I was a huge fan of Claire North’s first book in the The Songs of Penelope Series. This is my bag, retelling of the ancient Greek epics. North is keeping this to a trilogy, which I think is perfect, long enough to really dig into the details, yet not so long and dragged out that the reader will lose interest. If North at first paints Helen as vain and silly, she later proves to not be the fool she pretends, displaying an unexpected wisdom and expertise. Penelope, she unfailingly portrays as oh so clever. Of Menelaus, Aphrodite says “A man who was once considered really rather ugly, and became through power and might and force of arms one of the most handsome men in the world… Menelaus likes it when women cry at his feet while begging for protection. Their tears help fill the leaking hollows of his fractured soul.” The characters are complex and striking from beginning to end. It is clear in the first chapter that everyone who has descended upon Ithaca to pursue Odysseus’s crown underestimates Penelope, who has been deftly running the Western Isles since Odysseus departed. This idea is a thread that runs through the book, and it surfaces when describing Penelope, her group of female soldiers, Ourania, and of course Helen herself. Richly poetic . . . This is an impassioned plea for the lost, disenfranchised queens of ancient Greece, a love letter to the silenced women of history' Booklist Trapped between two mad kings, Penelope fights to keep war from Ithaca's shores. Her only allies are Elektra and Helen of Troy, Menelaus's enigmatic wife. And watching over them all is the goddess Aphrodite, who has plans of her own.

Penelope knows this will lead to nothing but trouble, since destruction follows Orestes wherever he may go. His uncle, Menelaus, King of Sparta, hungers for his chance of seizing his throne. Conjures up a world in which women, abandoned by their men, must weave their own destinies' The Times I’m incredibly sadden that I have to wait yet another year for the next book and conclusion of the series, but I’m putting money down right now to say that North is going to use Athena as a narrator and I’M SO READY FOR AN ATHENA POV!! 🦉This is the second part of the trilogy and, if anything much better than Ithaca, which bodes extremely well for the final part which I now can't wait to read.

When I read Elektra, I was eh on her character, but North really brought Elektra's story to life in House of Odysseus with her love for Orestes and her general upbringing. It's so sad how she views love and relationships because of her father.The story imagines and expounds upon the vacuum of power left behind for Penelope, when Odysseus is absent from Ithaca following the Trojan War. Although it is the second in the series, following “Ithaca,” it can also be read as a standalone, particularly if you are already familiar with the general plot of the Odyssey. It is written through the voice of Aphrodite as she and her sisters watch what unfolds on the island following the killing of Clytemnestra. This time I find the characters most developed and fascinating, truth to be told, CN' Helen is the one that for so long I was looking forward to finding her in a retelling, Helen I always imagined in my mind, well down!

I know, I know, I also was among others who didn't enjoy the first book, as much as it deserved, but House of Odysseus filled all the previous weak points, I really liked this one! The worst part of finishing House of Odysseus is waiting until June 18, 2024, to find out how North wraps up this trilogy. There are a lot of questions to be answered: Will Odysseus really kill them all? Will Telemachus be there when it happens? But most importantly, who is North recruiting to do the narration? My money is on Athena, but she seems a little too no-nonsense to tell an interesting story; she is more of a how-to kind of narrator. I would kind of like to see Artemis, she is the kind of girl to put an arrow through your eye just for looking at her the wrong way or any way at all for that matter. She would tell a fun story. In fact, the point of view of Aphrodite is one of my favourite aspects of this novel. It provides such an amusing, slightly sensual, and very sassy overtone. It helps that the writing is completely flawless, which is not a compliment I give away lightly. The plot itself gave me literal goosebumps! I understood Claire North in The Songs of Penelope series, three women protected and loved by three goddesses as a narrator for each book.The suitors continue to be rather useless, but Kenamon is such a sweetie that I’m honestly finding myself concerned for his future in Odysseus’ house. And Helen. . . Wow. I thought I couldn’t love another portrayal of her, but North’s depiction of this notorious beauty was so well crafted and convincing that even I was led along with the whole show. 🍶 On the isle of Ithaca, queen Penelope maintains a delicate balance of power. Many years ago, her husband Odysseus sailed to war with Troy and never came home. In his absence, Penelope uses all her cunning to keep the peace—a peace that is shattered by the return of Orestes, King of Mycenae, and his sister Elektra. We women of sky and fire, we goddesses, we are so mighty, and yet if we learn anything from old mother Hera, it is that the brighter we blaze, the more the men line up to make us fall. Our power will be suppressed, subdued, and we will be turned from creatures of immortal majesty to cowering wives and simpering whores, adjuncts merely to a story told by a man. A story about a man.” House Of Odysseus is the second book in The Songs Of Penelope series by award-winning, best-selling British author, Claire North. Perhaps a year after Orestes has slain his mother Clytemnestra on Ithaca’s shores, and Penelope’s son Telemachus has set out to search for his father, a ship quietly arrives from Mycenae into the burnt out harbour of Phenera. Elektra has brought her brother, the newly crowned king of kings, the greatest of the Greeks, seeking the refuge she hopes Penelope will provide.