I had a hard time with this one. The writing is truly lovely, but I felt like the different characters and settings didn't get as much time to develop and breathe. We know who they are, but what I think is great about books like this is a chance to get to know them a bit more, and I missed that here. I also found that there were a few too many sex scenes for my preference-- it got a bit repetitive and did not add to the story.

I did like how the author wove together myth and historical events to tell the story in harmony. This novel just had to cover so much ground that I think it was inevitable something would be lost.

I've been holding off reading this for the longest time. Mainly because I was intimidated by the length, at over 500 pages. But also because I've read so many Greek Myth retelling, and read the story of Troy so many times, I didn't think there was anything left to say. However Janell Rhiannon injects that little bit of uniqueness to the story, a bit of character depth and enough of a new perspective to elevate this beyond the typical straightforward retelling.

What I would say however is that this isn't really a feminist retelling, as advertised. If anything it's still very much about the men of the Greek war and how they control every aspect of the women's lives. Women are kept to the background, and used as sex objects and not much else. There's a lot of sex, and rape and often it's graphic and a bit disturbing. That's not to say things like that never happened in ancient Greece, but after a while it got a bit gratuitous. It would have been much more interesting to at least get some insight into how Clytemnestra was dealing with her situation and her thought process for example, rather than another sex scene.

The writing is fine, the story overall is fine, but this definitely isn't the story I thought it was going to be.

This is my oldest ARC so I finally made myself read it. I DNF’d at 25%. I put off reading it for over a month which when I cross more than ten books read since I started a fiction books, generally means am DNF. I just could not convince myself to give it the time to retell the Iliad when it did not cover any new ground. The Iliad has been retold many different times and in better versions. Also, the idea that this was an entire series and 500 pages did not get me to the end, stopped me from going forward. There was no anticipation, just waiting mostly for things to happen. Even worse, many of the new retelling reclaim the voices and agency for your marginalized, especially female characters and the opposite of that happened here. The book is advertised as from the women’s point of view but part one is entirely Paris and the book was originally titled Song of Princes so I wonder if the readvertising is only that.

With lush writing and attention to detail, Janell Rhiannon retells the beginning of the tumultuous Trojan War as featured in Homer's Illiad, but this time from the perspectives of the women involved. Rhiannon paints an intimate portrait of the women who were often unseen or ignored in favor of the famous male characters (e.g. Odysseus, Agamemnon, etc.). These women, including figures like Penelope, Leta, Thetis, etc., have their own connections and stories to tell of what happens behind the scenes and how they have influenced the tragic events that have yet to come. I just love getting to deep-dive into what their motivations and actions might have been.

My main caveat with this story, despite my praises, would be the pacing and how events unfolded. It's a big undertaking to connect all of these dots, and certain sequences didn't seem to make sense with relation to how the characters as I understand are supposed to behave.

Still, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to get into Greek mythology retellings with a feminist twist.

Perfect for fans of Circle, The Song of Achilles, and other mythological retellings. This can be a little slow at times, but it was so beautifully written that I never felt myself bored.

I wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get past its treatment of the female characters.
Yes, everyone in Greek myths tends to suffer, but there are variations on each myth. It felt like the author went out of her way to plot the story so that each woman was dealt the worst suffering and received her fate with the least agency possible.
The book is otherwise well-written and fast paced but unfortunately it failed to win me over.

I am a big fan of the Iliad, the Trojan War, and historical fiction in general relating to these time periods. It is a very daunting task, however, to live up to Homer. I think Janell Rhiannon did a very nice attempt of her work. It was not what I expected - not sure if that is good or bad. I think overall the women could have been given a stronger voice at times. There were a few too many stereotypes of women going on and it wasn't as feminist as I was expecting.
Overall, 3/5 stars.

If you are a Greek mythology enthusiast, I cannot recommend this more. I do recommend a little prior knowledge of the characters just so you don’t get lost within the story as there are A LOT of characters.

I truly cannot believe I took over a year to pick this one up. This is one of the better retellings I have read, it may even be my favourite. There was just something about this book that kept me wanting to read more and more. I will admit, it was the cover and mythology that made me want to read this in the first place, but it was everything that else that kept me wanting to read this. The writing style was mesmerizing.

While I don't often find myself enjoying works that have many perspectives and follow so many characters, I found that this was the reason I think I loved this so much. The incorporation of the female perspectives really made this complete for me, it made me able to sympathize with the events that much more. I felt reading in each perspective almost kept the book alive, we were following the progression of the world and development of the war itself and not just the characters.

While this novel is certainly not faultless, I couldn't give anything less than 5 stars because the enjoyment I had while reading it was so immense, it rekindled my love for the Greek tragedies and epics. I appreciate the fact that the stories were told in chronological order too. Overall, an amazing retelling.

“She didn't know how she would survive when every breath stung, every tear burned, and every step took her further from the only man she'd ever loved.”
― Janell Rhiannon, Song of Sacrifice

Song of Sacrifice was SO up my alley I loved everything about it !
This book made me fall in love with Greek mythology all over again. Gods, goddesses, nymphs, kings, queens, seers, betrayal, love, tragedy, longing, this book has it all. Janell Rhiannon skillfully blends the historical chronicles of: Paris, Achilles, Hector and Odysseus in one stunning chronological tale. Her artful writing style will pull you right into the story from the first sentence. This author is a great storyteller and I immediately connected with the characters while immersing myself in the gorgeous world she has created rich with Greek folklore and mythology. . I highly recommend this book to fans of Madeleine Miller and Greek Mythology !

This was absolutely great book for Greek mythology livers. Its beautiful written and great for fans of Circe. Love the character development and all the different perspectives. Will be picking up the next one too!

I found this to be really slow despite liking the concept and the actually world and characters, just far too slow to continually keep my interest. It took me a really long time to read.

This was an interesting take on the Trojan War from the eyes of a more minor character in the story. It was especially interesting to see a familiar story from Clytemnestra's point of view.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. On one hand I really enjoyed the mythology aspect, but on the other I feel like a lot of it could have been executed better. I think it’s definitely more of a personal thing, though.

I wouldn't say that this was bad but it was better than expected. It was both a fast paced and slow-burn where the telling and showing were balanced. The fact that it was told from a female perspective which even more attracted me to the book and I was kind of emotional with it.

However, I cringed with the couple moments and can't seemed to read the love scene straightly because the writing seemed not really good or in a quality that is my cup of tea.

Overall, this was a good read.

2,5 stars

This is the first book in a series of retelling the Trojan War. I went into it expecting to love it but instead feeling kinda meh.

This book concentrates on the time before the Trojan War. At the time when Paris and Achilles are born up till Paris steals Helen. I admit that I’m not a huge fan of Paris and there was too much Paris. Part one is pretty much all Paris and I thought it was too much in a book that is supposed to be from the women’s point of view.

I never fell for any of the characters, and I’m usually Hector fan girl. The story keeps jumping all over the place trying to tell everyone’s story. And there are so many people. Would have preferred to focus on fewer characters.

La novela Circe, de Madeline Miller despertó en mí cierta fiebre por historias clásicas contadas con perspectivas modernas, centrándose en aspectos concretos. Por ejemplo en la nivela de Miller se nos desarrollaba muchísimo la vida de Circe y su punto de vista relacionándose con los distintos personajes que cruzaban su isla. En Song of Sacrifice asistimos a un tiempo previo a la guerra de Troya y conocemos a Aquiles, a Paris y a Hector. Es un libro muy bien narrado, que no cansa ni se hace pesado, con un estilo muy disfrutable y entretenido. Además el libro está lleno de salseo y no se corta para nada en ser intransigente, directo, duro, romántico o queer. Quizá lo que más he disfrutado es la inventiva de Rhiannon preparando ciertos aspectos que más tarde cristalizarían en los hechos que todos conocemos de la épica clásica sobre la guerra de Troya. Del mismo modo que ocurría con Circe, de Miller, Song for Sacrifice no solo es un libro para frikis de la mitología griega y de las tragedias griegas, sino que es una novela que por sí misma tiene una historia bastante interesante por sí misma, un desarrollo más que notable y mucho tirón. Sí, yo lo leí porque soy un friki de las tragedias griegas, pero tiene mucho más y para mí ha sido un punto muy a tener en cuenta.

This novel is beautiful, yet sad, retelling of Greek mythology and the fall of Troy.

There are numerous characters from all walks of life in different cities. Each character was given such depth and well defined features that they were amazing to read. Since there are so many characters and numerous chapters may go by before the character is mentioned again I got some characters a little confused initially. This confusion only last for the first sentence or two though.

The plot was very vivid with lots of mythology added. I thought the gods and goddesses played too big of a role in the novel. When I started I thought it'd be a historical fiction with some fantasy elements, so I was a little shocked by the rampant magic by the deities. It was good but not my usual preferred genre.

The writing was good but sad as a lot of the women felt like nothing more than pawns. I liked how Rhiannon didn't have the women mope about their situations, instead they took destiny unto themselves and tried to shape a better future for themselves and their children through whatever means. This was especially prevalent in the way they controlled the men through sex.

Overall this was a good magical realism, historical fiction novel set right before the Trojan War.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC.

Perfect if you were as into "Circe" and "Song of Achilles" as I was - Classics degree and all. I picked this one up on a whim (look at that beautiful cover!) and I am glad that I did. Fantastic re-imagining of the ancient world.

<i>I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

<b>You Should Read This If You Like:</b> Greek mythology, alternative historical fiction, feminist retelling, Circe or The Song of Achilles, stories of Gods and men, The Odyssey, etc.

Song of Sacrifice chronicles the events leading up to the fall of Troy all the way from the birth of Paris. It is a retelling of sorts. While we see a lot of the key figures of the war from the infamous Odysseys, Agamemnon, Achilles, etc. make their appearances, the story is told from a predominantly female perspective. Putting the women of Greek mythology front and center, Rhiannon gives voices to the women who were often pushed to the margins of history, or even completely erased from it. The powerless, the victims, the nameless women of Greek mythology instead are the protagonists of our story acting as mothers, wives, sisters, mistresses, lovers, goddesses, and villains behind the scenes who’s lives inadvertently influenced the fall of Troy.

Instead of being reduced to bodies plundered in war and stolen as trophies, these women are given their agency, acting as key players in the war rather than mere spectators.

The writing style really lends itself to the storytelling, mimicking that of classic texts historical texts although in places it slips into more modern dialogue that can feel a bit jarring. But these instances are few and far in between.

As the story is told from the women’s perspectives, there is certainly a little bit of maneuvering involved in order to make the characters decisions line up with the mythological events. However, it can feel a little frustrating when certain characters seemingly change overnight in order to better fit the narrative. As we are dealing with such a large cast, time spent away from certain characters lead them to make rapid changes off screen which can seem a little abrupt when we return back to their story. But that’s mostly a personal issue that I’ve had with this book.

Apart from that, Song of Sacrifice is an excellent retelling of classic Greek Mythology from a feminist perspective. It is lyrical in style and rhythm, and an almost compulsive read. Highly recommended! 4 Stars.

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"Song of Sacrifice" is a really good retelling of the Iliad and the myths surrounding its heroes. I loved how the author established all the characters and set them up for their role in the Trojan war. I definitely look forward to reading the next installment in the series and am curious to see how the characters will develop.