I’ve really been enjoying Greek retellings in recent years and Jennifer Saint is always reliable for an interesting take on women in Greek mythology. I didn’t know too much about Hera before going into this other than she is often portrayed as the jealous female seeking revenge on women for Zeus’ actions. So I was very intrigued to see how this could be spun in a likeable/understanding light. I think Saint does a good job of rationalising Heras somewhat questionable actions and linking all the stories into a readable plot and story. Overall an enjoyed Greek retelling and I look forward to reading whatever Jennifer Saint publishes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an e-arc for a review!

After finishing this book I knew I had to sit with it for a while before I could figure out how to express my love for it and organise my thoughts.

It was such a beautifully crafted examination of a complicated female character, forced into a life she didn’t want and determined to never be beaten by her circumstances. Going into this I was intrigued as I am for any Greek Mythology retelling but ever so slightly apprehensive due to knowing how Hera is typically represented, but I should not have doubted Saint’s ability to create such a compelling character. Hera is so much more than the jealous wife, indiscriminately punishing women who have already been hurt by Zeus, as she is almost always depicted. She is a powerful individual whose life is undoubtedly impacted by the actions of the men around her but this book serves to highlight her agency and willpower to control and shape her own life and story. Hera is not a moral paragon by any means but you are constantly rooting for her to succeed in gaining her freedom and Saint masterfully makes her feel incredibly real.
The gods are complicated and messy but they are incredibly powerful stories to be utilised to help us understand ourselves and Hera is a perfect example of that. Despite following an immortal, divine character, the final part of this book really felt like a love letter to humans and the power we have to grow and change.

This may be my favourite Greek Myth retelling to date and I 100% recommend picking this up when it is released! (I will be buying a copy for myself and it will be annotated until it is almost unreadable)

Loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it!! What a story! There was so much information this book gave us about the full story! Heras story and I lapped every bit of it up! This is not me being rude but I found it to be a very simple retelling and it was perfection! The story has actually stayed in my mind. Sometimes when you are overloaded with facts, your brain forgets! This is the best book in her Greek mythology series so far!

I'm a big greek mythology fan and I find Hera absolutely fascinating so when I heard about this book I was really excited for it! I think that Hera especially is one of the goddesses that has so much you can delve into. Her relationship with Zeus, her jealousy, her revenge, the fact that she was called the protector of women.

Overall, however, I felt like this book fell flat when it came to the characterization. I could see what Jennifer was trying to do but for me it just didn't work. I thought that the characters were under-developed with Hera being boiled down to a vindictive unlikeable goddess. I felt like her story lacked nuance. She had been through trauma and is very obviously a strong person but her character ended up feeling a bit like a caricature. The great thing about Greek Mythology is that you can really expand on the stories and add your own details to give life to them - because there are already conflicting versions of each story - but this book seems to just tell us facts and doesn't really weave them into a narrative. It's very "Hera did this, that didn't work. Then Hera did this, and that didn't work either." It tried to shove everything in and I feel in the process I lost out on the chance to connect with Hera or any of the other characters. And the thing is, I know that the gods and goddesses are problematic, we're not supposed to think they're good people - But I just didn't find any depth in the characterization meaning that they were all just a bit whiny. I know we're not supposed to find them relatable but I didn't have any feelings at all towards them except annoyance.
It all felt impersonal, it sorta felt like I was being given the rapid fire info about Hera's mythology. I think the ending would've paid off a lot more and made me more emotional if I'd been given the chance to connect more with her. I did like the ending though, I thought it was a nice finish to her story.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to review!

After having loved Jennifer Saint's earlier novels, I'm starting to think that she's maybe rushing the books?
I felt like the characters didn't really come to life, they lacked a more personal interpretation, which is needed in such a retelling in my opinion. With this novel, I felt like I was reading a dramaticised version of events, instead of a modern novel, and that made it a little dry. I'm sure loads of people will still love this, but it's not my style unfortunately!

I devoured this! I just LOVE Jennifer Saint and everytime she brings a new book out, I can't request it fast enough!
This feminist retelling follows Hera, Goddess of Marriage and Wives, Wife of Zeus and Queen of the God's. Having only learnt about Hera from Greek plays, short stories or the odd non fiction book by Stephen Fry, I went into this book with a negative view of Hera. She has always been portrayed to be nothing but a jealous wife obsessed with power and having Zeus under her control.
And yet with every retelling that Saint writes, we consider a different point of view that actually would make a lot more sense and doesn't demonise women in the way that most Myths do. In this novel, Hera is a goddess yes, but a woman all the same, with feelings and emotions. I wouldn't say the book flows naturally. Greek Mythology is made of many different stories with many time lapses between them so at times, I felt as though the book was slightly disjointed and could be seen as going through the motions to include each tale Hera was prevalent in. HOWEVER!!! There is no other way it could have been done and actually what it gives us is a view to how Hera may have dealt with and felt about each of the famous events. We see her love, her hate, her flaws, her strengths. We see a woman and I really enjoyed it. Thank you netgalley and wildfire!

Hera is staggering.
I devoured this book in one feverish sitting and, about halfway through, I looked up - dazed, confused, to find the real world looking back at me rather than the decidedly real world I was holding in my hands - and realised that I absolutely believed in this book. I believed every single word. As far as I was concerned, it had all happened - this was Hera’s story, this was how it went.

Jennifer Saint has totally reframed the narrative we thought we knew about Hera into *her* story, and it just ..make sense. I feel like everything - all the snippets we have about Hera, her behaviour, her lineage, her life before Olympus and her complex relationship with Zeus - has been woven back together and explained. I am, quite honestly, never going to look at Hera in the same way again (and for all the best reasons).

Saint’s writing is always beautiful, we all know this. Her descriptions of Olympus and the mortal world, mortal palaces, are breathtaking. They’re real. But, most importantly, so are the gods.

Zeus’ voice is 100% Zeus. Hephaestus is Hephaestus. Athena is precisely as we expect her to be. Every single one of the multifaceted, extraordinarily complicated gods is absolutely and completely themselves - and none more than Hera. Saint’s writing is pure magic.

There is so much to love about this book it’s impossible to fit it all in, but there are several conclusions drawn towards the end of the story that are just…staggering. and I can’t say what they are - you’ll have to find out for yourselves - but Athena’s conclusion has left my mind reeling even still (iykyk).

Saint has done something here - with this conclusion, with Hera’s voice, with everything - which is beyond anything I have ever read. This book is truly remarkable, from beginning to end (though the end will absolutely leave you speechless) and I really, really don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say it is one of the best, most genuine and evocative, mythology retellings out there.

When the immortal goddess Hera and her brother Zeus overthrow their tyrannical father, she dreams of ruling at his side. But as they establish their reign on Mount Olympus, Hera begins to see that Zeus is just as ruthless and cruel as the father they betrayed.
Jennifer Saint's gorgeous retelling of Greek mythology is continued through Hera, twisting her complicated story into an adventurous battle against patriarchy. Helping Zeus overthrow their father, Hera struggles to accept her fate as she goes from a partner in war to a vengeful wife and secret enemy to Olympians. The story takes the stereotype of Hera, goddess of marriage and a one-dimensional villan, to show a fearless leader driven by loss and suffering. As always, Saint's writing style, character development, and storyline were all beautifully created and teaches the reader who Hera really was.

⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Jennifer Saint and Headline Wildfire for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Hera' by Jennifer Saint.

Jennifer Saint is back and better than ever. 'Hera' follows one of the most convoluted but beautiful Greek goddesses ever and as always, I love the way Saint adds her own touch to decades old stories and adds a sense of humanity. Each person in this novel had dimension and beauty and as always I fell in love. Saint is the actual god of Greek myth retellings and I love her for it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in return for a review!

Now before going into this my knowledge of Hera wasn't great, but I am a fan of mythical retellings and was so excited and when I tell you this blew my expectations out of the water!

From the very first page to the end I was gripped by this story. The writing was beautiful and having Hera as the character showing us her view of the Gods and Mortals felt to me like I felt when reading Circe by Madeline Miller (so as to say, I could not tear my eyes from the page with how interesting I found Hera).

Truly one to recommend to fans of mythical retellings, especially those who have loved Jennifer Saint's books before!

Jennifer Saint never fails to disappoint. I love her writing style and the way she re-tells these stories. Would recommend highly.

‘She will be his wife, the Queen of Heaven, and she will use every resource she has at her disposal to bring him down’

Wow. I finally read one of Jennifer Saint’s books! I’ve been meaning to read her work for AGES because I love Greek mythology and mythological retellings. This was also a chance for me to cross something off of my aspirational reads list and I was so so so incredibly excited when I got approved for Hera 👸 - and it did not disappoint!

I loved her writing style! The way this book was written really had me enraptured and the story just flowed so well that I found myself not being able to put this down! I think Saint did an excellent job at portraying Hera’s story from Hera’s perspective, which is one I haven’t read before, and giving her a voice when usually her story is narrated by someone else who sees her as an antagonist. And this retelling did show her as an antagonist, but it did a great job or portraying her as nuanced and more dimensional, not just bad. Some of my favourite parts were when Saint showed us how Hera saw the monsters as beautiful, and that the real monsters were the Olympians. I also really enjoyed the sisterhood between her and Hestia. This book was entertaining from start to finish, and I really enjoyed the ending and Hera’s arc! This was a super fun and fast read and I will definitely be checking out all of her other stuff (bumping them up my TBR as I write this👀).

4/5⭐️

Thank you to @headlinebooks and @netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this eARC in return for a fair and honest review🤍

This book will be published in the UK on 23 May 2024.

P. S. Zeus will always and forever be the real antagonist.

Jennifer Saint never disappoints. Up there with Madeline Miller, she has the expert ability to take a tale as old as time and craft it into something wholly new. In Hera, the first of Saint’s novels with a Greek goddess at the centre (rather than a heroine), the opulence and divinity of Mt. Olympus really shines through. I adore the recent wave in historical fiction of giving voice to female characters in classic myths that were continuously sidelined and silenced, and Saint’s Hera is a paragon of this.

Hera is usually portrayed as the vindictively jealous wife and wicked step-mother, and not much else. In Saint’s iteration, she can be those things, but she is so much more. She is complex, nuanced, fleshed out, simultaneously otherworldly but also - and she’d hate me for thinking this - very human at her core. At times, she is extremely unlikable and frustrating to read about, but that just makes it work so well. Saint does not shy away from this side of her, does not try to paint her as perfect.

This is my favourite so far of Saint’s work, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Thank you to Headline and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. All opinions are my own.

A very satisfying read about a goddess I knew little about - the story of a woman whose life didn’t go according to plan, but found her own way.

I've always loved mythology and jumped at the chance to read a collection entirely about Hera, who seems often sidelined and one note considering her station in the pantheon of gods and goddesses. Maybe because I have read and enjoyed the author's previous work I feel a bit more critical of this one and at times wondered what the goal was. I didn't feel it brought enough variance in perspective to give Hera a true retelling. Overall Hera is a good book and full of great stories if a reader is someone who is not familiar with these legendary tales. Yet there could have been much more and that waste of potential is what left me with some measure of disappointment.

After reading Ariadne, I quickly became obsessed with Jennifer Saint and have been lucky enough to receive EARCs for each of her subsequent novels (thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!).

I’ll admit, I was equally excited and worried going into this one. Of all of the legends of Hellenism, Hera is arguably one of, if not the single, most challenging to recreate and bring to life in the nuanced ways that I have grown to love Saint’s writing for.

However, I truly believe that this one is quite possibly the best book she has written yet. It’s an incredibly deep, insightful and well-considered exploration of Hera in a way that I’ve seen so rarely done. Rather than portraying her as simply the wronged and vengeful wife of Zeus, the many layers of complexity are unravelled in a way that drew sympathy in spite of some of her questionable actions. The pacing is excellent and I was absolutely hooked, and found myself really upset to finish it.

If you enjoy Greek mythology and retellings, and especially if you have read and enjoyed anything by this author in the past, this isn’t one to miss.

Jennifer Saint is my favourite author and her beautiful writing continues in Hera. It's much different to her other books, I had a feeling it would be. Hera's story in greek mythology isn't an epic tale that has a clear plot direction, her story is sparodic as she's often the antagonist in many greek myths, simply there to punish Zeus's conquests before the tale continues to follow Zeus's offspring. She has no big story of her own, she is simply Zeus's bitter wife. Honestly, I never liked her. She punished the women Zeus cheats on her with when I think the anger should be aimed at him, especially as many of these women don't have a choice.

But Saints new book shows Hera in a new light. She is the strong and independent goddess who helps to destroy the titans, only to be excluded from the division of the realms. After Zeus forces himself on her, she feels utterly powerless so she tries to reclaim her power by agreeing to be his queen... But she makes the mistake of assuming that marriage ties him to her as it does her to him. She finds out the hard way that this is not the case and begins secretly plotting his downfall.

I haven't felt sympathy for Hera before now, she's a goddess and yet powerless when in the face of Zeus and his thunderbolt, trapped by her marriage vows and dombed to watch her husband cheat while giving Olympian thrones to his children by other women. Her only way to punish Zeus is through the women he sleeps with... Though I still don't think it's fair that she does so. It's not like any of them could have stopped him if they'd wanted to. But this book does a wonderful job of explaining Hera's thinking and I feel like, while I still don't agree with her, I understand her and I do feel sympathy for her now too.

The book begins quite slowly, jumping quickly from myth to myth from Hera's point of view and it quickly becomes clear that the more her punishments for Zues fail, the more bitter she becomes. However, over the eons was Hera grows from a bitter scheming wife into so much more than that! I really liked her by the end of the book and I was tearing up at the ending. It was also very satisfying to see Zues's ending too. No spoilers from me beyond that!

I love the way Jennifer Saint paints a picture of the Greek myths and as long as she continues to retell them, I will continue to read and recommend them. I have posted the review on Goodreads and will post on Instagram in the next week or two also

Definitely a worthwhile read. I have been searching for a good Hera retelling, to examine her psyche through another lens and this book does just that. It's a seamless and enticing narrative, as can be expected from Jennifer Saint. I do have 2 bones to pick though: I found the passage of time a little bit jarring, but given that deities' conception of time functions on a different scale, I understand it; and I thought Hera's rush for reconciliation following the Battle of Troy to be a little idealistic and forced. The previous ~75% of the book has been about Hera's subdued wrath towards her Olympian family and now that mortals can't entertain her that calls for forgiveness? It just seems a bit out of character, and it would have been worthwhile if those emotions had been given some more attention. But overall, enjoyed it and am looking forward to who else Jennifer Saint brings back to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tinder Press and Wildfire Books for this ARC.

An incredibly well written Greek story following Hera through the years - Jennifer Saint did an amazing job of cohesively linking so many gods stories together in a very understandable and gripping read.
It was also interesting to follow a character like Hera who isn’t inherently ‘likeable’ but you can sympathise with her even if you question her bold and rash decisions. This story really pulled me in so many directions as to who to side with or invest myself in! I found it so hard to put this one down and will definitely be going on to read more by Jennifer Saint!

I loved this book, it really made me realise that thought out most narratives that I’ve heard and been taught Hera is depicted as spiteful, manipulative and hateful. She is all of these thing but this book really shows that she is also her own person and a victim. It doesn’t excuse the things she’s done. But she is as much a victim as those she hurt.

I found the book a bit slow in the middle. But it is worth it. I loved the end and how it was all wrapped up. It was lovely to see.

This is actually my first time reading one of Saint’s books (even though I own most) and I loved it. Will definitely be reading the ones I have.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for the chance to read this eARC.

3.75/5 stars