BOOK REVIEW: For The Most Beautiful by Emily Hauser

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Three thousand years ago a war took place that gave birth to legends - to Achilles, the greatest of the Greeks, and Hector, prince of Troy. It was a war that shook the very foundations of the world. But what if there was more to this epic conflict? What if there was another, hidden tale of the Trojan War? Now is the time for the women of Troy to tell their story. The story of Krisayis, daughter of the Trojans' High Priest, and of Briseis, princess of Pedasus, who fight to determine the fate of a city and its people in this ancient time of mischievous gods and mythic heroes. 

I'll admit it: I am totally obsessed with Greek mythology and all of the Greek gods. Maybe it's the ruthlessness or all the death or all the obsession with sex or I don't even know, but I love stories that feature them. I actually thought this book was more about Helen of Troy because that's basically how the Trojan War started. But this story was really about the women behind some of the men fighting in the war. This story was inspired by Homer's Iliad and the author wrote about a few of the female minor characters in that poem and how their actions affected the war. And I had no idea until Started reading that the gods would play such a prominent role in the story. That was a pleasant surprise.

There were two POVs and it did take me a bit to figure out which woman was which. There is Krisayis, who is daughter of Trojans' High Priest. She is in love with once of the princes, but since she is just a priest's daughter, she doesn't stand a very high chance of getting approval to marry him. Also, her father is insistent that she become a priestess when she turns sixteen. Then there is Briseis, the wife of Mynes. Because of a prophecy by the gods at her birth, it took her a long time to find a man willing to marry her and then she falls in love with the prince. I loved both of these women. They were so feisty, especially for the time period, and they both were so determined to fight for their city. Sexism played a huge role in this story, as you would expect, and I loved that neither of these women were content to just sit around and wait for stuff to happen. They fought for their city and their friends and the men that they loved. Of course, the men underestimated them and I loved it when they fought back.

In addition to the two women, there were chapters that talked about what the gods were up to and what they were planning. The gods knew who exactly was going to win the war (destiny and all that), but it didn't stop some of the gods from helping their favorites and interfering when they could. They knew who was going to live and who was going to die. I found it so amusing that the gods basically treated the humans like their little playthings. Because this involved Greek gods and the Trojan war, we kind of know how some things will turn out and we definitely know that people will die and there will be tragedy all over the place. And this author did not shy away from the death, so that makes me love her. I know, I know: I love it when people in books die. I'm evil.

This book was so exciting and well written. The characters and the plot were so on point. The best thing is that the author is coming out with another book based on more Greek mythology and I CANNOT WAIT!! I need more from this author! 

Buy/Borrow/Skip: Buy this one!