I adore Greek myth retellings when they’re done well. Circe and The Song of Achilles, Clytemnestra and Stone Blind, Ariadne and Elektra and Atalanta are all examples of excellent retellings, beautifully written. Stone Blind and Circe are even among some of my very favorite books. But North’s Songs of Penelope trilogy has usurped them all on my shelf. It’s rare that a mythic retelling is not a standalone novel. It’s rare that such a story can stay so true to its source material while also being wonderfully original. It’s rare that every book in a trilogy merits five full stars. Songs of Penelope manages to do all three of those things brilliantly. There is nothing that I would change about any of this trilogy, but I believe this final installment, The Last Song of Penelope, is my favorite. What a note to end on.

Each of these three books is told by a different goddess. Ithaca came from Hera’s perspective. House of Odysseus, from Aphrodite. In The Last Song of Penelope, we hear from the third of Olympus’s most prominent goddesses: Athena. (Artemis is also present throughout the series, but she has no interest in sitting still long enough to spin a tale.) Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom, and she sees that the gods of Greece will someday become obsolete. She is determined to be timeless where they are not, and she knows that the best way to achieve that is through a different kind of immortality, that guaranteed by a really good story. She will not be the star of this tale; she will be on the periphery, but that will be more than the rest of the pantheon achieves. It will be enough. It is for the crafting of this story that she has chosen to patron Odysseus and coax him through the twenty years he is away from Ithaca, first in Troy and then on his decade-long journey home. In this book, Odysseus is finally home. And, through the eyes of Athena, we witness all Hades break loose in the court of Penelope.

The triumph of Odysseus as we see it in The Odyssey is tragic here. We see a man storm in and wreck everything a woman has built, as if he has earned that destructive privilege simply by being a man. But here, that destructive force is a hero of the ages, one that millennia of readers and listeners have respected for his canniness: Odysseus. We know him as wise and clever, a man who always thinks through every step in a plan. And here, we see him lose his grip on that cleverness. In the wreckage, he and his furious, devastated wife must figure out how to repair the damage. Or, at least, how to survive it.

I love the character work in this series. Penelope, who has always been portrayed has nothing more than a faithful wife with just enough of her husband’s cleverness to outfox the suitors who plague her halls, is a woman of great depth here. We see her grow as the series progresses, as the layers of her character are slowly peeled back. And then there’s Odysseus. Because he is so intelligent and canny, we see him regain his grip on the cleverness that failed him in the heat of the moment. We see him learning from those mistakes and putting serious effort into cultivating empathy, as that’s what he needs to understand Penelope. His responses are so different from those of other men and kings in this land, in this time. At first, these differences are solely because he refuses to be like other men; he is better. But as the story continues, he begins to see himself and those around him — especially the women — differently, more clearly. He changes. He learns. He grows. I found both husband and wife incredibly believable and exquisitely rendered.

North’s writing is fantastic. Her prose in this series is as close to flawless as humanly possible. It’s brimming with humor and emotion while also being absolutely gorgeous. This series is excellent in physical and digital form, because it’s just a wonderful, timeless story, very well told. But it’s absolutely brilliant on audio. The Iliad and The Odyssey were the zenith of oral storytelling, and North has woven that kind of cadence into her unique retelling. Catrin Walker-Booth also just does a phenomenal job on the audio narration.

The elements I loved in the first two installments in the series carry through The Last Song of Penelope, as well. Besides the aforementioned character development and phenomenal craftsmanship to the writing itself, I just love how this series is set up. The pacing and setting are very well done. But one of the highlights for me is all of the gender politics, both ancient and modern, that is woven into the narrative. This is a very feminist series, but it never felt preachy or like it had an agenda. The point was to tell the stories of the women and goddesses on the periphery of such a famous story, and North was very successful in her aim.

I love everything about the Songs of Penelope trilogy. It’s a unique but timeless take on a story that has shaped storytelling for as far back as collective memory can recall. The entire trilogy is now shelved alongside my favorites. It’s a story I’ll be revisiting often, and I’ll think of it whenever The Iliad or The Odyssey are mentioned.

North has another great tale on her hands and handles Penelope's story with fidelity. I always love her prose and this was another solid novel. I will definitely be reading whatever she does next.

As the story wraps up, it's not completely as expected, but it tells you it won't be: it is narrated by Athena, who shapes stories in pursuit of a wisdom for mortals that they can't yet comprehend. Her hand is surprisingly light in this narration; I expected more, but then also feel the author justified the lightness.

I didn't cry where I expected to, but I did cry.

It was more satisfying than The Odyssey ever has been for me, that's for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: June 4, 2024

3.25 stars
Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the ending to this trilogy as much as the first two books. Everything wrapped up nicely and the book was decent overall but the first two books were narrated by a brutal Hera and hilarious and sassy Aphrodite (respectively) where as this was voiced by no-nonsense Athena. That was probably done on purpose given the content of each book, but I found it didn't hold my attention as well as the first two.

Oh, how I loved this series! Each narrated by a different goddess, this is the book narrated by Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. Her personality and values makes for a very strong narrative voice. Because a goddess is the narrator, we get both her 1st person perspective, but an all-seeing 3rd person perspective, giving you insights into everyone around Ithaca.

This is the culmination of a story of how men consistently underestimate women's power. Penelope, Queen of Ithaca, has had to get creative defending her land all while taking advantage of those who dismiss her. I will not spoil this book or this series, but it was so fun to read. This book was a lot heavier on the battle scenes, but with a good mix of political scheming and interpersonal conflict. The ending did not disappoint.

The whole series for me is a 4 star. I liked it a lot and do recommend it, especially if you're already a fan of Greek mythology. I appreciate Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital copy of this book. I will be getting the physical copy soon to complete my set.

So first, even though this is book 3 in a trilogy, I actually do think it’s possible to read it as a standalone. I think you’d be missing a lot of context but if you have a passing knowledge of Odysseus’s story and greek mythology, that’s probably enough to carry you through most of the meaning. I think it would be better read after books 1 and 2, though.

I really enjoyed this. The writing is easy to get lost in, modern without seeming out of place, formal only when necessary. Penelope is definitely one of my favorite characters (though I was lowkey rooting for her son to be killed every time he opened his mouth. I'm actually surprised at how much I forgave Odysseus despite him being objectively awful at every point prior to this book and not doing super great during this book either.

I quite liked Athena's asides to the reader, though I could see others not enjoying the conversational style. I will say I think the pacing dragged a bit in the middle and was somewhat inconsistent but it wasn't a big deal for me. It was such a fast read that even being a little bogged down for 45 minutes or so of it just didn’t really impact my enjoyment.

I would definitely recommend this to fans of greek mythology retellings; it’s been one of my favorite entries in the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

The final installment of Claire North's Song of Penelope series was a culmination of so many different things that tied up the story of Penelope in the best possible way for a Greek Myth retelling. I love the power and cunning that Penelope and her women continue to show throughout the book and the astonishment from Odysseus and his son when they realize that it was the women of Ithaca all along that maintained peace and order for the 20 years the king was away. What left it unsatisfying was that now that Odysseus has returned to power Penelope seems to have lost her power and influence as is how the ancient greek world works.

Seeing all of Penelope's favors and influence come back in the end and end up being the thing that saves them all was so satisfying. Hearing her talk back to her husband and exclaim her feelings about how he acted was wonderful. I wish we saw more of the women speaking their mind and talking back to the men in greek myth retellings.

In the end Odysseus seems to come to an understanding of how things work and seems to give Penelope the respect she deserves as his wife and Queen. Unfortunately she cant retain all the power, this is ancient Greece after all, but I'll take what I can get.

The only thing I wanted more of was Kenamon x Penelope but I knew that was asking for too much (we do all know how this story ends after all)

Since realizing that Claire North’s Ithaca wasn’t going to be a one-off novel but was actually the start of a trilogy, I have been itching to see just how she would approach certain elements of The Odyssey. North did an even better job than I could have imagined handling those specific elements that accompany Odysseus’ return to Ithaca in her upcoming The Last Song of Penelope. With Athena taking her turn as narrator, so much of the focus is on how and why stories would get told the way they did and just how different the reality could have been as well as the tension between wisdom and war. I appreciated the way that Odysseus as a figure is made to stand alone not because of his cleverness or the superiority of his masculinity, but because of how he learns to bend where so many others would dig in their heels (a bit like turning the “not like other girls” trope on its head in a way). The relationship between Penelope and Odysseus carries so much more weight and realism the way North has written them.

When Telemachus returns from his search for Odysseus, no one knows what to make of it. He doesn’t have Odysseus with him but neither does he bring confirmation of his death. Either way, the suitors have had enough and Penelope knows that time is about to run out. When a beggar appears at the palace and she observes Telemachus with the bent and dirty man, Penelope guesses the truth – Odysseus is indeed back and he’s playing games, testing the loyalties of those around him, especially her. He clearly has something in mind to not just defeat but brutally punish the suitors, though whether he can succeed against so many is uncertain given how many of them there are. Penelope and her maids begin their own preparations to help ensure the odds are in Odysseus’ favor but when the slaughter comes, it goes further than even Penelope could anticipate and places a wedge between Penelope and her husband that might be too much for them to survive. In the face of the suitors’ vengeful fathers, can Odysseus rise to the occasion and triumph to save his kingdom? And does it even matter to Penelope in the wake of what he’s done?

Though part of me wondered if North would opt for Artemis over the more obvious Athena as the narrator for the final installment of her trilogy, there are some key aspects of Athena that loan themselves too perfectly for the larger themes of these novels. In mythology, Athena is notorious for the ways she punishes women when, a lot of the time, they are the victims of the men around them. As part of her role as narrator, Athena acknowledges her underlying motivations for such actions and expresses disgust for herself, regret for the actions but not necessarily for the consequences. It’s a position that has helped to sustain sexism and misogyny even as the push to dismantle them once and for all grows stronger and stronger. And yet, in The Last Song of Penelope, Athena’s favoritism for Odysseus and the subtle ways she attempts to influence him and his actions largely does so in ways that highlight his “exceptionalism,” but it’s not the exceptionalism that usually gets emphasized.

In fact, the novel challenges the idea that Odysseus is the cleverest or that he’s the wisest ruler for Ithaca. Not only does Penelope see through Odysseus’ disguise when he reappears, she sees through the cleverness of his plan to its realities and weaknesses and takes steps to bolster and improve it. But when Odysseus goes too far, Penelope calls him out for just how little he thought beyond the instinct for revenge and spectacle to what the long-term consequences of his actions would be – while not taking credit for the aid she and her maids provided him. The novel sets Odysseus and Penelope at odds with one another as they confront the reality of having spent twenty years of their marriage apart from one another. Athena pushes the narrative to see that Odysseus is not, ultimately, exceptional because of his sly nature or acuity on the battlefield. No, he is different from other men because he is able to fight back against his baser instincts and convention as far as how to put his wife in her place and instead takes steps to apologize for his actions, to admit that there are things he can learn from her, and that the smart and cunning thing can be to work with women, to recognize their humanity and intelligence.

The Last Song of Penelope will be available June 4, 2024.

The Last Song of Penelope was a solid conclusion to the The Songs of Penelope trilogy. It was also probably my least favorite of the three books. That’s not to say I disliked it, because I actually enjoyed it a lot, but I just felt like it was the weakest of the trilogy. It was narrated by Athena, as was pretty obviously hinted at by the previous book, but because Odysseus was a favorite of Athena’s, it ended up making Penelope feel like a background character in her own trilogy’s conclusion. My favorite part of this series was the focus on the women of Greek myth, so it was a little disappointing to see her take a backseat to Odysseus. I also felt like the book was a little slow moving compared to the previous two.

Also per usual for Greek mythology, the men sucked. Odysseus kind of sucked. Telemachus REALLY sucked. But as I said, I tend to expect that from any Greek mythology retelling because, of course, they also sucked in the original myths.

The writing was beautiful, just as I’ve come to expect from a Claire North book. I love the lyrical storytelling, and it really works well with Greek mythology retellings in particular because their poems were originally written to be sung or spoken. So I love that it carries over into modern retellings like these. All in all, I would absolutely recommend the entire The Songs of Penelope trilogy to any Greek mythology lover. Penelope is a great character that often is overlooked, and it’s wonderful to see her come to life in these books. I look forward to seeing what Claire North brings us in the future.

Thank you so much to Redhook and NetGalley for the ARC of The Last Song of Penelope. All opinions are, of course, my own.

This is the story of what really happened when Odysseus returned to Ithaca, told by the goddess Athena herself. The fate of Penelope’s maids, of Penelope herself, of Telemachus, of the Suitors and Odysseus.
The Last Song of Penelope is a fitting final book to the Songs of Penelope Trilogy, highlighting what went on behind the scenes of the Odyssey. This particular book does demand a knowledge of the Odyssey to better understand the workings of Penelope and her women. The novel and the series as a whole is a feminist take on Greek myth, focusing on goddesses, queens and enslaved women.

I’ve always had a soft spot in Greek mythology. I binge read through this entire series within a week, which is why I was so happy I got a chance to read the final installment as an arc.

What I enjoyed most about Claire North’s retellings is that they’re all done in a perspective that we didn’t grow up learning in high school, which is from a female’s perspective. The first two books follow Penelope while her husband, Odysseus is away for war. This final book is when he’s finally back and Penelope begins to anticipate and deal with her fate.

The Last Song of Penelope, while beautifully written, didn’t compare to the previous books. Overall, I loved the complexity that’s added to the original story. Recommending anyone who’s also had an interest in Greek mythology.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Last Song of Penelope by Claire North is the historical fantasy conclusion to her Greek myth retelling of the story of Penelope from the POV of the three goddesses who competed for the golden apple. Last Song of Penelope is from the POV of Athena, the goddess who favored Odysseus and helped guide him back to Ithaca. We get glimpses into the POV of other characters as Odysseus reveals himself to his wife and kills her suitors as well as her maids.

What I really liked was how Claire North continued to show the complexity of each goddess’ POV with Athena. In a lot of spaces, we often question if Athena thought herself above her fellow women or if she was actually a feminist figure and North continues asking those questions. At times, it feels like she only truly cares about Odysseus and focuses her attention on the male figures in the story, but then she encourages Odysseus to have more equitable thinking when it comes to Penelope. Despite him not growing up witnessing a relationship with apologies, she encourages him to tell his wife that he is sorry for his actions, to bury his own pain until they solve the issue at hand. It’s extremely interesting to see this depiction of Athena and feels very much like it isn’t taking a side on whether she is pro-women or not, but is instead asking if, by her focusing on men that can learn to do the right thing, is she moving the needle forward towards equality?

Another thing that I thought was really cool was how Athena talked about the other gods and admitted where her own faults are. The theme of ‘love’ continues to come up with Athena constantly trying to bury it and drawing connections to her cohort and how love manifests for them. It helped create a connection to the story of Helen and Paris, Aphrodite and Hera who were POV characters before her, and to Penelope and Odysseus. The novel is not a love story and whether or not there are romantic feelings between Penelope and Odysseus is a complex question, but it’s a great question to ask when you have two characters who are loyal to each other but didn’t have a lot of time to get to know each other.

Penelope was my favorite to see little glimpses of because we get to see how much effort she put into taking care of Ithaca and the POV of women in her culture. It’s sometimes hard to read as the situation could be quite grim for women back then, but Penelope’s strength and the strength of the women of Ithaca shines through.

I would recommend this to fans of the previous two books, readers looking for a Greek myth retelling focusing on Penelope, and those who are fans of Athena and want books from her POV.

I really love retellings/reimaginings of Greek myths and stories. This was no exception. Claire North is an excellent writer and her talent for weaving a compelling tale carries through this entire series. This is an excellent work of fiction with heavy feminist themes told through the eyes of Athena and I found that to be a very different perspective than most other mythology retellings. A great read, to be sure.

The Last Song of Penelope is a great closure to a fantastic trilogy. It did take a bit to draw me in as I was not as big of a fan of Athena’s narrating as I was of Hera. There were times I felt she went on unnecessary tangents that distracted from the story, but as the story picked up I was able to look past Athena’s ramblings. I absolutely loved seeing the character growth of Penelope, and finally getting to witness the dynamic between her and Odysseus! I will say, the entire book I was hoping for Telemachus to be killed because I find his disrespect to his mother infuriating. It just goes to show that Claire North writes fantastic characters, whether they are characters I like or not!

A beautiful ending to a beautiful series. This series/ book is what I will reach for when asked, "What's the big deal with all of these Greek retellings?"

Another wonderful entry in the series and a great way to wrap the series up!

My favorite part of this series has always been the different relationships and the way they get explored within the text, and it is no different with this book. The different dynamics between Penelope and Odysseus or Penelope and her maids is something that I’m glad was a major part of the novel because they are so important to the Odyssey, and I enjoyed the way North depicted them and their interactions and overlap. Using Athena as the narrator for the final book was such a smart decision; I loved her dialogue and commentary. It’s always hard to retell such a well-known myth in new ways, but North really captures the emotions and motivations of each character in a fresh way. I’ve loved this series since the first book and was in no way disappointed with this one. The Songs of Penelope series is my favorite in the myth retellings genre by far.

I received an ARC through NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

<b>Reading for the 2025 Hugos</b>

Just finished up a NetGalley ARC of this one, the third book in Claire North's Penelope-centered retelling of the Odyssey (and the Oresteia, unexpectedly). I have been pretty hesitant to dive into the whole recent cottage industry of feminist retellings of mythology, aside from the O.G. Madeline Miller, because quite frankly there are so many now I despair at trying to weed out the quality ones from what I uncharitably assume are bandwagonny cash grabs trying to ride Miller's coattails. One exception was a book that predates even <i>Song of Achilles</i>: Margaret Atwood's <i>The Penelopiad</i> -- more on this in a moment.

I gave Claire North's <i>Ithaca</i> a whirl because I had her on my list already for other work. My initial thought was that North had guts treading on Atwood's turf with this series, but... in my humble opinion, these books blow <i>The Penelopiad</i> out of the water. I am very stingy with personal 5-star ratings, and this is a rare series which earns 5 stars from me from start to finish. Wholeheartedly recommend.

I still think I would have a hard time putting this book on my ballot for best novel next year, because it's not standalone (although, it's more standalone than your average 3rd book in a trilogy, since this is the point where the series finally overlaps entirely with the Odysseus-returns-to-Ithaca plotline of the Odyssey; on the other hand, it's one where you really must have read the Odyssey to appreciate it, so could it ever really be standalone?). But it'll be firmly entrenched on my Best Series ballot and I will take any opportunity to talk it up and get it on more people's radar - I feel like the previous books were not really that visible in previous years' SFF discourse.

A satisfying ending to this series. This book conveyed a lot more complexity than I ever got from the original story, although some liberties have been taken (the number of maids who did, for instance). Really enjoyed all the different viewpoints and the interactions of Penelope and Odysseus.

“Listen closely, for this is the only time I will tell it. / A whispered secret, a hidden tale - this is the story of what actually happened when Odysseus returned to Ithaca.”

This entire trilogy has kept me enthralled for three years, and while I’m sad to know there won’t be another in the series, I know I’ll have a great time rereading these books! As always, the narration—done this time by Athena—was fantastic and gave a nuanced view of one of the most (undeservedly) hated-on goddesses. Penelope was the same cunning queen we saw in the previous books, but with a very different set of challenges, and Odysseus was such an interesting, complex character that was still distinct from other retellings’ versions of him (and I loved his groveling 😈). There was less interaction between the gods in this book, but much more from secondary characters—and yes, I spent so much time convincing myself Penelope’s maids would be fine when I should’ve been preparing myself, but that scene was one of the most heartbreaking scenes I have ever read and it was FANTASTIC!

(Also, Claire North did the whole “who tells this story this way for what reasons” theme better than every other author in this genre—just in her first two chapters, no less—and I will die on that hill!)

I have been a fan of this trilogy since Ithaca was released and this was a great ending to the series. I was not expecting to cry but I did in fact sob (I won't include spoilers but if you know the story of the Odyssey you'll know). I have loved Claire North's Penelope throughout the series and this is a great way to end her story.