Set in Ancient Greece, Clytemnestra is a heartbreaking, empowering epic chronicling the rise of a queen who didn't get to choose her fate ...

This book tells a powerful story about love, bravery, and loss. When everything you care about is stripped away from you, all you have is yourself. Time heals wounds, but it does not make you forget. The most powerful warriors remember, and that's what fuels their momentum. That's what keeps them alive.

Another amazing mythological retelling. I am living for these feminist retellings that give the women in these originally male centric stories the place and story they deserve.

Honestly this was a refreshing take on a retelling; I really enjoyed how this shed light on the original story but with added bits to flesh it out and turn it into a great read. Usually I don't get through retellings as quickly as I would say a fantasy but I zoomed through this book because it was so well written.

DNF- this one was too slow for me. I was a bit confused by the choice to begin the story so early in Clytemnestra's life and I just could not quite push through.

4.5

This story was incredible. Getting a perspective from Clytemnestra was like getting the perfect bite of a cake. Every single thing that you needed to be satisfied was provided and I felt completely fulfilled after finishing.

I honestly don’t want to say anything at all about this book except that anyone who loves greek mythology should prioritize this story. It’s a fantastic retelling that encompasses so much. I loved it!

It was pure luck that I read Atlanta right before reading this and it made this book even better. There were references to the big journey in Atlanta that made this story become so much more alive in my mind.

Thank you Sourcebooks for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Now this is how you do a retelling. Absolutely captivating. I could not put this down. My only regret is not having started it sooner.
Clytemnestra is such a powerful character, multifaceted. The details and levels of the character is well taken care of.
For a debut, Costanza Casati nailed it.

This is a wonderfully complex debut novel! From the cover, I thought this was going to be a bit dry and be similar to the already overly saturated Greek POV genre but this could be farther from that. I was hooked in about 30 pages in. The strength in this novel is the transformation Clytemnestra's character takes from adolescent Spartan warrior to Mycenae 'unofficial' ruler. I almost felt bad for wanting more bad things to happen to her just to see how she would react or what revenge she would exact next. This is like if Taylor Swift's Bad Blood were a novel. The relationships between the characters were believable. This novel also does a great job of balancing the myth with reality. There is no blaming or praising the gods with Clytemnestra, she lives life by the mantra play around and find out.

Thanks to Costanza Casati, Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgally for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was a truly enjoyable book! I haven't really read many myth retellings, so I loved the way the myth came to life this - the characters and story felt real and tangible. I didn't really remember the story of Clytemnestra before reading this, so I looked her up and got a brief refresher. She was a villain, but I had great sympathy for her and her situation. This made me understand and root for her; and also dislike some of the mythical heroes and gods. It also made me pick up another myth retelling about Helen and look forward to reading a story about her side of the story.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

Man, every time I read one of these Greek mythology retelling books, I want to go back to college and pay better attention in my classes. I know I'd heard of Clytemnestra before, but was it only as Helen's sister? Agamemnon's wife? I say I will go back and re-read the classics, but then I read this and it is so brilliant I don't need or want to!! I just need one of these for every character in Greek mythology.

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I am a huge fan of Greek mythology and have enjoyed the resurgence of these retellings with a feminist bent. We are all aware that history is written by the victors and most of the victors have been men. I enjoyed seeing more of the Queen of Mycenae beyond her marriage to Agamemnon and the sacrifice of her daughter. Her upbringing in Sparta is usually ignored and this was intriguing to know more about all of her siblings, including Helen. I was actually surprised that the novel finished before her children exact their revenge for the murder of Agamemnon even just to see her life once he is eliminated. This book is a time commitment but the details were fascinating. If you like feminist retellings of myths that are better written than what I have seen with Jennifer Saint, check this out.

(4/5 stars) Here I am, back to my predictable "requests every Greek Myth retelling" book behavior. I've read Clytemnestra's story a few times as part of other's stories (think: Elektra) but I loved the way Casati characterized Clytemnestra and didn't take away from her strength despite the trauma she experienced. Spartan women were raised warriors, and I am glad that Clytemnestra never lost her warrior spirit. This book is giving "we support women's rights, but also women's wrongs" in the best way.

This was such a GREAT book. I love Greek Mythology based stories, and this was one of the best I’ve read in a long time. If you know the mythos of Clytemnestra, you know her story of loss and motherhood is gut wrenching, and this book really made me feel a wide range of emotions. I felt connected to Clytemnestra and cannot say enough good things about this.

An amazing story about Clytemnestra. I ADORE Fiction about Ancient Greek life. The writing is so easy to follow, the details so easy to imagine. Clytemnestra’s story is one of love, immense heartbreak and sorrow, and ultimately, resilience. I don’t want to give too much of her story away. Even if you think you know it from Greek mythology, trust me. You know nothing! Beautiful and epic, this book pulls you in and keeps you turning the pages. Definitely five stars!

This is probably my third(?) book I've read on Clytemnestra and I think it's by far my favorite. I really love this modern trend of focusing on the women in Greek mythology and telling their stories in a new way. Clytemnestra is the protagonist we all need in this story. She's strong, she's nuanced, and she's gonna get her revenge. I loved the deep dives on the characters/parties involved—everything and everyone felt so well developed and complex which I find is often not the case when we read Greek mythology. They're often painted as these one dimensional characters with one strong characteristic only and that is NOT the case here. I will be forever recommending this book to those who like Greek mythology and those who just need a badass lady to root for.

Her sister was the face that launched a thousand ships. Her husband was that warmongering dick, Agamemnon. Regardless of how familiar you are with Clytemnestra's story, if you enjoy reading about fierce women who remain strong through numerous obstacles and tragedy, all the while, earnestly plotting their revenge, you will enjoy this book.

The retelling of Greek myths is one book trend that I will never get tired of seeing. I will read them all. Especially if they center around a sometimes overlooked female character being cast in a new light. The gods don't make actual appearances in this one, but they are used to justify many of the atrocities committed by the characters, and this is an interesting theme throughout the book.

Costanza Casati's riveting story of family, power, and vengeance is one of my favorite Greek mythology retellings, and I didn't want it to end.

Thank you Sourcebooks for the copy to read and review.

Wow what a great book. I’m obsessed with writers who take a story we think we know and tell it from a different perspective. It makes you reevaluate what you know, what you think you know, and what you never thought was possible.

This novel takes a look at the life of Queen Clytemnestra of Mycenae and wife of Agamemnon through her own eyes. Instead of being portrayed as a villain we see how the events previously told through a third party really affected this character and in essence framed the decisions and actions she takes throughout her life.

Looking forward to reading more by this author.

4.5/5'

The stories are always about Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships, but what about her sister? I have always only known a small segment of Clytemnestra's life, and she was not always the most likable as presented in other Greek myths or plays. But this woman in powerful, strong, and resilient! Casati's book was so immersive; you felt like you were side by side with Clytemnestra as she maneuvers through court life.

Growing in Sparta is hard in itself, but as a woman, it's even harder. Clytemnestra has to be strong and ruthless when everyone is working against her. When her father welcomes the Atreidi's into their home, Clytemnestra's life is immediately changed. How can she protect her family from this new threat? Clytemnestra reminds me quite a bit of Cersei from Game of Thrones. A woman in a man's world who is able to take power and keep it. She fights fearlessly for her family and has no problems seeking vengeance when needed. This book was a great exploration into Clytemnestra's character and gave a strong background into the events that helped form this courageous woman. Great mythological read!

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for granting me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for this advanced copy.

Clytemnestra is jumping into this trend of retelling Greek myths and stories but usually from the woman's point of view and, for the most part, I'm here for it. I will fully admit to having not remembered Clytemnestra from my unit on Greek mythology or the Odyssey etc and that's unfortunate. She seems to have been betrayed through history as a cruel and unfaithful woman, and really, aren't they often misunderstood? So is Clytemnestra as well.

Casati does a great job of setting up Clytemnestra's life and weaving the pain and betrayal that seeps in early on into a larger narrative around the way Greek society discarded women and how powerful many of them were because of the absence of their husbands and brothers during the Trojan Wars. The characters felt well-rounded and I got a much better sense of 4D level chess game going on at that time.

If retellings are your thing, I highly recommend this. If they aren't, this is a good story of a woman wronged, biding her time for revenge.

This retelling of the story of Clytemnestra was captivating, compelling, and more than I expected, quite frankly. While I know the main story of the character of Clytemnestra, I thoroughly enjoyed this exploration of her upbringing in Sparta, her training as a Spartan warrior, despite being a woman, and her relationship with her sister Helen. This stands out among the Greek mythology retellings as a well-crafted, thoughtful consideration of one of the most feared, patient, and possibly maligned women characters in literature.

I want to thank the publisher for granting me access to the digital arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am very much here for the trend of retelling ancient mythology and Casati takes her education to spin a wonderful tale around one of the most notorious women in history. Male storytellers have been less than kind to this strong Spartan princess, but Casti brings Clytemnestra to full life, reading between the lines of what had been written to do this warrior queen justice.

I couldn’t stop talking to my husband about what I read each night, as if these were our neighbors, people we knew, because Casati did such a fine job of making them real.