow paced and there are alot of characters to keep track of, that being said I found this captivating and hard to put down. I appreciated that there was a glossary of characters at the beginning of the book and a glossary of Greek terms at the end of the book for easy reference. This was really helpful and I used both often when I couldn't remember who a particular person was or if I couldn't figure out a particular term from context clues. The author did a really good job spelling out the Greek terminology but if you forget what a term means, the glossary is nice to have.
I thought the author did a great job with the world building. It isn't often that you are transported through the seasons in a book, but here we get descriptions of cold and mud which I really felt enhanced the storytelling. It made the story come alive for me and made the characters and the setting feel real. You could also feel Clytemnestra's hatred and anger throughout the book. She has to endure so much, yet because of her gender and station she has to wait until the time is right to enact the justice she has been seeking for so many years. I also thought the author did a great job making you really hate the villains of the book, and there are several of them.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading more from the author in the future.
Such a great story! The story has betrayal, revenge and power! Who doesn't love a great greek mythology story especially one that showcase the women! Great read! I'm looking forward to reading more from this author!
I struggled to connect with the protagonist - so many terrible things happened to her but she still remained far away from me.
This was such a beautifully written, lyrical story that still managed to break my heart even though I knew how Clytemnestra's story ends. Constanza Casati is a lyrical mastermind and the audiobook was just as beautifully done. 10/10, five stars!
This retelling delves into the personal and emotional upbringing of the older sister of Spartan/Trojan myth. Giving reasoning to her infamous actions. Themes of feminism and trauma are elegantly woven throughout. Good for readers who enjoy retellings such as Circe.
This was an absolutely brilliant book! This book spanned the time of Clytemnestra's life, from when she was very young, to when she was old and all the trauma had already occurred. A book with that much time span has a lot of areas that could have become slow or boring, but this author really made every aspect of the life of Clytemnestra as fascinating as possible. I literally could not put this book down, and really enjoyed reading all about the trauma she had to endure, and how she overcame her heartache. I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book, and look forward to more retellings, especially by this new to me author!
Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I would give this an absolute 5 stars 2 years ago, when i havent worn out by greek myth retelling yet. Now it’s still a good book, but it took me TOO LONG to read from start to finish that the experience wasn’t exceptional anymore.
All hail Clytemnestra, the brave strong resilient woman who refused to bend to men.
For a myriad of reasons, this book was a hard read. There is violence, murder (including of children and infants), rape, and war. It is not an easy book to read, but then, anyone familiar with the mythology surrounding the titular character knows to expect that. That said, this review will have spoilers and mention the content that I referenced above.
The story follows the life of Clytemnestra of Sparta, daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, sister of Helen. It starts when she is young, and goes through the murder of her second husband, Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and lord of men. To say that Clytemnestra's life is rough is an understatement: she is betrayed at every turn. It's fascinating to watch this character go from someone who values loyalty and justice twisted into who she becomes at the end.
And to be clear: I do not think that her vengeance in the end is wrong. She did what no one else would and avenged her first husband, her first son, and her first daughter. All of whom were killed by Agamemnon to further his own interests: Tantalus and the baby's murders allowed him to lay claim to and marry Clytemnestra, and Iphigenia's murder allowed him to wage the war that he'd been dreaming of waging for years. The literal decades of hurt that he put Clytemnestra through is appalling, and she was forced to persevere. She kept living for justice and her children, but justice so easily is warped into vengeance, and while she acknowledges that what she wants is vengeance, it is hard to watch the change from the Clytemnestra at the start of the book to the Clytemnestra at the end of the book.
None of the characters are truly good. They all make morally questionable decisions which cause the deaths of someone (or, in Helen's case, thousands), but what makes the story so engrossing is how the author weaves nuance into everything. It is hard to fully blame the children of Tyndareus for their choices because, in some instances, they weren't choices at all. Clytemnestra and Helen try so hard to stave off their suffering, and yet cause even more.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
Clytemnestra is one of my favorite Greek retellings. Costanza Casati did such a good job with the writing and research of the Clytemnestra myth. I loved everything about it and I cant wait for the author to write more retellings!
I always love the Greek retellings. Having read Allegra last year, I fell in love with Clytemnestra and her story. I wished for a book that focused primarily on her and this was the one. Clytemnestra was a powerful woman in a world that didn't want her to be one, and so her lot in life was to never be provided with an easy path to her goals. Neither were the stories told about her willing to paint her in any sort of favorable light. This is the lead up to the Trojan War and impressive in its vast knowledge and fulfilling inclusion of so many recognizable characters. The writing is beautiful and gripping, laced with that addictive, lyrical style that’s needed to make a mythology re-telling really hook you. Clytemnestra herself is the epitome of inspiring, flawed inner strength that comes from love, I was rooting for her from the first to last page.
I wanted to like this more than I did. Could be the myth itself I didn't like enough, because the writing seemed good. I'm glad I read it because I didn't know this story as well as some of the more commonly told myths, and I would read something else by this author, but this particular one didn't stick with me in a lasting way.
An epic revenge story, greek mythology, and powerful women? Yes. YES. This book follows the relentless rise of Clytemnestra, the sister of the well-known Helen of Troy. We see her grow up as she trains as one of the best female warriors in her kingdom. From there we watch her fall in love, watch her heart break, and watch her be betrayed multiple times over. What follows is the wickedly smart campaign for revenge as Clytemnestra systematically takes down those who have wronged her and her family. This book is fascinating, full of ancient political landscapes, sibling relationships, and moments of mythology. It is a reimagining that makes you root for the original villain and question what you know about the original heroes.
If you were a kid who was obsessed with Greek mythology, you will love this book.
If you liked the movie Cruella or other villain retellings, you will love this book.
If you enjoy historical fiction, underdogs, and strong women, you will LOVE this book.
What a fantastic novel. I can't wait to read what Costanza Casati writes next!
This was just not for me. The building up was too slow. I didn’t find any connection to the story and characters unfortunately. I would have liked more action to start and then build everything else.
Really interesting at times and I flew through it once I got the audiobook on Libby, but was pretty slow for a lot of it and was a bit hard to keep reading. But I thought the writing was great! If you're really a fan of Greek mythology, I'd recommend!
This is another excellent book like Circe, Wolf Den, Ariadne, and other Greco-Roman specific historical fiction.
What I loved most about this author’s writing style is that they took elements of other fiction and crafted fiction in the modern style that fit with the original stories of Homer. Clytemnestra takes place in the years before the Iliad takes place and has many of the same cast of characters. We learn histories, motivations, struggles, and successes of Clytemnestra and those around her. The writing was done very well, it felt respectful and not like the author was taking too many liberties.
The only aspect about the writing that annoyed me was the sheer number of times the word “fresco(s)” was used. For this reason alone I cannot give five starts because it annoyed the daylights out of me.
Thanks to NetGalley, Costanza Casati and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of this book.
I really loved this book. I did not know the story of Clytemnestra so I had no background information or expectations on what I was going to read. Clytemnestra's story is about family, betrayal, strength and loss. So much loss! The author did such a fantastic job that I could feel my heart drop with grief several times during the book. I highly recommend this book for readers who like mythology retellings. This was one of the best I have read.