I haven't seen this book talked about super frequently, but I was excited to find a retelling focused on Hephaestus. He is a complicated figure in mythology that I have conflicting feelings about, but his portrayal in media is often brief, problematic, or both. 

I love that the gods are portrayed as deeply flawed and incredibly difficult to like in this novel. I think it's always fun when retellings play with the fact the gods were capricious in nature and mortals subject to their whims in the original myths. 

The story includes everything from the creation of mortals (and the Pandora ordeal) to Medea and Jason and the Trojan War. It's interesting to see these events from Hephaestus's perspective, and I love that he is made to be sympathetic at times without negating from the fact he is also a god: less capricious that Zeus, but also problematic in his own way.