"This wildness inside gives us our name. It was men who marked us so, in the time when language was but a shoot curling from the earth. Weyward, they called us, when we would not submit, would not bend to their will. But we learned to wear the name with pride." This story will stay with me for a long time. It was a beautifully written novel about the connections we have to the women that came before us. It explores our resilience through trauma at the hands of men and how that trauma has evolved through the generations. I will admit that it was a bit heavy handed with this theme and was very dark at times, but the story was incredibly compelling and I could not put it down.

I always enjoy a greek myth retelling, and Ithaca by Claire North was no exception. It was an enjoyable read overall and an interesting point of view of the women, who are often overlooked in these stories. Having the novel narrated from the perspective of Hera was intriguing, and I loved her witty and candid voice. I liked that we got an additional exporlation of the other goddesses, and their relationship to the mortals and eachother. I did feel that at times having Hera as the narrator made the reader feel a bit disconnected from the characters. I found it challenging to get emotionally invested in their relationships, and I wished there was more depth and dimension. I was glad to have the Dramatis Personae to refer to, because many of the players blended together due to the lack of development. I had similar feelings about most of the suitors, as well as Priene, Semele, and the other women. There were just so many people to keep track of and many of them had no defining personality traits. Though the plot was slow at times, It did eventually pick up and I was satisfied with where the story concluded. Overall I enjoyed this novel, and I will certainly be picking up House of Odysseus to continue the story.

I really liked The Ritual so I had high hopes for The Sinner but it was terrible. Not a single character had any redeeming qualities and the "love" interest between Ellie and Sin made no sense. There was no tension whatsoever even though they were allegedly in love with eachother since childhood. I never actually felt like they wanted to be together beyond her "belonging" to him. That dynamic only worked in the first book because there was actual banter, tension, and interactions beyond the sex. Actually none of the relationships in this book had any substance including their friends and parents. Overall super disappointed and I'm glad I am finally done.