I love retellings. Circe is one of my favourites and I’m very excited to read Medea by Rosie Hewlett. So I was excited when someone recommended Clytemnestra. Boy howdy was I wrong in being excited. 

People ~elsewhere~ have said that calling the prose wooden is an insult to trees and I agree heartily with this statement. It feels clunky and unpolished. There are also three historical inaccuracies in the first few chapters which was such a weird thing to come across. For example, Casati has Clytemnestra quote a Biblical proverb and she calls Spartiates a group of women warriors (which is wrong). I thought I could trudge along and the book would get better but then Theseus abducted and raped Helen, Clytemnestra’s younger sister. There are so many references to sexual assault and this book is supposed to be “empowering” and about vengeance but Jesus Christ the constant mention of SA is so incredibly exhausting. I know that Helen does get abducted and assaulted in the original myths, but this is supposed to be a *retelling*. Anyways 0/10 just go read literally anything else. I’m going to read about mermaids or something.


Also whoever recommended this to me: you and I officially have beef and I’m going to fistfight you in the Denny’s parking lot.