Elektra

Title: Elektra

By: Jennifer Saint

Length: 320 pgs 

Age Rating: Aside from the Murder - Id say a pretty big range. The murder isnt even that bad.

Rating: 7/10

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The Non-Spoliers Version

I liked this book. Although at first I was a bit confused as to why we were getting multiple perspectives in a book that is named for the character, there is no doubt at the end that Elektra is the main character. At first I found the book to be a bit… whelming. It was good, I could keep reading it, but I didnt feel the pull of the book as much as I have others. Once I finished reading it, I did go back to it very quickly. Normally once I finish a book it takes me a long while before I'm ready for a re-read, if I ever do circle back. But there were parts of this book I wanted to see again before I moved on, to fully grasp certain actions. Id recommend this book and I do plan on reading more of Jennifer Saint’s works, both because of this book, and because Im a greek mythology nerd. This book kind of merged with Clare North’s “Ithaca” and Madeline Miller’s “Song of Achilles” in my head to create an even more layered version of the Trojan war. Idk if I'd recommend doing that but it is fun to see the connections between the books. I saw alot of parallels to “Song of Achilles”

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The Spoilers Version

Firstly, I am team Georgios and I feel so bad for that man. Talk about being ride or die for your childhood friend/possible crush? I think crush , I mean he offered to marry her. Man really did the most while Elektra was mourning and chopping her hair. He also tried to provide more reason than almost anyone else in the book so I applaud him for that. I kinda wish I knew what happens to him, I figure theres no way Elektra stays married to him now that her mother and the intruder are dead. I also take up the mantle of a Clytemnestra apologist, because although I understand Elektra's anger, I really don't think she did anything wrong. Even hearing her thoughts throughout the book, they are almost always dominated by her children, and she reaches out to Elektra multiple times. I dont necessarily blame Elektra either, she was shoved in a room as practically a child while her mother murdered her father, the man she clearly idolized. My main gripe with the book is that I really didnt understand what Cassandra’s POV gave to the story. In the beginning it set the scene of Troy, I suppose, but Elektras father fought for the other side. Her interactions with him were not really told from her POV. It did give us more insight into Helen, which I loved, but Clytemnestra was also doing that. Even the reasoning of why Helen went with Paris is given to us by a conversation with Clytemnestra. The second Cassandra got to Mycenae, she died! It felt anticlimactic. I feel like the goings on of Troy and Cassandras story could have almost been a book themselves, instead she got shafted and thrown into this one. She didnt even meet Elektra! 

Overall, I liked this book. As I mentioned above, it added to the great modernish stories of the trojan war tapestry my brain is weaving together. It was cool when they mentioned Elektra’s Father taking Bresis so Achilles turned from the greeks, I practically had a flashback to “Song of Achilles”. I know the events of the Trojan war have been told multiple times, but I think its fun to fit the events together in my mind from the multiple perspectives I've read. Feel free to do the same!