Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for letting me listen to an ALC of Hera by Jennifer Saint! This book releases on August 13, 2024, so there’s time to reserve a hold through your local library or preorder your own copy through your favorite indie bookseller. As all of Saint’s Greek retellings, this is a standalone novel, so there’s no need to read her backlist before getting your hands on this one! (Though you might want to read her other retellings after this one, just saying.)

Saint paints a picture of Hera that is multifaceted. She is the wife and sister of Zeus (ruler of Olympus); the goddess of marriage, women, and family; and a person who vacillates between beautiful and generous, and terrible and fearsome. Hera is certainly not a goddess you want on your bad side or someone you want to catch you sleeping with her husband (even if he’s in a mortal disguise). This book takes us from the fall of the Titan gods, through the rise of the Olympians, and even further beyond - when the gods have to admit they remain relevant because of their human worshippers. Readers witness Hera at some of her best moments and at many of her worst moments in fits of jealousy and revenge. Though the novel is rife with an angry and bitter Hera, Saint lends nuance to this image of a woman scorned and mistreated. In Greek mythology, it’s no surprise that the goddess of marriage would land in a thoroughly unhappy one, herself. After enduring abuse and manipulation by Zeus, she takes it upon herself to extract revenge any opportunity she can. And honestly, I love her for that (she’s so real).

The narrator, Naomi Frederick, does a fantastic job at bringing Hera’s internal musings to life. Her voice and cadence are soothing and match the lyrical tone of the text, though it was challenging at some points to understand her pronunciations of certain deities and places (Athena, Prometheus, Demeter, etc.). I picked up on them fairly quickly, but it did take me a few minutes each time to figure out who or what she was referencing at each occurrence. This is a fantastic read for those who love stories about powerful women and/or Greek mythology and mythological retellings!