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Clytemnestra: The spellbinding retelling of Greek mythology�s greatest heroine | Costanza Casati

2024 TOP 10 PART 2:
6) The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
7) Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
8) The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt
9) Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
10) Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

5 Bonus Ones: - Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - Women in White Coats by Olivia Campbell
- The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
- Stolen Focus by Johann Hari

Kristy_K Great choices! I loved Long Way Down and The Frozen River is also in my top reads of 2024. 3d

AvidReader25 @Kristy_K Long Way Down was so unique! Such powerful story telling. now

20 likes2 comments

BookwormAHN

Hera | Jennifer Saint

so-so

This is the mythical retelling of the Queen of the Gods, Hera. I really wanted to like it, and the beginning and very end were good but the middle drug. It felt like the longest book, but it was actually under 400 pages.
#WinterGames2024 #HolidayBookDragons #WGwordsearch #WinterClearDown #SeasonalMonsterSmash @PuddleJumper #AVeryMerryBingo #AVeryScaryChristmas @Jadams89 #Adventathon @BookmarkTavern #LittenListen @aperfectmjk #MidDecemberReadathon

BookmarkTavern This one‘s on my TBR! 5d

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Robotswithpersonality

Hera | Jennifer Saint

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WOW. Knocked it out of the park. 🤌🏻
They're always asking the muse to sing of the wrath of Achilles, but when it comes to rage he's got nothing on Hera. Two thirds of the way through this book, I'd say it was a toss up between survivor narrative or villain origin story, considering the Olympian levels of toxic relationships going on. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? This is the first of the Greek myth retellings I've read where I didn't know where it would go, how it would end, even if I could surmise certain plot beats, but I am so, so pleased with how Saint chose to end it. 2w

Robotswithpersonality 3/? It's a little depressing to realize that she had to extend past canon to make a worthwhile ending because Hera's tales really are that dark, discouraging, she is for the most part a thwarted wife and mother who visits vengeance on everyone else because she doesn't have the power to strike directly at Zeus. 2w

Robotswithpersonality 4/? As someone familiar with the majority of the incidents depicted, I found it impressive to see the author weave them together into one narrative, but I do worry that those not familiar with the many times Hera finds herself in a no-win situation, will find it a special kind of exhausting to see her encounter what is broadly the same issue, Zeus wins and nothing goes her way, over and over again, before the plot proceeds to anything different. 2w

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Robotswithpersonality 5/? The ending is worth it to me, because it subverted my expectations and went a different way than I've seen any of these modern retellings go, without truly changing any of the myths we know, but again, if I went into this with less knowledge of her story, I might be frustrated that there wasn't a more cathartic climax to compensate for the torturous tone preceding the ending. 2w

Robotswithpersonality 6/? I appreciate that Saint didn't quite aim for reconciliation or resignation, at least not between Hera and Zeus, because that definitely would have read as loving her abuser/accepting her victimization territory.
Part of me is very curious about what Saint does next, because I'm not sure how you top this take on the Olympians as an ensemble cast, the relation to mortals, the ultimate fate of the Olympians, as antiquity slowly fades 2w

Robotswithpersonality 7/7 into a modern view of the world.
I owe the author a lot for finally presenting me with a version of Hera that I don't just sympathize with, but actually enjoy the existence of. I'm a lot happier imagining her where this story ends, and would gladly see more iconoclastic myth retellings.

⚠️SA, misogyny 2w

2 likes6 comments

CBee

Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece | Stephen Fry

I consider myself semi knowledgeable in Greek mythology, but Stephen Fry is letting me know that there is still much more to learn! Bosporus and Oxford are basically the same word and get their origins from the story of Io (and Zeus being a cad, again). Plus I learned why the peacock is sacred to Hera! Enjoy 😊 #weirdwords #weirdwordwednesday
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Io_(mythology)

CBee @TheBookHippie @dabbe @slategreyskies @peanutnine @mandarchy @Megabooks @lil1inblue @Amiable @Daisey @psalva @Deblovestoread @TheSpineView @CatLass007 @BookmarkTavern @Cuilin @IndoorDame 2w

TheSpineView 😎😎😎 2w

Amiable I knew that “ford“ indicated water crossings -- where I live there are a number of towns near the shore that have it in their name (i.e. Guilford, Waterford, Milford, Stratford, etc.). I didn't know that Bosphorus was connected. Cool! 2w

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CBee @Amiable very cool! I didn‘t even connect “ford” with a water crossing before 🤷‍♀️ 2w

dabbe I have no clue about the meaning of oxford; thanks for sharing, #wordsmithextraordinaire! 💙❄️💙 2w

BookmarkTavern How interesting! 2w

TheBookHippie Facinating!!! 2w

CBee @dabbe the more you know 😊 2w

CatLass007 That‘s a lot of history for one word! Excellent!! 2w

45 likes9 comments

Soubhiville

Stone Blind: A Novel | Natalie Haynes

pick

The writing style made it difficult to feel close to any characters, making this a low pick for me. I did like the twisting of the old myth to approach Medusa from her side of the story a bit more. There are a lot of characters (as is appropriate for a mythology retelling) and I didn‘t particularly care for any of them.

AmyG Awwww sweet girl. 3w

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 3w

57 likes2 comments

Robotswithpersonality

Hera | Jennifer Saint

Low bar! 🫣

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Tamra

Clytemnestra: The spellbinding retelling of Greek mythology�s greatest heroine | Costanza Casati

so-so

This was the audiobook that wouldn‘t end! 😂 There are many things to appreciate about the writing, but it is repetitive. How much physical and verbal sparring does it take to portray Clytemnestra as tough & cunning? There are other annoying descriptive repetitions as well, without all of which would have made it a great novel. I think if Casati had compressed the timeline it would have helped.

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Soubhiville

Stone Blind: A Novel | Natalie Haynes

Just noticed all three of the physical books I am currently reading are published by Harper. Not necessarily something I‘d generally pay attention to, but I have them stacked together and happened to see the labels. All three are good so far!

Suet624 Good to know they support the work of women. 4w

54 likes1 comment

Sagei.9

Persephone | Virginia Lee, Sally Pomme Clayton

But Persephone did not care. A shadow fell across her face, and stayed there.

Sagei.9

Persephone | Virginia Lee, Sally Pomme Clayton

I like the focus on Persephone and Demeter's (daughter and mother) relationship in this story, instead of Hades.

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