I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

I'm going through a bit of a fictional mythology phase right now, so this book played right into that. Clytemnestra is a character that I was not familiar with at all prior to reading this book, but now I feel like I know her whole life story. And while I realize this is fiction, I'm fairly certain that mythology as we know it is also fiction that only loosely resembles events as they actually happened. And honestly, this is probably a more realistic version of events as they happened because it doesn't feel so mythical.

This book was a little dense in places, and it was definitely painful at times. Life was particularly painful for women in Ancient Greece, especially Sparta, even when they are the favored child of the king. There were a few times while I was reading that I need to step away from the book for something a little lighter to bring my mood back up before I could dive back in.

If you enjoy mythology retellings, this is definitely one you'll want to read, and it was a great debut novel. Overall I give this book 4.32 out of 5 stars.

*Hey Alexa, play Vilagante Shit, I Did Something Bad, and Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift*

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Welcome to Ancient Greece and meet Clytemnestra and how the events shaped her into becoming a legendary queen. When it comes to being a queen, she knows too well that you are either hated or forgotten. Clytemnestra is plotting her revenge for those who crossed her because she did not deserve this life. So, she will take it out on the tyrant who murdered her husband, on those who sacrificed her child, and for those who tried to keep her silent and be the good little, meek woman she should have been. She knows that sometimes you have to rise and gain the power you want and crave.

I want to be like Buddy the Elf when he is spinning around saying, "I'm in love, I'm in love, and I do not care who knows it" and that is because I am wholly and unconditionally in love with this book. It was so freaking beautiful and encapsulating.

I could not stop reading this book because I just needed to know more Clytemnestra and everything that was going on in her life and her reactions to everything.

Costanza Casati does an amazing job on how she crafted Clytemnestra and her prose. I felt Clytemnestra's sorrows, griefs, frustrations, happiness, and her burning rage and due to all those emotions, I felt for her and for her to experience them at the same time says something and made me root for her so hard to get the revenge she needed. Then, her character development was well done as we follow her through the many time shifts and stages in her life and a lot of the development had to do with her seeing the world in different perspective (first as everything jaded and it is growing darker and darker with the truths and wrong doings).

This book is definitely a slow burn, but it is so worth it since everything is building up and you just find yourself enthralled with this story.

Clytemnestra is a beautiful and heartbreaking novel that everyone should go and read. I was definitely shocked to find out that this is a debut novel. Also, this book is marketed to those who are fans of Circe, which I was a huge fan of when it came out and I have not found a mythology retelling that made me feel the way I did with Circe until I read this book!

If there is one thing I reliably enjoy it is female-centered mythology retellings, but this one lost a bunch of points.

Firstly, I was a little annoyed off the bat by the description of Clytemestra as the “most notorious villainess of the ancient world” - Medea is mentioned by name in the book.

Secondly, Costanza really lost me with kinda sloppy writing - why, for example, would the characters use the phrase “pride goes before the fall?

Third, Constanza made really weird choices about what she’s chosen to write about. In the second half of the book there are two pretty long time skips - a total of 24 years- but the characters are all, presumably, frozen in amber for those years because they haven’t grown or changed at all. Moreover, in choosing to do the time skips Constanza loses really interesting opportunities to branch off from the original myth and to build complexity into Clytemnestra. How did she handle the grief? What was marriage like?

I do think Constanza did a good job making me care about Clytemnestra - but in a way that was more frustrating for me because it y how little imagination is in the rest of the book.

While I can see the appeal of this books to others, I found the writing slow and unable to keep me immersed.

meet my favorite book i read in may 👀 you’ve probably heard of Helen of Troy, but are you familiar with her sister — Clytemnestra? this is her compelling + dramatic story spanning from her intense childhood in Sparta, her marriages (including one to the notorious Agamemnon), & ends with the Trojan War

throughout the whole story, Clytemnestra remains a brilliant and fierce woman. i loved how Casati illustrated how she differs from her well-known sister throughout the use of simple metaphors — “Clytemnestra dances for herself; Helen dances for others”

as a fan of mythological retellings, i loved how this story wove in references + characters to other familiar stories (including Daedalus + Icarus, the Minotaur, Achilles, etc) — it felt like putting the pieces of a giant Greek puzzle together while reading

THANK YOU Netgalley for this advanced copy! get your hands on this one if you’re a fan of mythological retellings (esp for those that enjoy Madeline Miller, Natalie Haynes, or Jennifer Saint)

#clytemnestra #greekmythology #mythology #mythologicalretelling #greekretelling #costanzacasati #sourcebooks

I received this book in exchange for an honest review and I’m so happy I did! This was a beautifully written retelling of a Greek myth. The female main character is strong and i loves the twist on the myth the author used to bolster her character even more. The story was a bit slow in the beginning but I may have felt that way because I was enjoying the story so much I wanted it to continue.

Can I just say, “Wow!” and leave my review at that?

All the stars. All the cliche words, like “powerful,” “enthralling,” and “captivating.”

Clytemnestra is a mythology retelling that reads like the best, most immersive historical fiction.

The writing has a beautiful, lyrical quality without feeling pretentious or overdone. I lived the story, which is the best gift a writer can give me.

*I alternated between reading my NetGalley ebook copy and listening to the audiobook. Olivia Vinall, the audio narrator, does an exceptional job.*

Thank you NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmarks, and the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! There’s been a lot of mythological retellings lately and this one is a great addition to those. It follows Clytemnesta through her life and reminds me a lot of Madeline Miller’s books. She’s a strong character and it was nice getting to see her side of her own story. I recommend it for fans of Greek mythology!

Really enjoyed this! Love, sorrow, heartbreak, revenge, great characters and the ending definitely leaves room for a follow up to continue the story!!

Such a great book. It was not how I expected it to go at all. I'm a huge fan of Helen and so to hear this story from her sisters side was very interesting. I loved this take on the events. I couldn't stop listening to this book. There are parts that I loved and some that I hated. The characters are amazing and of course I still don't like Agamemnon. Such a great telling of a classic story.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmarks and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Full disclaimer, I got it in October, and it took me until June to read it, but not for lack of story!
This book had all the great elements of a modern Greek retelling, including a new twist of a much hated character from the Iliad. Who doesn't love a feminine reclaiming of Clytemnestra?

For anyone who is a fan of Madeline Miller, definitely worth the read!

This book was incredible! I’m a huge fan of Madeline Miller and when I saw this mythological retelling was compared to one of my favorite authors, I had to read it.

The story follows Clytemnestra, a strong Spartan woman who is incredibly engaging right from the first page. The book starts early in Clytemnestra’s life, and even though her character is strong and witty and smart, the story was a bit too slow for me at first. However, it does pick up and the author does a fantastic job with Clytemnestra’s story. The writing is beautiful and aptly compared to Miller’s.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Set in Ancient Greece, Clytemnestra is a heartbreaking, empowering epic chronicling the rise of a queen who didn't get to choose her fate ...

This book tells a powerful story about love, bravery, and loss. When everything you care about is stripped away from you, all you have is yourself. Time heals wounds, but it does not make you forget. The most powerful warriors remember, and that's what fuels their momentum. That's what keeps them alive.

Another amazing mythological retelling. I am living for these feminist retellings that give the women in these originally male centric stories the place and story they deserve.

Honestly this was a refreshing take on a retelling; I really enjoyed how this shed light on the original story but with added bits to flesh it out and turn it into a great read. Usually I don't get through retellings as quickly as I would say a fantasy but I zoomed through this book because it was so well written.

DNF- this one was too slow for me. I was a bit confused by the choice to begin the story so early in Clytemnestra's life and I just could not quite push through.

4.5

This story was incredible. Getting a perspective from Clytemnestra was like getting the perfect bite of a cake. Every single thing that you needed to be satisfied was provided and I felt completely fulfilled after finishing.

I honestly don’t want to say anything at all about this book except that anyone who loves greek mythology should prioritize this story. It’s a fantastic retelling that encompasses so much. I loved it!

It was pure luck that I read Atlanta right before reading this and it made this book even better. There were references to the big journey in Atlanta that made this story become so much more alive in my mind.

Thank you Sourcebooks for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Now this is how you do a retelling. Absolutely captivating. I could not put this down. My only regret is not having started it sooner.
Clytemnestra is such a powerful character, multifaceted. The details and levels of the character is well taken care of.
For a debut, Costanza Casati nailed it.

This is a wonderfully complex debut novel! From the cover, I thought this was going to be a bit dry and be similar to the already overly saturated Greek POV genre but this could be farther from that. I was hooked in about 30 pages in. The strength in this novel is the transformation Clytemnestra's character takes from adolescent Spartan warrior to Mycenae 'unofficial' ruler. I almost felt bad for wanting more bad things to happen to her just to see how she would react or what revenge she would exact next. This is like if Taylor Swift's Bad Blood were a novel. The relationships between the characters were believable. This novel also does a great job of balancing the myth with reality. There is no blaming or praising the gods with Clytemnestra, she lives life by the mantra play around and find out.

Thanks to Costanza Casati, Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgally for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was a truly enjoyable book! I haven't really read many myth retellings, so I loved the way the myth came to life this - the characters and story felt real and tangible. I didn't really remember the story of Clytemnestra before reading this, so I looked her up and got a brief refresher. She was a villain, but I had great sympathy for her and her situation. This made me understand and root for her; and also dislike some of the mythical heroes and gods. It also made me pick up another myth retelling about Helen and look forward to reading a story about her side of the story.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.