Member Reviews
Really interesting read to find out more about God's and godesses as someone who only knew the basics, also good to hear about the less well known goddesses
After defeating the titans with her brother Zeus, Hera hopes to live in peace with her family on Mount Olympus. But then Zeus takes the throne for himself and creates little people on earth to worship him. Hera has no choice but to become his queen. Not an easy task as it turns out her husband is not very loyal either.
Hera is known as the queen of the Gods. And as the jealous and spiteful wife who takes revenge for her husband's adultery on the women he conquers. And now Hera gets to write her own story. It's the first time Jennifer Saint puts a God center stage. Hera appears in many different myths and has a lot of contact with other Gods: Athena, Aphrodite, Hestia, Poseidon, Dionysus, Artemis and Apollo…. They all appear in this novel. So a lot is covered.
But as with Atalanta, Saint couldn't quite grab me with Hera's story. I didn't feel her anger and frustration. Nor did I always understand her behaviour. In the myths, Hera is a very fierce character and here she remains rather in the background at times. Always with revenge on her mind, but never with a real wish to destroy the women or to turn on Zeus.
So despite the fact that I didn't really got into the story, the ending made up for a lot. That was very cleverly done. I believe I rather prefer a story about a ‘human’ where the Gods might take a role in the background, like in Ariadne or Elektra, but where I can identify a bit more with the main character.
I'm curious what will be the next myth Saint takes on.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I am a fan of Greek mythology and the retellings which have been published lately, so I was intrigued to read this one. The story of Hera cannot really be changed and she is who she is - a goddess who faces anger and humiliation at the constant betrayals of her husband, who never really faces any consequences because he is Zeus. The front cover is beautiful and would have caught my eye in a bookshop. Would recommend for lovers of mythology retellings.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC
4 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2024/05/30/hera-by-jennifer-saint/
My FIve Word TL:DR Review : Hera: Misunderstood or Jealously Vicious
I’ve loved all the Greek mythology retellings by Jennifer Saint and Hera is no exception, although ultimately, my overall feelings reading this book were frustration, anger and ultimately sadness. Hera’s tale is such a complicated one and the story portrayed here covers vast swathes of time. There’s a lot to take on board starting with the fall of the TItans, Zeus and Hera united in their battle to overthrow the monsters, then ranging to the Trojan war and beyond. And, throughout we have Hera, well known for her jealous rages and venting her fury on those that Zeus has thrust his passions upon, but here perhaps given a little more context.
Okay, I’m not in love with Hera, so there is that. She’s one of those women who takes out her anger on the other women that Zeus uses and abuses and being a powerful God her punishments are harsh. You can’t help thinking why not take her vengeance out on Zeus? Basically, in a nutshell, this story demonstrates that she didn’t have the power to confront Zeus. He thwarted her at every turn. He used her to help defeat the Titans, then he took the power of Olympus for himself. Hera he forced into an unwanted wedlock, trying to sweeten the deal by saying she would be his Queen, then he made her the Goddess of marriage, a role she didn’t seek out but one that held her within the constraints of her own wedlock whilst he roved the world, raping and having children with countless other women. Yeah, I pretty much wanted to punch him in the face almost every waking minute of the day. I’m not sure that level of anger is healthy but I have to hand it to Saint – she can inspire such passions!
Herein lies the conundrum. I would say that Hera is still not my favourite, but this story at least gives a little more context to her rage, her sadness, the way she was trapped, misunderstood by her sisters and rejected by her own children (although she was very frosty herself so didn’t really encourage loving embraces). It’s an intriguing tale and one that frequently makes you want to slap your head.
I loved the writing. Saint is brilliant at setting the scene. Everything flows so easily. No info dumps or over wieldy descriptions. You’re totally sucked into the place and the era but in such an easily accessible way and Hera is a good storyteller, unflinchingly honest.
Ultimately, my overall feelings reading this were sadness. Here we have an immortal, powerful and beautiful woman who is trapped by the machinations of an abusive and controlling male and unable to escape her gilded cage becomes petty and cruel. Yet, even with this feeling of sadness I would say this is a very good read and I would recommend all the retellings by this author.
A powerful look at the Greek Gods and their ultimate demise that ends with a slightly more hopeful note.
I would say that this book almost feels like the finale to the series, particularly given the ending, but I shall keep my feelers out in case there are more books planned.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
I have previously enjoyed Jennifer Saint's feminist Greek myth retellings, so I was very keen to read the latest story of the Queen of the Gods, Hera.
I did struggle a bit with this book though because Zeus and other gods commit sexual violence a LOT with no real consequences. Hera is mostly angry, thwarted and miserable, feeling humiliated that she is supposed to be the goddess of marriage but her own husband cannot keep his marriage vows. The storyline was true to the Greek myths, so couldn't really be changed to be more positive and feminist, but I did find a lot of it quite depressing!
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
The story:
Hera has fought Titans to claim the place of the Olympians as rulers of the world. She fought alongside Zeus as his sister and his equal. But Zeus has grown greedy for power, like his father Cronos and grandfather Ouranos before him. He has decided that he alone will rule, and Hera is forced to be content with the role he assigns her, as his wife and the goddess of marriage. But Hera is not content to play the role of dutiful wife — she knows she is a queen, and is determined to overthrow Zeus, whatever the cost.
My thoughts:
“Hera”, by Jennifer Saint is the latest in the author’s retelling of the Greek myths from the point of view of female protagonists, following “Ariadne”, “Elektra” and “Atalanta”. In this book she takes on the story of Hera, Queen of the gods of Olympus and wife of Zeus.
Hera is known as a jealous wife and unkind stepmother; but in this story we learn about her role in the downfall of the Titans, fighting alongside her brother Zeus. Following the overthrow of the Titans there are many years of peace. But for Zeus that is not enough; his greed for power drives him to become king of the heavens, consigning his brothers Poseidon and Hades to rule over the oceans and the underworld. His sisters also accept their places, with Hestia as goddess of the hearth, and Demeter of the crops and harvest. But for Hera there is no role at all, until Zeus shocks her with his desire to make her his wife. Hera acquiesces to Zeus’ wishes, but nurtures her desire to claim her rightful place as a true queen, subservient to no one.
Despite the way history has painted her, Hera is not a jealous wife; but every liaison Zeus has, every child that is born, has the potential to add to his strength, and so diminish Hera’s chances of overthrowing him. And there is the added insult that Zeus has made her the goddess of marriage — if she can’t set the example of a perfect wife, what sort of goddess is she? The fact that she never wanted the role in the first place doesn’t make it any less frustrating and insulting to her, and this is a paradox she herself recognises.
I loved this story, which took a goddess I’d never thought was very interesting — she doesn’t have the wisdom of Athena or the beauty of Aphrodite — but who, in the hands of the author, became a complex and nuanced character, and a fearsome and strong queen of the gods. The author paints a vivid picture of the world of the Olympians and the conflicts that Hera experiences in her desire to claim what is rightfully hers. For fans of Greek mythology, or anyone who enjoys strong female characters, this book is a must read!
Hera has often been portrayed as the jealous wife, nothing but a vindictive Queen rather than a Goddess in her own right. Jennifer Saint seeks to redress this, elevate her from the status of Zeus’s wife and show her for what she truly is; daughter of a Titan and a powerful being in her own right.
After overthrowing the Titans and embarking upon the age of the Olympians, Hera envisions a world where there is peace, where she and Zeus will rule together. Zeus has other ideas however and instead of offering a partnership, he bestows upon her the domain of marriage and childbirth, insisting she become his wife.
This is the first of Saint’s books about a Goddess rather than a mortal and I think it suffered slightly for that. It’s hard to empathise with Hera the same way and I struggled to feel a connection with her. There are moments when her humanity shone through; the scene with Zeus on the beach is particularly powerful and seeing her with Typhon gave us glimpses into a more compassionate and caring side. What I found hard to forgive or understand was her treatment of the women who bore sons with Zeus; it just seemed so petty and cruel to punish these women who most of the time were, quite frankly, rape victims.
To be fair to her, we can see that her journey was greatly influenced by the men in her life being incredibly toxic. Zeus treats her with such contempt and cruelty and her sons are no better so it’s hardly surprising she’s slightly bitter and twisted.
Its written beautifully though and even if Hera wasn’t the Goddess for me it’s still a captivating read.
Thank you netgally for this EARC
I listened and both read this book I really enjoyed it I find learning about the Greek gods interesting. The struggles of what Hera went through just to get back as Zeus. Jennifer’s story telling had me hooked and I wanted to know what was going to happen. Learning about what happens through Hera’s pov was interesting as it showed a new light on what happens as well as how the women were treated.
Hera was born to be great and when she has played a pivotal role in the destruction of Cronos she expects an important role amongst the gods of Olympus. Instead Zeus forces her to marry him and makes her the goddess of marriage. Her husband is not faithful and Hera finds her own children pushed aside in favour of Zeus' other children and resentment starts to grow. Despite supporting revolts and working against her fellow gods, Hera still fights for Olympus.
What a delight, a new Jennifer Saint book. I am such a fan of her writing, feminist retellings of ancient myths but in an accessible and entertaining voice. Here there is a certain degree of pathos and modern sensibility as various tales are woven together leading to the downfall of the gods but it is a wonderful journey with a strong heroine.
I have read and loved everything by Saint (except Elektra - she's still on my shelf!) so jumped at the chance to read this early.
Hera is a goddess in her own right, daughter of Rhea and Cronus, sister of Zeus, so surely she should have equal rights and power amongst the Titans? Yet she finds she is expected to follow the will of the gods amongst her and accept that she is to wed her brother and bear him children. Hera sees it all, seethes with anger and finds herself running towards peace; but she returns, there is no escape and her story is one of how she copes with that loss of power, how she claws it back for herself whenever she can.
I enjoyed this one very much. Hera is a goddess I knew little of, always in the shadow of her brother/husband Zeus but I loved how Saint brings her back into the foreground. I read Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes this month too and they are very different stories in that Hera tells a story of one woman, Stone Blind tells many. Hera feels like a feminist tale of one goddess, suffering under the restraints of the whims of the gods, whereas Stone Blind seems to ridicule those gods, who seem capricious and petty, whiny and ridiculous. I enjoyed both takes on the greek myths and feel there is a place for all kinds of writing on the mythology.
A very well written, wonderful mythological retelling of the goddess, Hera.
I have to admit that it did take me quite a while to get into, and I thought I wouldn't finish it at one point, because there was just so much information and so many names with very little storyline.
I'm glad I stuck with it though.
Hera is a very interesting take on Hera and her story but in my opinion it's not on par with Ariadne as it really struggled to hold my interest at times. I found the book to be quite slow and a little repetitive in places also.
Jennifer Saint is a very talented writer but this one missed for me but I do look forward to reading more of her work.
What do you picture when you think of Hera? Zeus’ willing and loving wife? A vengeful queen? Jennifer Saint is about to open Hera up and give you a much rounder perspective of the Queen of the Gods.
Firstly this book gives you such a great history of the gods and how they came to be.
Admittedly I actually didn’t know much about Hera at all - I think I literally just pictured the Hera from the Disney film Hercules 😂🙈and that was it.
I felt like this account really broke down the character of Hera and the motivations behind who she was and why she became the way she was. I think a lot of women can understand what motivated a lot of her decisions - right or wrong.
I thoroughly enjoyed the start to finish history of the Olympians as this is not something I had fully immersed myself in previously so to get a background in this was really helpful along with the family tree at the start. All very incestuous as you can imagine.
I would say that if you are unfamiliar with Greek Mythology that whilst this is a fantastic book to start with for the break down of the origins of each God/Goddess there is sadly a several scenes/indications that may be triggering on account of Sexual Assault and Rape.
As I said initially I read the physical book alongside the audio of this book and really enjoyed both. The narration is great and with great cadence- I read quite fast in comparison to the audiobook standard (apparently)so had it on x2 speed in order to match my reading speed and found it to still be perfect.
Definitely a book for Greek Mythology lovers.
I didn't really know what to expect when going into this book beyond the fact that it was a Greek mythology retelling. I expected it to be fairly heavy and difficult to digest. I have never been more wrong.
This is a powerful story of female rage, a complex feeling of duty and of a changing world. Hera is always depicted as rather unlikeable - jealous, spiteful and vengeful - so this retelling works wonderfully at providing context and motive for her behaviour.
For a story about a goddess, this book makes Hera so much more human. It beautifully depicts her struggles and why she was driven to desperate measures by the cruelty of her husband and other gods. It isn't about redemption, but it offers a lot of understanding, showing that there is always more to the stories you think you know.
The book is also beautifully written, providing great levels of information without leaving you lost. You still get the benefit of a wonderfully rich and detailed world but it is digestible, so I feel this would be a suitable book even for those who don't know much about the Greek Pantheon.
This has inspired me to read more of Jennifer Saint's work as I couldn't put it down.
Thank you NetGalley and Headline for the advance copy.
As a blended lover of Greek mythology and have great interest towards the movement to re contextualise the women of in mythology altogether . I knew I was going to dive into Jennifer Saint's Hera, having already completed Atalanta. Hera, from the get go, a truly complex figure to carve out, especially from the immediate predisposition you have about her character. Saint's flow of language is a smooth,graceful and fluid. But the voice of Hera, (got a bit winy ) but alas when was she ever going to win against her rat of a husband. . I understand we aren't connect with Hera as a figure ( she is high and might and above humans). Sometimes that characterisation was lost in the character her self , which was a bit of shame.
However, because Saint was almost restricted to re-telling stories of old in such a strict way, it felt sometimes the input into Hera's character was flat because she was being used a purposeful work around to allow the voice of the author. I don;t know if I learnt more about the character I didn't already know about. Sometimes events weren't being fleshed out in challenging ways. only worked around in ways I came to expect. I wasn't expecting adventure, however, as a goddess with a modicum of power, I was looking for maybe more cunning?
Overall rating is : 3/5
This was the first book by Jennifer Saint that I have read. I was interested in it because of the Greek mythology. It is a subject area that I want to investigate further. I thought this was an engaging read that I thoroughly enjoyed.
3.75/5
I enjoyed this! I’ve enjoyed every Jennifer Saint book I’ve read and think she’s an auto-author for me now. I loved this retelling and the female rage vibes. The pacing was good until around the last quarter when I felt it started to feel a bit rushed unfortunately.
I received this book on netgalley by the publishers and I loved it! I’ve always loved greek mythology but I’ve never read a book that focused on Hera and this book did not disappoint. We learnt why she hated demigods as the centuries went on and why she acted the way she did! I highly recommend this book to everyone, and I definitely recommend the author’s other work!
This book starts with a gripping prologue of when the cruel rule of the Titans is over.
The new rule of the Olympians begin. With it comes the promise of the “new” and progressive times ahead.
However, as Hera soon discovers, nothing much changes under the Olympian rule.
Many years ago she was promised an equal rule by her brother Zeus, when it was just the two of them. They were plotting to overthrow their father, Titan Cronus, while they were hiding in Crete.
Now, this promise is shattered, as Zeus declares himself the god of the heavens, putting Poseidon as the god of the seas, and Hades as the god of the underworld.
And what’s in store for her? She’s to become Zeus’s wife (immediately I’m thinking of incest!) and he assigns her the role of the goddess of marriage, a task she loathes and resents.
Years pass and Hera bears Zeus children, however, he carries on having children out of wedlock, and favouring them over his own brood.
However, Hera is a powerful goddess, a strong woman, who will stand against the test of time.
I am an avid fan of Jennifer Saint’s novels and she is becoming one of my favourite writers of historical fiction.
This book didn’t disappoint!
I loved Hera’s transformation from the revengeful goddess to the petty one, where she was obsessing over Zeus’s extra marital affairs and children.
I enjoyed her link to the underground “monsters” like Typhon and Ekhidna.
Most of all, I adored how Hera came to peace with herself and wanted to change with the times, something that Zeus refused to do. This shows the real strength and determination.
Do I recommend this book? For sure!
Thanks to Wildfire books for approving my NetGalley request to read and review this title.
Hera.
Wife of Zeus.
Jealous wife of Zeus.
Jealous and vindictive wife of Zeus.
Those are the words ordinarily associated with the Queen of the Olympian Gods.
Once again, Jennifer Saint has produced a gorgeous book reimagining Hera and bringing her completely to life. As I've come to expect from JS, it's beautifully written but her characterisation of Hera in particular is outstanding - it's visceral, raw, emotive - bringing a complexity of feelings I genuinely didn't expect.
Various myths are masterfully woven into the story but naturally, from Hera's viewpoint and without overshadowing /overtaking her tale. She brings to life the other gods and heroes in a way that makes them almost tangible.
This, for me, is the best of JS books so far. The ending was unexpected and perfect, and will stay with me as I go off to offer a dedication to this greatest of Olympians.