A fascinating retelling of the story of Clytemnestra, who murdered her husband Agamemnon, and of their son Orestes. If you, like me, have only vague (perhaps no) memories of the tale, this will send you off for more of the myths. If you do know the story, you will appreciate it for the fresh look at a woman who is usually known only as a killer. This provides her a back story, a history that's more than just words on the page. The last third of the book is about Orestes who, again. was only a name to me before I picked this up. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. It's a really good read.

A Spartan's Sorrow, which gives voice to Clytemnestra and characterizes her as a fierce and sacrificial mother rather than just an adultress and murderer, was a mixed reading experience for me. The book is divided into three sections: the first focuses on Clytemnestra's tragic past and protective motherhood; the second on the aftermath of Agamemnon's murder; and the third on the torment and trial of Orestes, the youngest child of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon who reluctantly avenged his father's death.

Part One was by far the best of the three sections. That said, even though the story was interesting and well-structured, the tone and writing style never drew me into the narrative. I consistently felt like I was being held at arm's length and was never moved to care about Clytemnestra or about what happened to her. This was a bit different in Parts Two and Three, written with slightly different stylistic choices, during which I came to care about Orestes. To be honest, I found this effect baffling—I mean, the novel is supposed to be a feminist retelling, so why is the son written as a more sympathetic character than the mother?

But I could have made peace with the author's tone and style choices had it not been for Part Three, where the literal deus ex machina completely derailed the narrative for me. I cannot even estimate the number of times I rolled my eyes.

On a side note, this might be a fun novel to read if you enjoy playing Spot the Anachronism. Ultimately, however, I would say that A Spartan's Sorrow is just profoundly okay—not objectionable, but not entirely enjoyable.

Overshadowed by her sister, Helen of Troy, and the Trojan War, Clytemnestra's story was tragic, filled with betrayal, revenge, and bloodshed - the daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta and Leda, and the sister of the beautiful Helen. While her first marriage ended in the murder of her husband and son, her second marriage to Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, was tumultuous.

When Agamemnon sacrifices their eldest daughter, Iphigenia, to appease the Goddess Artemis for a slight he has done, Clytemnestra takes her daughter's body back, vows revenge against her husband, and returns home refusing to allow her children from her sight.

Clytemnestra's resentment towards Agamemnon only grows when he returns from the Trojan War with his concubine, Cassandra, by his side. Consumed by rage and a thirst for vengeance, she plots with her lover, Aegisthus, to kill Agamemnon upon his return. Together, they murder the king in his bath, fulfilling the prophecy that Clytemnestra's son, Orestes, would avenge his father's death.

Orestes, guided by the god Apollo, ultimately does carry out his revenge, killing both his mother and Aegisthus to avenge his father's death. However, the act leaves Orestes tormented by guilt and pursued by the Furies, driving him to madness until he is finally absolved of his crimes in the court of Athena in Athens.

Clytemnestra's story is a cautionary tale of the consequences of betrayal, revenge, and violence, showing the destructive power of unchecked emotions and the cyclical nature of bloodshed within Greek tragedies.

Hannah Lynn has weaved a captivating tale of a woman often overshadowed by her sister in mythology - a tale of betrayal, revenge, and actions leading to her demise. Ms Lynn's unique ability to draw in her readers with her vivid descriptions and complex characters makes this retelling of Clytemnestra's myth a must-read for fans of Greek mythology.


*Disclaimer: Thank you to the author, her publishers, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. The opinions of this review are mine and mine alone.

A Spartan’s Sorrow is based on the story of Clytemnestra, as well as her son Orestes, from Greek mythology. It begins in the early years of the Trojan War, and follows the rippling of events after Agamemnon sacrifices their daughter to Athena. The book is a great fit for anyone seeking to dive deeper into Greek mythology retellings.

It is not often that Clytemnestra’s story is told from her perspective. I have read numerous books where she is a character (and often vilified) yet this was my first where the story was from her point of view. I loved how Hannah Lynn created so much background and justification for Clytemnestra’s choices. Women in Greek mythology are often overlooked, abused, and used by the ‘heroes’ and gods. Lynn truly captures the brutality, emotional distress, and injustice that Clytemnestra had to suffer not just at the hands of her husband, but also those who looked up to and/or feared him—including her own daughter.

*Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I want to say thank you for the opportunity to read this book. Sourcebooks Landmark reached out to me to read this.

A Spartans Sorrow is a retelling following Clytemnestra, a mother betrayed by her own husband during the Trojan War, and her journey with grief, mourning, motherhood, and ruling a kingdom alone.

I absolutely love Greek mythology, and retellings, so this was no different for me. I loved reading from Clytemnestra’s point of view, and her ordeals. The only thing I could have asked for in this book was it to be a little faster paced, and the author to take more liberties with this story.

"A Spartan's Sorrow" is retelling of Clytamnestra and her children's story after the beginning of the Trojan war. Overall, I quite liked it but the last part of the story felt somewhat rushed.

I love Greek mythology retellings so I was very excited to receive this book.
This book gives us a story on Clytemnestra, Queen of Myscene and The wife of Agamemnon. It focuses on her as he is at war. Her story deserves to be told and she is such a brave woman and mother. My heart broke for her.
And it continued to break retelling her story with her son Orestes.
This story is tragic with betrayal, love, murder and revenge.

First of all I was completely captured by the characters in this book, especially Clytemnestra. I think the storyline was also very well thought out and executed.
Once I started reading this book I didn’t want to put it down, I read it within 2 days.
The drama and explosiveness of this book had me on the edge of my seat, hardly able to wait to find out what was going to happen.
My heart absolutely broke for Clytemnestra in so many places, I was routing for her until the last page. The other characters were also well done, but she really MADE the story. Her strength and determination were amazing and so admirable.
I will absolutely be reading the next book in this series and would definitely recommend this one.
Thank you NetGalley for my arc copy, I am leaving this review on my own.

3.5 stars. The second in the Grecian Women Trilogy by Hannah Lynn, tells the story of Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, the king who willingly sacrificed their eldest child for a fair wind to Troy.
Thank goodness authors are giving us women's perspectives that are so often overlooked in ancient Greece. Agamemnon was quite obviously the villain in this particular story and honestly deserved everything he got. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this e-arc.*

“While the rest of Greece mourns for the war that has taken their husbands away, Clytemnestra fears the day it will bring Agamemnon back. When he husband willingly sacrifices their eldest daughter to appease the gods, Clytemnestra vows to do whatever it takes to protect her remaining children.
But history turns strong women into monsters, and in saving her family she risks losing them altogether and becoming the most hated woman
in Greece.”

What a beautiful retelling of this Greek myth! I am newer to reading Greek retellings but I absolutely loved this. I will say the pace was a little slower at the beginning but I enjoyed it.

My heart ached for Clytemnestra throughout this book. This is the tale of a strong woman who faces loss after loss. I love reading stories of strong women and story tellers who honor them.

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

Clytemnestra was once a Princess of Sparta, fierce, determined, and happy with the life she envisioned for herself. That was all shattered when Agamemnon came to Sparta with his brother, seeking shelter from the uncle who murdered their father, the king of Mycenae was murdered. When Agamemnon returns to Mycenae, it is with Clytemnestra as his new queen. Life with Agamemnon is anything but a happy one, though she finds joy in her four children. Clytemnestra's life changed when her sister Helen fled Agamemnon's brother and escaped with Prince Paris to Troy. The beginning of the war sees the death of her oldest child, but the ten years that follow offer peace. With Agamemnon gone for once, Clytemnestra is free to rule as she sees fit, free to find love again, and free to raise her children away from their abusive father. But every war must come to an end. After years of freedom, though, Clytemnestra is no longer willing to bow to her tyrant husband!

A beautiful retelling of this Greek Myth! I loved every minute of this book. I wept with Clytemnestra at the loss of her child. I cried joyfully when she took control of her life and became a stronger woman than before. I felt her pain and sadness when Agamemnon returned and was proud that she refused to be abused anymore! This is the tale of a strong woman who faces loss after loss. Like many women in Greek Mythology, her happiness is far too short-lived. Hannah Lynn created a beautiful story that honors Clytemnestra's memory and makes her out to be a strong hero, not a defenseless victim.

Disclaimer: While I received a complimentary copy of this novel, the above review is entirely my own thoughts and opinions.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!,

This was just okay for me. I’ve read a couple Retellings of Clytemnestra’s story, including the book Electra which I thought was very good. This book didn’t do much new, besides presenting Orestes POV a bit, but that wasn’t done well enough to make this stand out.

The pacing of this novel was slow enough at parts that I'd definitely set it at a lower calibre of quality than something such as Circe or The Witch's Heart. But it was still an enjoyable story despite not keeping me on the edge of my seat.

This is the story of the Trojan war from Clytemnestra's PoV, leading up to Agamemnon setting sail for the war and then the aftermath from his return home ten years later. I feel as though it's the kind of story with a lot of waiting that we would end up with if anyone ever wrote a story based solely on Penelope, rather than interspersing it with other stories like we saw in A Thousand Ships.

The other structural issue I had was that we sort of half heartedly moved to Orestes' PoV in Part 2. Instead of decisively making this a PoV shift, there were still chapters from Clytemnestra's PoV that could easily have been covered from Orestes' PoV when, say, he saw Apollo's seer.

In any case. This is not a story that Agamemnon looks good in. Basically his first act, as anyone familiar with mythology will know, is to command Iphigenia to his side under the pretense of a wedding to Achilles. Clytemnestra is presented as a hands on mother, so she's determined to go with her daughter for her wedding, despite Agamemnon's orders otherwise. He's less than pleased when she arrives and claims he needs to pray with just his daughter, sending Clytemnestra away.

Stupid man never told Achilles of his lie though, did he? So of course as soon as Clytemnestra happens to see him, she asks about the upcoming nuptials and gets a blank enough stare for her trouble to alert her that something is deeply wrong. When she returns, it's in time to find her daughter dead at her husband's hands. But at least the Greeks now have wind to get them to Troy, right?

The story continues on to show that Agamemnon killed both Clytemnestra's first husband and son due to his determination to have her. Given he basically treats her as nothing more valuable than a horse, and not even a prized one at that, it's difficult to imagine why he did this other than conquest.

Now having two children of hers killed at Agamemnon's hands, she determines that she will train her remaining three children to know how to defend themselves. All the while, she protects them from the truth of who it was who killed Iphigenia. This doesn't work too well with her second eldest of the remaining children, Elektra.

The ten years of the war pass really slowly, despite the continued time jumps. All these guys do is train and lament, up till the point where an old rival of Agamemnon's comes to ostensibly ask for forgiveness. The romance between Clytemnestra and Aegisthus reads lacklustre at best, feeling more like a time waster before Agamemnon returns or, perhaps, as though the author didn't feel secure in expanding on their relationship given it's something that doesn't have a lot of original source material dedicated to it.

Part two is a lot more thorough and focuses on the death of Agamemnon and Orestes' response to that. Definitely a lot stronger than the first half, and hits in the feels multiple times, but I just didn't feel it made up for the shallow characterisation and pacing troubles of the first half.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hannah Lynn for providing me with a digital arc of this book!

*light spoilers*

I don't have very strong opinions of this book. Maybe it's because I have read multiple renditions of the story of Clytemnestra and her children, but this book didn't really do anything new for me. I did like that we got to see more of Orestes and his story this time around, but it didn't make me feel sympathy for him. I think if the scene where he murders his mom had been drawn out a bit more, I'd feel differently, but I didn't sense much hesitation from him. I was fully and completely on the mother's side, from the beginning to the end, which I don't think was the author's intention. The ending was incredible satisfying. All in all, it was an enjoyable read, just not my favorite. 3/5 stars.

I enjoyed this retelling of some of my favorite Greek mythology characters. The language was easy to read while still giving the story and flavor of the original tale. If you want a contemporary language retelling this is the way to go.

Review: Another wonderful book by the talented Hannah Lynn! I am not usually a fan of Greek mythology, but Lynn does such an amazing job, that I have been captivated by each of her books. This is the second in this genre she has written and you can definitely tell how much research she has done prior to writing these stories. This one was so good, I wanted to see how it would end! And I have to say that Athena redeemed herself in my eyes in this book. And then on top of the whole story, there was a trial involved?! That is how you get my attention lol! Would definitely recommend picking this book up when it comes out and I would recommend reading Athena’s Child as well. Thank you @netgalley and @sourcebooks for my advanced copy!!

I found this iteration of Clytemnestra’s story very compelling! I rather enjoyed how Lynn was able to spin a tale of war, family, and sacrifice into a book I could not put down. I found our leading lady to be very heartfelt and courageous amidst her own inner turmoil. The pacing was a bit chunky at times, overall I enjoyed the story!

This was devastating and utterly heartbreaking, and written just so beautifully.

I don’t read much Greek Mythology retellings, but I am familiar with a lot of the people and their stories. This was incredible.

We have a multi-generational story here filled with sadness and loss. Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, and sitting Queen in his absence due to the war he is fighting in, is no stranger to loss. Now, the Gods have taken her beloved eldest daughter from her. Doing only what she knows how, she vows to protect her remaining children at any cost, especially from their father.

As her children grow up, one, Elektra, comes to despise her mother in the face of adoration for her father. This begins a tumultuous path of betrayal and hatred, pulling others into the orbit of pain.

The ways in which this book made me sob, oh my lanta!! I stayed up late into the night (early into the wee morning hours) to finish this book in a single sitting. It was just that good. I wasn’t aware that this is the second in a trilogy, but I get the impression that these are separate stories in the same realm of Greek Mythological tales, so I cannot wait to read more. I am definitely a fan!

Mythology retellings are very hit or miss for me. I’ve read some that basically just tell the same story without adding anything new or a fresh perspective, but I’m happy to say I really enjoyed A Spartan’s Sorrow! One of my favorite retellings is Elektra by Jennifer Saint and I especially loved the parts with Clytemnestra, so I was really looking forward to a book all about her! Her story is so interesting and heartbreaking and I thought Hannah Lynn did a great job giving a new perspective and adding depth to the character while still staying true to the original story

This retelling of the life of Clytemnestra and later in the book her son, Orestes. The focus is on Queen Clytemnestra's life during the Trojan War. The King, Agamemnon, her husband is away with many of the men in the kingdom. Many await the return of their loved ones, and Clytemnestra hopes the King never returns. Agamemnon does the unthinkable and sacrifices their oldest daughter to a goddess. Clytemnestra is determined to keep her remaining children safe.

This is a story about a mother's love, revenge, and obligation. I am a fan of Hannah Lynn and this subgenre. This is a great retelling. There is depth and complexity to the characters.

I received this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this review. I was under no obligation to give a positive review. All opinions are on my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”