“Who is to say that prayers have any effect? On the other hand, who is to say they don’t?”

I think this quote perfectly encapsulates, for me, the notion that the myths that have been passed down for thousands of years are, after all, just some of the versions that survived (in a world very much dominated by men, coincidentally, but I digress), and so, who is to say that penelope wasn't super clever and that the 12 maids weren't innocent, or at least just trying to survive (and not evil) in a life very much designed to hurt them?

“I bit my tongue. It’s a wonder I had any tongue left, so frequently had I bitten it over the years.”

I cannot understate how bad this was... genuinely still baffled at how this book managed to completely destroy all the characters, plot, history, credentials, you name it that the previous books had built (especially the first 3 ofc)

the writing was so choppy and downright incoherent?? there was literally no cohesion between sentences and sporadic use of quotation marks/italics/flashbacks/inner monologue/incongruent switch in pov mid-paragraph made this such an unnecessarily terrible read like what

the characters are not even shells of themselves... they all behaved in ways that the protagonists I know and love would have never... can't even say it was personal growth when it literally comes out of the blue and for no reason. just to name an example: lisbeth who is super methodical and antisocial and extremely clever and hates figures of authority starts dating a cop (a cop??!!) and takes the cop to a party at the club ran by the motorcycle gang that has has been out to get her for years, for literally no fucking reason whatsoever??? and then mikael does absolutely nothing the whole book... no investigating, no writing an article, not even actively looking for his kidnapped grandson ?????

won't even talk about the plot because there's just no plot and also no stakes and just ughhh I'm fuming I need to calm down