Ithaca is set 17 years after Odysseus and all men of a fighting capability left for the Trojan war, leaving the island vulnerable: protected by women, the palace infested with suitors hungry for Penelope's hand, and a lone queen left to make decisions behind the front of power of her son.

There is a unique quality to the work and narration, the reader perceives the world through Hera's point of view. As Goddess of marriage and queens, this makes sense and conceptually I like the idea of it. But the decision ultimately overpowers any sort of emotional connection the reader can form with Penelope and it harms the story. Penelope felt too distant — to the degree that she was one of the lesser interesting characters of the narrative, which is surprising with how much this book was advertised as a focused retelling on her experiences.

The focus of Ithaca is generally disjointed. There is a plot you follow but also random tangents Hera will exposition about between chapters. You start to vibe with a chapter or storyline but then the work shifts gears so quickly. There are also way too many characters, most of which are not established at all but at least the importance and focus of the story is kept mostly among the women. And I guess some could call this feminist, but I can only read it is a critique of the hypocrisy found in feminism.

I didn't like how the goddesses Athena and Artemis were portrayed. I think the whole narrative of Athena not caring for women, seeing herself as one of the men and prioritizing them, is a tired trope. Artemis is portrayed very childishly, and I literally had to read dialogue where she calls Zeus, <i>daddy.</i> Even Penelope feels stripped of good qualities, I don't like how they made her a questionably bad mother and how sudden her true mothering instinct seemed to find heart again, at that point it even annoyed me? The deterioration of her relationship to Telemachus would've been stronger if they had established positive interactions or something for me to care for. We only ever got her distant from him, and him pushing away all attempts of connection very cruelly. Also with the modern terms and shit-talking brought in though Hera's POV , the text was at times unbearable and really took me out of the narrative.

Okay I realize this review has been mostly negative, but there are some positive aspects that I would like to highlight. Because I wouldn't dissuade people from reading Ithaca, the style might be suited to them far more than it was for me and there are interesting explorations of where intersectionality and hypocrisy fall into feminism ( ie. what is done with Athena and Penelope's treatment of Leaneira). There are interesting themes in what stories get told, what women "matter", a disillusionment of heroes, and the way that tales can shift mass perception of history, which is always something neat to explore.

Some prose and quotes do slap, and I think Claire North does have a lot of talent. The book has a distinct voice and irony to the narrative. And Elektra was a character that was interesting with her conflict with her mother and the tenuous starting of an alliance with Penelope. Overall, I can respect and appreciate what was attempted here but the ultimate result just sort of grated on me through the reading experience.

This is a retelling of the famous Odysseus of Greek mythology but it shows us what the queen Penelope and the people of Ithaca handled when Odysseus was presumed dead. Not just their king, even when literally all the men of the island of Ithaca had gone along Odysseus and then they did not return. How did Penelope handle the administration and rulers with barely any resources and also she kept trying to avoid the marriage office from others who just wanted to become kings. The rule of Penelope as a quiet woman staying behind without showing her true intentions, the way she managed for so many years that even her son remained blind to her real contribution. It was sad but it was very much the true plight of women. I absolutely enjoyed the shade thrown at Odysseus and the other warrior men of Greek mythology every now and then by the author.

The first 20% of the book is extremely slow that I thought I wouldn’t continue but half way when Electra and the family arrived it became more interesting. The whole thing is narrated by Hera and that brings out how women in Greek mythology still tried to rally around each other and support as much as possible. It sure shows the respect they had for the silent role played by the women. It is definitely a must for all the fans of Greek mythology retellings especially feminist takes on these famous warriors. And it is rightly the time when we need to know more about all the women of that period after all. If the women did not handle things at home the men couldn’t have gone to become the famed warriors. I definitely would have liked to see Penelope's future as well within this book but it kind of ended abruptly and did not give you as much closure as I would like.

This book had glimmers of success in style/tone and touching emotional or reflective moments, but overall fell short of an engaging story and narrative style for me. I found it inconsistent throughout, starting out highly, nearly annoying, lyrical (said as one who enjoys lyrical prose) alongside strange dry snark that felt out of place coupled with the lyrical surroundings of the first 1/4. I did enjoy Hera as the narrator, though agree that it did create a lot of distance between the reader and main characters - I wanted to be closer to Penelope’s and Telemachus’s thoughts and emotions.
2.5⭐️ rounded up for the potential and ambition, but this didn’t really pan out for me and I won’t likely read the next installment.

Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook for an eARC of this book.

Everyone knows of the great Odysseus and his heroic journey, but fewer of us are as familiar with his Queen, Penelope. Left at home to keep Ithaca running while Odysseus is presumed dead, Penelope must be clever to keep her rocky island from being consumed by a bloody power struggle between suitors. And to do this while appearing to not wield any power (because she is, after all, a woman) is even more difficult.

Told from the viewpoint of the goddess Hera, the reader is allowed to be everywhere at once and follow many characters simultaneously. It is an interesting choice that I think works in tying everything together, but it does make it a little more difficult to connect with Penelope as much as I wanted. I did think following Hera helped to reinforce the feminist aspect of the book, and I enjoyed the parallels between this powerful god and the mortal queens she protects. Both of them had to rely on a quiet show of women's power and strength in this Greek world.

North's writing style is very descriptive and contains many long sentences that I had to read twice just to make sure I understood everything correctly. This made it a little hard to get completely lost in the story and some parts were a bit drawn out for me. I will say that this book contains beautifully written imagery making the scenes easy to visualize.

Overall, if you are a fan of Greek Mythology I think it's an enjoyable read, and I will probably continue with the series. Actual Rating 3.5 stars. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

As a huge mythology nerd and lover of all things retelling when it comes to mythology and any Greek tale I was so excited for this book to come out. I love the Odyssey and having a version back at home with all of the wives and children where we see how life was for them and what they were dealing with, I was sold. Unfortunately this book totally missed the mark for me. Maybe it was that there were too many characters that weren’t developed, maybe it was because Hera was the narrator and not Penelope, or maybe it was just I was hoping for that feeling of adventure and long winded tales that come with Mythology. Whatever the reason I was disappointed reading this tale, I know it is apart of a series and maybe with it just starting there was just too much to get the whole tale going? I’m not sure but I can honestly say I was truly bored and had a very hard time finishing this whole book.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Utterly fantastic and beautifully written, I completely devoured this book about Penelope and her years of abandonment by her famous husband Odysseus. Using her impressive wits, she is able to outsmart the suitors who would steal her husband's throne for themselves. I cannot begin to explain how amazing this book was. Better than Madeline Miller or anything else I have recently read about the ancient myths now being brought back to life. Highly recommended!

Feminist Greek retelling? Yes please! The pace was slow but honestly that’s how I like it, it helps me keep track of everyone and the intricacies of Greek mythology! Perfect. Can’t wait for the next!

In this retelling of the Odyssey focused on Queen Penelope, we see an age-old story from the lens of women. As the queen uses nothing but a few meager resources and her own wit to stave off multiple disasters, the gods descend to play with the lives of mortals.

It was a very interesting choice to have the goddess Hera narrate this story, but it turned out to be an excellent one. The goddess’ dry, sarcastic wit made the narration so interesting to read, and it lent a unique perspective on the story that I haven’t seen elsewhere. The choice to include Elektra and Clytemnestra in the story was inspired, and I loved how Claire North contrasted the ruling strategies of the different queens. We see the varied ways women attempt to survive and gain power in a world ruled by men, and the fates of different characters based on their methods is a sobering and important part of the story.

I highly recommend this novel to fans of Greek mythology retellings! Thank you so much to Net Galley and Redhook Books for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨⬜
Title: Ithaca
Author: Claire North
Genre: Greek Mythology / Fantasy
Setting: Ithaca
Month Read: August 2022
Book Type: E-Book
Publication: September 2022
Publisher: Redhook Books
Pages: 464
*Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for this E-Arc of Ithaca. It has in no way influenced my review of this title.


TRIGGER WARNING-
Rape / Murder / Matricide / Sex / Sexism / Patriarchy / Death / Slavery


"Two Queens sit now in silence, and wonder: is there a limit to what a mother can give? We gods applaud those who give it all, all, more than all and more than could ever be enough. Any woman who gives merely all she has to give, and then has no more left in her, we condemn to Tartarus's burning fields, and simply say: it is for the children"






No Spoiler Summary:
Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom.

Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door.

No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids, can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive.

This is the story of Penelope of Ithaca, famed wife of Odysseus, as it has never been told before. Beyond Ithaca’s shores, the whims of gods dictate the wars of men. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses— that will change the course of the world.





Review:
I'm happy to have gotten an e-arc of this, because I'm not entirely sure I would have loved spending the money on this. It moved pretty slow for me, and maybe I was a little underwhelmed after just reading Elektra which had an overlapping storyline to this.

I will say, the writing is absolutely gorgeous. I highlighted several passages on my kindle, and there were even more I didn't highlight that made me catch my breath. Claire North really makes you feel like you are there, smelling the sea, the death, the desperation, the wanting, the desire of the characters you meet on this long journey.

I do wish that the narration changes were stated. It would take me a minute to realize who was speaking; Hera, Penelope, someone else, etc, and that took me out of the novel a lot and I found it hard to dive right back in. Otherwise, I think it's a good book, and definitely more detailed than a lot of other Greek mythos books out there.

For fans of Madeline Miller's writing style, Ithaca is for you.






Recommendation:
Elektra by Jennifer Saint
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Circe by Madeline Miller


"The only songs they remember, the only songs that are sung in the palaces of kinds, are of the men who make something of themselves! The warriors and the heroes who die fighting to make a name! Who the fuck cares about the fucking mothers?!"

"They think the greatest poems are the ones of death in battle and the ravishing of queens. But the stories that will live for ever are of the lost ones, the fearful ones, who through bitter hardship and despair find hope, find strength – find their way home."

I’ve been talking about how much I wanted to read Ithaca since last year, and I can’t even begin to explain the excitement I felt when I got an advanced copy of this beauty in the mail. I taught the Odyssey for almost two decades, and I’ve always been curious about Penelope and her story for the twenty years Odysseus was away. How did she fare ruling Ithaca and raising her son? We know the story of the suitors and how Odysseus tricked and defeated them, but Penelope’s entire experience is often glazed over. In Ithaca, her story comes to life, and we see the brutality, heartache, determination, and strength of a Queen.

The story is told from the goddess Hera’s slightly detached perspective. Snarky and often acerbic, Hera brings a unique voice and point of view to the story, and her caustic wit spotlights the inequities between men and women regardless of station, as well as the injustices women face for duty, honor, and the patriarchy.

"These are the men of note. We regard them as one might regard a rash – hopeful that it does not spread further – and then move on."

The story follows Penelope, Hera, Clytemnestra, and so many more women who are often glossed over in stories like The Iliad and The Odyssey. It shows the brutality of their existence and the lack of choice women had when forging ahead after abandonment or married to men they barely knew, expected to bow to every whim of their husbands, fathers, sons, and the patriarchy in general. It also shows how many women fought against their oppressors, some in stealthy and secretive ways and others in demonstrative and explosive ways.

I’ve never read a story that has Penelope feeling ambivalence or anything but a deep and lasting love and passion for her husband. In this story, it’s more a deep love of her land and her people, her son, and preserving the life she has carved out for herself. I also like that the book shows her cunning and astuteness, her way of forging battle. Though less demonstrative and assertive than her husband and his peers, it’s just as effective. From the suitors vying for her hand in marriage and the power that comes with it to the pirates threatening their shores to her sister hiding from her vengeance-seeking children, Penelope’s story is complex, filled with impossible obstacles, and riddled with danger.

“This is the world we live in. We are not heroes. We do not choose to be great; we have no power over our destinies. The scraps of freedom that we have are to pick between two poisons, to make the least bad decision we can, knowing that there is no outcome that will not leave us bruised.”

I enjoyed Ithaca and am so grateful to Orbit Books for providing me with a copy. It’s a captivating read, and the writing style is lovely. I look forward to reading more of Penelope’s story in the next book.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Let me preface this review by stating that I have not read The Iliad nor The Odyssey, though I have read books about what happened in them and about the characters. In particular, I referenced Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes and Bulfinch's Mythology a lot while reading this.

As a book, it's great. The writing is beautiful and the story is interesting. My problem lies in the fact that it is much more of a retelling than I anticipated. I thought this would be a story about Penelope, wife of Odysseus, queen of Ithaca, that serves as an extension of the original text. A story woven into a story - a new perspective of a classic tale.

It was not that.

We see Penelope from the point-of-view of Hera, who narrates this story. I thought this was an interesting move that both worked and didn't work. It allowed us to jump from character to character and see a bit into what they were thinking or feeling, but because she is an observer of the events taking place, you feel like everything is happening at a distance. This makes it harder to connect to the characters.

What threw me off the most was how much the author warped the classic story to fit this new narrative. She made Odysseus seem like he never wanted to leave Calypso, when he directly told her that he wanted to go back to Ithaca. Penelope seemed to not even really care about him when they were originally described as being very much in love. When Clytemnestra killed Agamemnon she immediately fled to Ithaca to hide from her children, but in the original text she and Aegisthus ruled for seven years before being killed by her kids. Andraemon was made to be a major antagonist who was (view spoiler) when he was actually killed by Odysseus along with the other suitors in the Odyssey.

Why make these changes? Why not stay true to the text and create something from that?

I also think it's goofy how often poets were brought up. I searched for the term "poe" to see how often "poem" or "poetry" or "poets" were mentioned and got 67 results. That's far too many for one book. She consistently mentioned how "the poet's changed the real story to something more interesting" as if she wasn't doing the exact same thing when writing about Penelope's experiences during Odysseus' absence.

It leaves a bad taste in my mouth that such drastic changes were made. I would have loved to see what Penelope went through that actually goes in line with the classic mythology. It felt like the author heard about Penelope, wanted to #girlbossify her, and made every other character excluding her maids a villian in the process. It was honestly disappointing as someone who loves learning about Greek mythology and reading it from a fresh, new perspective.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Oh, to be someone who loved this book...

The moment this was announced, I was beyond excited for it. I'd never read a Claire North book before, but I've been eyeing her work for sometime, so this felt like a great opportunity to get into her as an author. Other than that, I was stoked for a book centered on Penelope, for someone to really delve into her character and her thoughts regarding Odysseus and his abscence from she and Telemachus' lives. ITHACA's summary offers all these things, laying out the groundwork for a story that centers on Penelope as she interacts with Ithaca, the suitors, and the gods of her world.

Based on that summery, I expected a story not unlike Kaikeyi or Circe, but that's unfortunately not what I got.

ITHACA is told from the perspective of Hera, queen of the gods, wife of Zeus and I hated it. The narrative boiled down to far too many on the nose moments of "the poets will not sing of this" in response to anything any female character did throughout the entire book. By the end, I was swearing that if I ever heard that phrase again I was going to take this book out and likely my entire apartment with it. Hera, herself, was an obnoxious narrator. Through her, all other gods were reduced to childish versions of themselves, all unworthy of three-dimensional characterization. Athena and Artemis suffered most notably for this. Athena was reduced to someone who did not or could not connect to womanhood and was simply there to be a man's war goddess. Artemis was childish and uninteresting, reduced to a caricature who walked around naked and was berrated for doing so by Hera.

Not to mention the many times the narrative itself lost all sense of poetic writing simply so Hera could mock the other gods. Including, but not limited to the time Athena was hoot, hoot, hooting nine times on a page or Hera suggested Artemis spent her time whining for daddy (it literally appears about 10 times on that page) or the time she literally said: Oi. Luck? I'll show you luck, missy. Which reads like something that came out of the mouth of a bad British villain.

Structurally, I don't think ITHACA knew what it was doing. It passes the narrative between a handful of characters, all of which are being observed by Hera making her this omniscient presence in the narrative. The chapters were on the shorter side, so just as I was becoming interested (and I use that term lightly) in a point of view, I would be yanked away to another.

Now, the greatest sin of the book: Penelope was bland. She was not lifted up or deepened by this retelling, instead she felt side-lined and unimportant in her own story. She was just another character whereas the summary promised a story that focused on her, that told her story "as it had never been told before." I expected a deep and raw portrayal of her hardships and the ways she was caged by cirumstance. Instead, I got a Penelope who was a disinterested mother and who didn't love Odysseus at all, so his abscence did not bother her.

I desperately wanted to like this one, but it ultimately fell flat to the point where I was rushing to finish it just so I could be done with it.

📖: Ithaca
🪶: Claire North

⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5

“There is no room for sorrow in a heart full of fire.”

I love the thought behind this book. I think it was an incredible opportunity to explore the narrative of a classic mythos that had yet to be brought to the table. We are woven through exciting plot twists by wonderfully written prose and crafty outlined passages. However it’s the POV of goddess Hera, that makes it difficult to track, and a missed opportunity to not be hearing from Penelope herself; I would have preferred this POV or even a dual POV from both of them as I do not think Hera’s perspective is completely pointless.

Why is it problematic? Think of it this way— a goddess’ job is attuned to the awareness of MANY. It really shows in the constructed details of the story and it makes it difficult to connect with Penelope. Things I did enjoy were the Grecian Queens, her commentary on Penelope’s prospects, the twists that are exposed, but it felt like even still Penelope can’t think for herself which really left a not great taste in my mouth.

Here’s why you should read it still though, the POV, yes I know, I just rambled on the problems, but this is making for a unique perspective. Hearing the thoughts and monologues of a Goddess… it’s cool. She’s witty, empowering, and downright defiant at times. I love this idea that the abandonment of these wives are not left to sit idle when you have Hera at your side. Read this book, but be sure to read it first before you go pickup Atwood’s Penelopaid. I really think had I not read that first… I would have enjoyed it more.

see you this side of the turned page,
the donnish darling

This is a NetGalley provided read, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook for the ARC of this book!

I love Greek mythology adaptations so I was very excited to get my hands on this. This book takes place during the Trojan War, but on Ithaca with Penelope as she waits for Odysseus to come home after the war. The thing that makes this adaptation stand out is having the main storyteller be the goddess Hera. I don't often read about Hera's involvement during this time, so it was fun to read her sassy thoughts on all that's going on, especially with the suitors. We also get a glimpse of a few other gods and interaction between Hera, Artemis, and Athena.

I did find it dragged a bit in the middle and the end, and I was wondering when the book would end (if we would see Odysseus come home). While I did enjoy this book, mostly for the sass that isn't in other adaptations, I wish there was a little more of everything. We got introduced to so many characters that never get talked about in mythology and I wish we had more about them. This is the first book in a series so I hope we get more in the next one!

This was a little bit slow for me. Hard to get into. I think retellings are hit or miss and this was kinda a miss for me.
With the retellings I’ve read that hit for me, have a little bit of personality. It trips you and has more of a “modern” feel I guess in terms of writing and not so much as you’re reading a historical text. I felt like Ithaca was missing that authors voice that gives it that feeling, and instead it came across very historical. Which is fine. That’s what it was. But I wanted to be more invested with the story and I wasn’t.
It’s a good story overall, it just wasn’t particularly for me. It seems very true to the original, a little more rigid of an interpretation.
I’ve heard the author is a sci fi writer which made me excited to read it, but I thought she would be able to give it some spice but it just fell very flat.

This was my first Claire North book and I wanted to love this more than I did (because I love Greek mythology). I'm hoping that since this is a series I will enjoy the future installments more.

I enjoyed that this was a great look at what it means to be a woman in Greek society and hold influence and wield power in a society that sees you as weak and begrudges any act of strength no matter the social class. I found the moments with Elektra, Clytemnestra and Penelope, three women in positions of power, to be my favorite parts of the book. I loved how the plot kept me guessing as to whether or not Penelope’s meticulous planning would pay off. This was like reading about the underground crime lords of Ithaca. There are tons of characters, each with their own interesting background. North has stories for years without ever leaving the shores of Ithaca!

The story is told from the viewpoint of Hera and I wish that we had jumped to different POVs. Hera's viewpoint gave the audience omniscience but I wanted to know more about Tedora, Semele and Priene and would have loved reading certain events through their POV.

I was lucky enough to receive this as an ARC. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Claire North and Redhook Books. Ithaca will be out September 6th, 2022.

Thank you NetGalley and Redhook for this advance copy.
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I am a little obsessed with Greek myth retellings, so I was very excited to dive in to Ithaca. I loved Hera’s snarky voice as narrator in the beginning, but at times it came across as too modern and out of place for the setting and time period. I was also really confused by all of the name dropping. Many characters are mentioned, but not necessarily introduced, and it really distracted from the story. I would have loved a reference list at the beginning to try to keep track of all the names mentioned and how they orient within the story. Ultimately, this one just wasn’t for me, but I know it will find an appreciative audience. The cover is gorgeous.

*Instagram post and longer review will be linked shortly


I had really high hopes for this one! I love Greek myth retellings so much but this one didn’t hit the mark for me. It was hard to get into and there were way too many characters for me to keep track of. It was interesting having Hera narrate. There were some funny parts digging at how most myths are written by and focused on men

3 stars. I didn't love it as much as I wanted to, which is a shame as I think a re-telling of this story is overdue.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early peek at the novel. My views are my own.

Claire North deviates from her usual speculative fiction with this imaginative retelling of The Odyssey, focusing on life back home in Ithaca where Odysseus and his men have abandoned their wives and left them to their own defenses.

Told from the perspective of the Goddess Hera, Ithaca focuses on the family drama of Penelope, her son Telemachus, and her cousin Clytemnestra’, who has slain her husband and whose son is out for blood. Penelope must juggle her duties of hosting a hall of suitors looking to marry her and absorb Ithaca into their kingdoms in the process, as well as fend off some sketchy pirates whose looks are quite deceiving. On an island where the men have been absent over a decade, the women if Ithaca must pick up the mantle.

Despite being told with North’s penchant for beautiful and descriptive writing, the use of Hera as a narrator felt far too removed as the Goddess herself consistently refrains from engaging in the meddling of human affairs. As such, the voices and personalities of the women of Ithaca come across as one dimensional and the reader is made to feel like they are watching events unfold from the sidelines. There are also a lot of characters, some briefly mentioned, that those without a rudimentary knowledge of Greek Mythology will feel lost and confused as to what roles the individuals play.

As the first book in a series, I hope future installments will focus a bit more intimately on our cast of amazing characters as the framework is clearly in place.

Thank you to NetGalley, Redhook books, and Claire North for this advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.