Hera is the Queen of the Olympians, wife of Zeus. Saint’s novel picks up her story after she and Zeus have defeated the Titans and established Mount Olympus. Hera is resentful of Zeus’s power and her declining influence and so sets out to undermine and defeat him.

To give context, I enjoyed Saint’s first novel, Ariadne. It felt original and clear in its scope. I thought the follow ups, Elektra and Atalanta, were okay but not as strong. So I’ll admit I went into this with skepticism based on my past experiences of being a bit underwhelmed.

Unfortunately, Hera just didn’t click for me. I think the main problem was there were just so many characters, and as a result, no one felt all that developed. The story is too busy outlining what is happening to really gain all that much emotional resonance.

In general, the storytelling felt episodic - more like a tick box exercise in the all the events in Hera’s life rather than focusing on key events that suited her emotional arc. It left the reading experience feeling disjointed, jumping from plot point to plot point so quickly without real introspection. I feel it would have benefited from covering less rather than spreading itself incredibly thin and trying to push everything in.

So sadly, I found this a slog to get through. I know it will definitely work for some – but overall I found it disappointing.

I've loved the Greek myths & legends since primary school.
I loved seeing Hera's side of the story - what a misogynist bunch those Greek gods were! Plus all the snippets of other Greek myths told from a different perspective.

What a beautiful mythology retelling!

Growing up. I had a fascination with Greek mythology, which over the years I have lost, so it was brilliant to revisit this.

The story follows Hera and how she essentially became the wife of Zeus and all that happened in between.

Hera is incredibly strong and resilient in this retelling and also quite fiery. She stands up for what she believes in.

I honestly forgot how strange the unions are between the gods and goddesses with sister marrying brothers and the likes, so it was good to remind myself of this too!

We see Zeus as this brooding individual, with power having seemingly gone to his head. They've gone from ruling equally amongst the god/goddesses after overthrowing the Titans to Zeus, taking the main power for himself. He actually sickened me at times with his behaviour.

This is an incredibly detailed story, and I absolutely loved it. It keeps the story close to the actual myths but develops the characters in such a way that they become deep and meaningful to the reader.

Fantastic book that I highly recommend!

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

Wow, this is just amazing
Invested from the first page - its a real turn pager
I didn't want it to end

This was good! A slightly fresh take on Hera, mother of the gods, and still a comforting read for fans of the genre.

Wonderful work by Jennifer Saint as per usual, always makes for a great read! Hera is such a big presence amongst the Gods but not someone often focused on, which made for a unique read.

The book is a great read if you are interested in Greek Mythology or just starting your reading into the subject. The book is written from the perspective of Hera, Zeus’s wife and Queen of the Gods. The story is unlike any others I have read for Greek Mythology. It gives a great alternative story to the well known stories of Zeus, Hercules or Poseidon which are all obviously male characters.
You are introduced to a lot of the lesser known female gods and titans and it takes you through Hera’s experiences with Zeus and her life following the battle with the Titans and to the creation of man. It’s a brilliant read and highly recommended for all you mythology lovers.

My knowledge of Greek mythology isn’t strong so I was interested to read Hera. I think my lack of knowledge meant I struggled to keep up with all the Gods, Goddesses, Titans and creatures and this detracted from the story for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Hera.

I really, really wanted to love this book. I will jump at anything written by Jennifer Saint, especially Greek mythology retellings.

But… I struggled. I couldn’t even make it to the end of the book. I think maybe it would be better suited to someone with extensive knowledge of mythology, because I just didn’t get it.

I always thought of Hera as powerful and headstrong. She’s Queen of the Gods, and is ironically the Goddess of Marriage whilst married to Zeus, known for his infidelity. I expected this book to characterise her as vengeful, fighting for what she deserved, but instead she was whiny and petty. I feel like so much can be done with feminist retellings but Hera and the other characters just fell flat for me.

I enjoyed the background story building, but half way through, it felt like nothing had happened, and it didn’t seem like anything was going to happen.

I might read up on Hera’s history a bit more and give the book another try, but for now, I remain disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc in return for an honest review!

I didn’t know anything about Hera before I picked up this book, but I wanted to get into Greek mythology and I believe this is a great start. I feel like but the end you really understood her, and I loved the ending of how Hera started to find her place in the world. For me I got a bit lost with all the introductions of the Olympian gods, and some parts did feel a bit repetitive. This might be a sign I need to do further reading on the subject. Overall a great book that kept me entertained for the majority, and keen to read more Jennifer Saint.

One of the most complex and misunderstood characters in Greek myths, Hera is a difficult person to try and empathise. We are shown how free Hera was before the Olympians were formed as a group. How her marriage with Zeus breaks her. But then we are also shown all the ridiculous acts of revenge she commits on innocent victims of Zeus. Saint really tries to explain these actions in a way to get the reader to understand Hera. she really tries, but it doesn’t hit as hard as I hoped it would be.
Hera, a victim herself of abuse has always been portrayed as a strong proud woman. An image she tries to protect, while glimpses of her vulnerability are shown they felt very minute.
I think this may be the weakest of Saint’s mythology retellings and I cannot tell whether it’s due to the subject of Hera or how much was trying to be crammed in (any myth where Hera is mentioned had to be included). I do think this could have been a great chance to have the Queen of the Gods be redeemed and revised but she still ultimately retains the image of a cold proud revenging goddess.

I love reading Greek Myths which have been retold, and I could not wait to get started on Hera.

The book was excellent at introducing different mythological characters (and there are a lot) and quickly fitting them into the bigger picture. I loved this and thought it would be an excellent start for anyone who wants to know more but hasn't studied/read much Greek Mythology.

In Saint's version, Hera is undermined by all the male Gods and she spends the book plotting and scheming to get her revenge. Having read many other books, Hera is always depicted as a vengeful character, so this was not unexpected, though the twist is that her spite is aimed at the gods rather than Zeus' victims, which is more usual.

Sadly, I didn't connect with Hera at all. I understand why she might have felt bitter, but I did not like her actions towards those in labour (especially) and found her rather sulky and truculent, spending lots of time absent from her 'court' to plot but making little progress on her final goal.

I did enjoy the weaving of different gods into the narrative and learning about their relationship to one another. I wanted more action and resolution at the end - I did not feel like Hera won anything at all. 3 and a half stars from me for this one!

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I’m looking forward to reading more.
I’ve recently read the Percy Jackson series and I found this interesting seeing the gods from a different light. I found the historical side of it really informative and enjoyed working out which God was which. It was a great fictional take on the history of the Gods and I didn’t want to put it down. Ultimately a story of self discovery which I loved of a strong female character.

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.