So we all know about Helen of Troy from Greek mythology. But this is Helen of Sparta? We start out learning about Helen and her assholish family. Her mother hates her, because Zeus is her father, and he basically raped her mother. This doesn’t bode well for Helen, because her mother doesn’t really want her to be happy, and neither does her jealous sister.
Helen has visions about the future, and she keeps seeing her city burned and conquered. She tries desperately throughout the book to stop the impending war and destruction. Throughout the story, she is controlled and manipulated by her family, multiple men, and even the gods. The interesting part of this book is how the author took “established” myths, and added her own twists to them. The character of Helen is given more agency over her life, and she’s allowed to have power and work towards her own destiny.
There are a few devastating scenes for Helen in the book. Some of them are hard to read. I’m not sure you could or should skip over them though, because they really do help us get a better sense that Helen is a real person.
I liked this book, and I would’ve been excited to see a sequel, or even a trilogy. I’m not sure if that’s in the works or not, but I really liked Helen’s story, and I wanted to see where she went. It almost felt like there should’ve been one more chapter, as the story kind of sharply ends.