Hera: A Novel

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙨. 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙚. I don’t know a whole lot about Greek Mythology, really just the bare bones of it all, but coming into this one, I knew Hera has historically been seen as a bit of a villain, so I personally enjoyed this little peak behind that villain facade. This novel starts with the War of the Titans and brings us all the way beyond the Trojan War. We travel that expansive timeframe through the POV of Hera, and it truly felt like passing through time as a Goddess does. I thought the book definitely made Hera a more sympathetic character, but definitely not 100% justified in her actions…she is a god after all. 😝 I will say, as someone who isn’t totally familiar with the subject matter, it felt to me less of a “retelling” and more of a “telling from Hera’s POV”, which I could see turning off readers who are much more familiar with these stories than I am. But I definitely got sucked in, and loved getting the background on some of these mythological names I’ve only ever been partially familiar with. Audiobook notes: Ok, so I enjoyed the narrator’s voice, but to be honest, the pronunciation of character names had me questioning everything I thought I knew. (But I did a quick search on Goodreads, and it seems I was not the only one scratching their head about the pronunciation.) Thank you @macmillan.audio for providing me an ALC of this book. All opinions are my own. What this book is giving: ✅ Greek Mythology ✅ Power Struggles ✅ Woman Wronged ✅ She’s not jealous ✅ Hera’s POV

excellent narration and the story is written in the same informative sparce way the myths I grew up reading were while still having a "human" perspective that makes you feel the story.

"Sometimes the true power is in the shadows. Someone who stays out of the light, and watches others shrivel and burn in its glare." I have always been a fan of greek mythology. It peeked my curiosity in school, and as i got older, the stories still transported me. This is the story of the greek goddess of marriage, Hera. It was beautifully written with a rawness that grips you. I definitely i enjoyed this as much as the others.