Thank you to NetGalley, Maria Zoccola, and Scribner for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

When I first saw this collection, it was the cover that got my attention... but then I read the extremely interesting synopsis. Helen of Troy, a Tennessean! Of my own backyard! As a fellow Tennessean, this was such a vivid telling. I could see myself as Helen, see those I know as Helen, all Southern women as Helen in some way, shape, or form; Southern women trapped in an endless rinse-and-repeat cycle of teenage beauty queen, marriage, babies, hunting season, and house wife activities. The author, too, being from my hometown of Memphis, TN, only made things more interesting. I feel as though this is a collection you have to sit with for a while, digest, possibly re-read in order to really suck every morsel off the bone.

This is an atmospheric poetry collection that is a reimagining of the story of Helen of Troy. I was initially interested in this poetry collection because of its connection to Greek mythology. The collection focuses on themes of motherhood, womanhood, and free will by following the life of a housewife in Tennessee.

Usually I tend to struggle to understand poetry, and to really pick up on what the poet wants the reader to gain from the poems. I had this same struggle here, although this is not necessarily a bad thing. Poetry is meant to get the reader pondering about the themes and meanings of the poems.

This is a collection that I would recommend broadly, even to people who do not tend to read poetry. However, I think you would get more out of this story if you knew a little bit about the relevant Greek mythology.

Thanks to Scribner and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

This was a really wonderful and moving poetry collection. It connected the story of Helen of Troy to that of an unhappy housewife — a connection I couldn’t have imagined before but that was done beautifully. I also really loved the afterword and would recommend reading it to really tie the poems together and give them even more context.

This was an interesting retelling of Helen of Troy. I love Greek mythology so I was interested in reading this retelling of Helen of Troy as a housewife in 1990s Tennessee. This is honestly a little difficult to review and I kept going back and forth on whether to give this two or three stars. The poems discuss motherhood, marriage, and the chores and duties she has in her life. As usual with poetry collections, some were great and others just didn't resonate with me.

What a lovely collection of poems! I’m a sucker for retellings and find the Greek mythology and epics especially compelling, so I was thrilled to stumble upon this book. Helen of Troy as a woman who has fallen from grace in the eyes of her small town neighbors—this is a fresh perspective that I really enjoyed. Helen of Troy enduring scorn at a child’s Chuck E Cheese birthday party? Brilliant. For me, the story really built up as I read, I wasn’t hooked immediately but the payoff was great. I think it is worth rereading since I suspect some of the earlier poems will sink in better the second time around.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for providing me an ARC.