OHMYGOOOODDD

The characters, the language, the story, the portrayal of the gods- this book was everything I could have hoped for.

“I knew my duty to Sparta, to my people.”

“I don’t want to be beautiful,” I said once I’d caught my breath. “I don’t want any of this.”


Helen, Princess of Sparta, daughter of Zeus, has come of age to be married.
However, nightmares and premonitions of fire and ash speak to her of a message, of a war to come.

Over her.

Her acclaimed beauty is known to be something of both a curse and a gift, yet she thinks only of how she will protect her people at any cost.

“It was not even her beauty that captivated him, either, so much as her concern for her people, and the way she fished for wisdom rather than compliments. “If there is any hope she might love me, I cannot turn from her now.”

Theseus, Hero of Attica, son of Poseidon, King of Athens, is one of the few hundreds of men who turn up on Helen's birthday to look upon her beauty with his own eyes.

Though never was he looking for the love that he found.

Kind, respectful, and wise due to his years and experiences in battle serving the gods, Helen sees him as her answer to her prayers.

“Marry her, if you will. I will see you safely to Athens. But there will be a price that must be paid, and I can do nothing to stop it.”

However, Theseus has bad luck of his own, a history of pain and grief. A warning from the gods confirm his fears in going ahead with Helen, but he is as loyal to her as he is to Athena's city and he does what must be done, for her sake.

“Am I so fascinating?”

“Always,” he said. “You are sunlight after the storm, clear and bright, leading me home.”

After much planning and devising for the sake of peace, Helen is made into a queen, the Queen of Athens. Though warnings still stand, the frightful dreams becoming less and less frequent, she finds happiness like she never thought she would, with Theseus by her side. He is loving and supportive in everyway and their marriage is a good one.

Until the gods strike.

“He must find her. He must find. He must. Helen.”

Not once, but twice, Theseus finds himself trapped and deceived by the gods in this novel. They have taken so much from him, but deep in the Underworld he hears Helen's call, a tone of despair that he has never heard from her before while she was in his love and care . We are left wondering if they will ever see each other again.

“Perhaps Zeus was king, but I was Spartan, a princess twice over, and queen of Athens besides. I knew my duty. And I would rule my own fate.”

Not knowing whether Theseus will ever return, Helen is taken back to Sparta where she will face those who she once thought close to her. She is determined to stay faithful to Theseus but nothing is for sure.

“The dreams did not tie me to the future, but they gave me the opportunity to alter it. I saw it even in the small details that changed from nightmare to nightmare.”

Wow. This was fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.

Helen's character impressed me most. Her constant interest and effort in keeping things right whenever she felt she could, her bravery in the face of men, her bold and strong nature and her cleverness. As I have not read any more of Helen, all I can say is that this retelling of the myth portrays her in an admirable light. She suffers greatly for someone trying so hard, and lets not even mention Theseus...

But okay yeah we must...(I very much want to yes)

“Stay with me?”

His fingers wound into my hair, and his arm tightened around me. “Always.”

Theseus....can he be a book boyfriend? At 48?

I LOVE how this myth was twisted for this retelling. His history is explained in such a way that makes him out to be an honorable man which suited this plot. He was a gentleman in every way, treating not only Helen, but his people with humility and interest. A noble character in this novel, I felt for all that he had suffered at the hands of the gods he tried so hard to please. Like Helen, he is strong and he sees past her beauty, recognising a strength in her also. His loyalty in the end of the novel gets him into trouble.

“I cannot put my fate in their hands, Father. I cannot trust them.”

The gods. They were portrayed exactly how I always imagined they should have been, it took a while to get used to them in Percy Jackson. But here, they were powerful, unforgiving and very much active and a part of the story. I loved how real it seemed, how real the gods were at this time, it's something that grabbed me when I first glimpsed into Greek Mythology, and the way they were worshipped.

“I did not want to worship gods as cruel as this—gods cruel enough to rape my mother after she objected to being deceived, or willing to waste the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands of men in a useless war. I did not want to believe we could not be free.”

A brilliant book, well thought out and relevant to the period setting from food to clothes to locations, I was immediately transported back in time and it was a pleasure to read Helen's story.

“More than half a year he had waited, and now he took her by the wrist, leading her from the hall as her husband. Nothing else mattered but that.”