From the age of titans and the birth of the Olympians to the slow fading of belief, this is the one-stop connected book of all Greek Mythology. Told through the eyes of Hera, queen of the gods and reluctant wife to Zeus the Thunderer, Jennifer Saint manages to weave most of the major myths into a single epic as if she'd been taught to weave by Athena herself. I think Hera is quite overlooked when people think of the Greek Pantheon. Athena has war and wisdom, Aphrodite the goddess of love, and then there's Hera the goddess of marriage. Her tales of vengeance against Zeus' victims are well-known but you often forget that she's a daughter of Kronos and fought against the Titans! You get a real feel of her strength and simmering determination here and it's so refreshing to see that side of her. Then we get the labours of Heracles, Jason and the Argonauts, and the Trojan War, Typhon and Echidna and many more all against the backdrop of the feuding gods. I think the way this is achieved as a single story rather than the usual short story collection of myths and legends is a gripping take on things and frames each myth perfectly. I felt a real sense of sadness when the gods began to leave mount Olympus and fade away. If you read any Greek Mythology book, make it this one!

The driven young goddess sets out with so many ideals about creating a better life, after having been hidden away from her savage father and his followers. So at times, it was hard reading the steady erosion of those ideals as Hera’s powerbase – initially every bit as powerful as her brother, Zeus – is steadily chipped away by his ruthless machinations. While the Greek culture was a wonderful flowering of poetry, music, architecture and art – as their myths only too clearly demonstrate, women weren’t regarded highly. I sometimes wonder if the chauvinism hardbaked into our own culture didn’t originate from all those impressionable public schoolboys studying the Classics. Saint keeps the pace up, as Hera increasingly finds herself blocked. I liked the fact that Hera isn’t depicted as some helpless victim at any level. She’s an Olympian goddess with formidable power – and acts like it. We also see another side to the monsters Gaia nurtures, which I really appreciated. This could have so easily turned into an entirely bleak read. However, I love how Saint winds up the story, so that Hera’s experiences make her stronger and more flexible in the face of what befalls Olympus and all its inhabitants. If you’ve enjoyed other Greek myth retellings, then you’ll enjoy this one. In the meantime, I’ll be tracking down Saint’s other offerings – she’s an accomplished writer, whose vivid characterisation and descriptions held me throughout. Highly recommended. While I obtained an arc of Hera from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own. 9/10

Many thanks to the publishers for sending me a review copy. I absolutely loved this book. As a huge fan of mythology retellings, I was really excited and intrigued to see how Jennifer Saint would portray Hera and she captured her in all her forms - goddess of marriage and jilted wife, failed usurper and queen of the heavens. A wonderfully written story of finding power and love in unexpected places and the development of Hera from a young goddess freshly victorious to the queen she became. Her character development throughout was wonderful to see and the writing was beautiful. I'm still thinking about those last couple of lines. I found it really interesting how, in order to tell a story stretching eons, characters in which she has previously written whole books about are only fleeting mentions, just as mortal lives are for gods. I absolutely adored this, and can't wait to recommend it to any mythology fan after it hits the shelves in May.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for sending me an e-arc of this book in exchange for a review. Right now, writing this review, I’m honestly more than a little bit awestruck. As a fan of Greek mythology retellings, whose adored books by the author in the past, I had high expectations for this book; particularly as it promised the story of the Queen of the Gods. Yet this book didn’t just meet those expectations, it utterly obliterated them. How could anyone resist such a beautifully crafted, enchanting, powerful tale? First of all I should admit that my knowledge of Hera was nowhere near as good as it should have been going into this book. When I read in the blurb that she was Zeus’s sister I was stunned. I’d heard of some of her actions – such as those surrounding Heracles – but not all of them by any means. So some of this story was new to me, other aspects of it familiar but even if you’re well versed in the original Greek myths I still believe that this book will show Hera to you in a wholly different light. Universally she seems known for being a jealous wife but within these pages her motivations and emotions are so much more complex than that. Anyone whose familiar with recent releases within the genre will know how it tends to craft it’s women – and often it’s beloved heroes too – in a whole new light and this book captured those feelings and sentiments beautifully. From the very first page of ‘Hera’ I was riveted by this book. It dived straight into a vital moment in her immortal life and enchanted me instantly. Its writing was mesmerising and cast a spell on me within seconds (something that didn’t come as a surprise as I’ve fallen for the author’s prose in the past) and the story kept its hooks into me throughout. Seeing the worlds of the Gods and the mortals through Hera’s eyes was fascinating, as was discovering all that she’d achieved and endured and untangling the true motives behind her vengeful antics. All of the Gods, Titans and surrounding characters were depicted beautifully within this book. All felt true to what I’ve learnt of them in the past; all felt believable too which is a feat in itself when capturing the Gods on the page. Whilst lost within the pages of this book you all too easily forget the world around you, losing yourself fully to the world that its crafted. There are some beautiful tender moments scattered throughout which caught me utterly off guard and some really powerful, gorgeously depicted sentiments too. Throughout I was bewitched by this novel and could constantly consider it my favourite by the author yet the ending was somehow still on a whole other level. Oddly it was probably the least action filled segment of this book and yet it was simultaneously the most poignant and my favourite. Something about the writing and sentiments left me utterly spellbound. It had such strong and captivating emotional resonance within its end scenes and captured certain ideas tremendously that I truly hadn’t expected. I wasn’t truly sure what to expect from the book’s end but it certainly wasn’t this; something crafted so gorgeously that it haunts me and will play on my mind for weeks to come. Let’s be honest if you’ve read the rest of this review then it goes without saying that I recommend this book; whether you’re new to the genre or familiar with it ‘Hera’ is an absolute must read. It’s a beautifully crafted novel that left me utterly bewitched by its spell. It was pure pleasure to read and utterly impossible to tear my eyes away from. And not only is it my favourite novel by the author it’s also now probably my favourite Greek retelling to date. Needless to say I absolutely adored this book.

Jennifer Saint's newest release is a stunning feminist retelling of the life of Hera, mighty queen of the gods and the immortal goddess of marriage. In Hera, Saint gives a voice to a character who has forever been part of Greek myth but has often been passed over and left in the shadow of the other gods, and whose characterisation has historically been dwindled to that of a jealous, scorned wife. In this newest retelling, the author continues her mission in spotlighting women who have been neglected their entire lives and have had their ambitions disregarded. Saint's signature prose in this story is beautiful and I found myself re-reading lines over and over again to savour each word. Despite covering a vast timeline, the pacing remained consistent and kept me hooked. Hera is perfect for fans of Greek mythology and lovers of well-crafted feminist retellings. *Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an early copy in exchange for an honest review*