#also the reviews on these feminist mythology retellings are sooooooooooooo interesting 😶😶😶

[deanncastiel]

2024 Book #117

Title: Ithaca Author: Claire North Genre: Historical Fantasy Series: The Songs of Penelope, Book 1

‘The greatest power we women can own is that which we take in secret.’ Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the isle 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’s empty throne – not yet. But as everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war . . .

Rating: 4.5 ⭐

Quick thoughts: fuck men and them poets 🖕🖕🖕. feminist retellings of mythology my absolute beloved. scathing, laugh out loud funny, athena is a pick-me and that's fucking hilarious. the feminine rage 🤌🤌🤌

CW: SA (nothing explicit but very prevalent)

Similar Recs: 1) Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel 2) Circe by Madeline Miller* 3) Ariadne by Jennifer Saint*

*have not actually read these but from the sounds of them they are very similar