Well written book with even pacing throughout, As a lover of mythology I was not disappointed with Penelope's story which was narrated by Hera. I really enjoy the feminism in this retelling.

Greek mythology retellings are very near and dear to my heart. This was a very interesting take on ‘the penelopiad” with lyrical and beautiful writing, very fitting for a retelling!

This wasn’t my cup of tea. The writing style just wasn’t for me. And the beginning of the book really didn’t grab me so I did not finish.

Ithaca by Claire North was well done. I'm a full-on greek mythology girlie and this read had all the makings of a good series. I can't wait for book 2.

I received a review copy of this book from the author/publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

A solid Greek retelling. Amidst many others I’ve been reading this one was a little dense for my liking. I don’t know that I was necessarily interested in the perspective either, but I know there are different books for different people and I can absolutely see some of my students being enamored with this tale.

3.5 stars!

I think that Greek myth retellings are hard because there's definitely so many of them and they all pull from similar source material. I did enjoy how focused this book was on telling the perspectives of women but the aspect I really did not enjoy was that it was told from the perspective of Hera. I think this made the story feel more disconnected and overall I felt like I was supposed to feel deeply connected to these women but I just wasn't.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, I DNFed this book 20% in. As a big fan of Greek mythology and their retellings (such as books by Madeline Miller, Natalie Haynes, and Jennifer Saint) I was looking forward to diving back in this world and encountering familiar character from a new perspective. Since the very beginning, I was taken out of the story by the heavy-handedness of the prose and clumsy worldbuilding. There were some original characters that didn't read true and I ultimately failed to connect to the story.

I'm sure that there is the right audience to this book since it seemed that the author did a lot of research around this topic. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Myths and Greek Gods have long been at the top of my list. Ithaca is the island home of Odysseus and his lovely Penelope. Ithaca has always pulled at my bookish heart, and over the years I've googled long into nights looking at all the possible actual islands and land bits people have opined over the ages that Ithaca actually might have been.

Yet, I had to work at finishing this book. I didn't connect with those whose stories I knew and expected to fall in step with - especially the Olympians. I knew them backwards and forwards, and could recite them like multiplication tables when I was 8! So to find Hera as the driver of the narrative tale was exciting, until it just wasn't. Hera's goddessness, her POV provided knowledge of all at any given time - fun. But while the omniscience was sexy, I had to often backtrack to figure out who was where and at what point exactly was the action. Got a little confusing.

All that said, though, this is a fresh part of the tale, told from a woman's point of view about those years - many, many years! - where Odysseus is having dangerous adventures, and adventures of a time out for fun variety. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Penelope is having to run the kingdom, sort suitors and raise the kids. Hmm. The idea of the lady gods joining up for ad hoc purposes and kicking the crap out of the pirates was very satisfying.

And the end was, as I'd always feared it would be, heartbreaking. A mama is a mama, and parting with kids heading out towards the setting sun is always a tough moment. You truly may never see them again. . . .all the feels for Penelope were there in my biggest, longest sigh of this read.

I do look forward to the next tale of this epic.

*A Sincere Thank You to Claire North, Redhook Books and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.*

I adore a good Greek Mythological retelling and this take on Odysseus and Penelope, it will go into my favorite category! The fact that Penelope's story has never been told before, she's always been just a character in Odysseus' story made this more interesting. I can't wait to read the next book!

Imagine a retelling of old tales you grew up reading or listening to but add to it a real depth to the unspoken heroes: the women.

Proving not everything is as black and white as the old poets made it out to be, this story dives into the complexity of women like Penelope, Elektra and Hera. In a world design by and for men, we go deeper into questions of womanhood, understating what it means to have power in a world that does not wish to see women succeed.

Anyway, I won’t say too much more because I want others to have the same experience I’ve just had but wow, Claire North knew what she was doing!

Clare North does a spectacular job of retelling the mythology and this was definitely worth the read. I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who lives books like Song of Achilles or fans of Jennifer Saint. I'm always cautiously optimistic that retellings will hit the mark and I enjoyed getting to read Penelope's story. Excited for book two in this series.

Unfortunately I am not jiving with the writing and story telling style of this book and have attempted to pick it up multiple times. There is nothing objectively wrong with this story so I’m leaving it with a neutral 3 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for the opportunity to read and rate this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

This book was so much more nuanced on the female experience in Ithaca than I was expecting it to be, and I loved it! It was so good. Can’t wait to continue on with this series and see where the narrative is taken and how else we get to explore the unwritten lives of the women. I also really enjoyed that the narrator was Hera, and the repeating commentary she had around the poets (what they do and don’t capture).

I really enjoyed this Greek mythology retelling of Penelope awaiting Odysseus’ return after the Trojan War. I love this story and Claire North’s writing was beautiful. This story was entertaining but I never felt that I was able to fully connect to any of the characters because of the all encompassing narration from a gods perspective.

3.5 ⭐️

Ithaca is compelling retelling of the story of Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, and the women of Ithaca left behind after the Trojan War. North's writing is really lyrical and beautiful, painting a vivid picture of ancient Greece and the women of Ithaca who are left to run the kingdom while the men are away at war. Penelope's story is told with empathy and nuance, as she grapples with the weight of her responsibility to her people and the uncertainty of her husband's fate.

What sets Ithaca apart is its focus on the women of the story, who are often relegated to the background in traditional retellings of Greek myths. North gives voice to these women and their struggles, exploring themes of power, love, and betrayal, and creates a rich and complex world that feels both familiar and new.

I listened to this on audio and really enjoyed the narration. I especially appreciated the multiple POVs, including that of Hera, the goddess of mothers, as a sort of omniscient outside observer. I'm a sucker for myth retellings and looking forward to more from Claire North!

Ithaca follows Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, waiting in Ithaca for him to return. She has been ruling Ithaca as Queen for the past 10 years during the Trojan War and it has been numerous years now since Odysseus has returned. This book is told through the POV of Hera, the Goddess of Women and Protector of Queens. It added a really fun dynamic to how the story was being told, and on audio, was really fun to listen to. Penelope is dealing with suitors in Ithaca pressuring her to remarry and take a new king for Ithaca. Not only is she having to deal with hosting suitors and tending to their needs, but she also must deal with her cousins, Elektra and Orestes. They both come to Ithaca in search of Clytemnestra, their mother, because Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon, their father. Clytemnestra is the first cousin of Penelope and seeks refuge in Ithaca after murdering her husband. There is a lot going on in this story and I think the author does a great job of keeping storylines straight and separate while progressing them forward. Penelope also has a son with Odysseus named Telemachus that has his own storyline in this book of becoming a man and having to step into the shoes his father left for him. The book has a lot of political dynamics, along with some appearances from other Gods getting involved and making an impact in these individual’s lives. This book ended on a cliffhanger, which was fun. I am interested to see where book 2 takes us and how the story will end. Overall, it was a good listen, and I would recommend it if you like reading Greek Mythology.

I teach The Odyssey every year, and I absolutely love it--I love re-reading the whole epic poem, and I love reading it closely with my high school students. They adore all of the fierceness and gore, the guile and infidelity.

To linger back with Penelope is an interesting choice. I love her for her dedication and work, for her caring for the homestead and motherliness, but it was certainly an interesting choice to take her on and shift what we know of her.

I was bothered by the overly adorned prose, by the build-up of adjectives to get to the noun--while The Odyssey does this too, it isn't so much and so distracting. Then I saw how young North is--and she's done something many cannot, which is find an audience and finish a whole passel of books. That's quite impressive.

I wouldn't recommend this book--I think there are more literary adaptations worth one's time--but it was interesting! Very slow going, though.

I think the trouble I had was to do with the voice of the book. Hera is the narrator. While I think Hera has probably gotten a bum rap in modern perspectives of Greek mythology, I didn't enjoy her here. She's snide, sort of snobbish, and doesn't have much of anything good to say about anybody. She doesn't have much good to say about Ithaca, which is (according to her) a flyspeck of an island that is ugly, poor and a backwater. She doesn't have anything good to say about any of the male characters as far as I got into the book, with the possible exception of the Egyptian emissary to win Penelope's hand.

Hera doesn't seem to hate Penelope either. The two most interesting characters so far have been a village girl who ran to the capital just in advance of a raid on her village to warn everyone, and also the priestess who helped her along the way. These two don't have any bearing in mythology as far as I know but are more nuanced and relatable than any of the characters who have more power or status.

It's a long book, and I gave it about 50 pages. Maybe that wasn't enough but by the "100 pages minus your age" rule it was more than enough for me. YMMV. So far I've had bad luck with the recent myth retellings. In this case, I think that I was hoping to fall into the setting and story. The story is told by an unpleasant narrator who disdains the setting.

I'm a sucker for reimagined Greek myths, so Ithaca by Claire North was an immediate "add to TBR." This book met most of my expectations for a reimagined myth - fresh, clever writing and perspectives as well as poignant prose and relatable (even if a bit unlikeable) characters. Do I actually like Hera now? Too soon to tell, but maybe.

While I loved that Hera was the chief narrator - offering a goddess's-eye-view of Penelope and the women of Ithaca - the number of POVs and characters was overwhelming. There were many times I forgot whose perspective I was getting, especially the few times we got a man's POV.

Still, Ithaca is a smart, character-driven piece of mythology that gives much-needed insight into the often-overlooked lives of the women left behind to rule.

I absolutely loved the writing style of this novel! The prose was poetic and fun and I loved the story. My only complaint was it was hard to keep track of the people and names and it got confusing but I don’t know if that’s just because I listened to the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in return for an honest review