BrokenTune

Damn.

Cassandra took in jagged breaths, desperate to remain calm. She closed her eyes and then opened them again in the present, to see her mother, her sister, her sister-in-law, all sitting beside her on the rocks, just as they had been before she followed her mother to Thrace. But then the scene began to play out from the beginning once more. It was no less horrifying to see it again. More so, in fact, now she had seen so much of what was to come. But still, one detail was missing, right at the beginning when Hecabe first stepped onto Odysseus’ ship. She, Cassandra, was standing there on the sands of Troy, watching her mother leave. She could sense that Andromache had already gone. She could see other women – cousins and neighbours – heading off with different warriors to disparate kingdoms. She had accounted for all of them. All except one. Where was Polyxena? The answer came to her in a rush. And this time she could do nothing to prevent the sickness overwhelming her.

I mentioned before that this is in parts difficult to read. It's is no surprise that there is a lot of violence and bloodshed in this book, which are not something I read willingly. However, the story is told so well. I feel for Cassandra, she's guiding us through parts of the story, while we know that she's showing us what is to come, it increases the tragedy of the story and the characters when we see the other characters ignore Cassandra's warnings. 

I've always liked Cassandra in the myths/legends, and it is really good to see Haynes giving her such a meaningful part in this book.