Enjoyed this very much, Hera's anger and frustration really comes across well, but I did wonder why she insisted on punishing the victims of Zeus, rather than him. If she wanted allies, she'd have found them there. I liked the way she mellowed towards the end, while Zeus got what he deserved - I wouldn't want to worship those gods!

I loved this book! I have always really struggled with Greek myth retelling as but this was fantastic. I loved it!

5 ⭐️

I had high expectations for this book and I was not disappointed!!
Hera is such an overlooked goddess in Greek/Roman myths. Always portrayed as a vengeful and jealous wife of Zeus…
This shines new light on to her story… hey pain, her sacrifice and he femininity.
I loved this version of Hera - equal in every way to her husband and brother Zeus.
Queen in her own right.

A wonderfully written retelling of Hera and how she came to be the wife of Zeus and Goddess of marriage. There are a lot more myths intertwined in the novel so that at times it’s more like the story of Olympia, and is a lot of information in a fairly short book. That does take away a little from getting to know and connect with Hera, I’ve enjoyed the character building more in Jennifer Saints other retellings. But Hera’s story is so much bigger it’s probably not fair to compare them. Overall, although not my favourite retelling, it’s really worth the read and I’ll certainly buy a copy for my shelf.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the author for the advanced copy

Renowned as a formidable queen, Hera is breathed to life in this retelling by Jennifer Saint. Hera helps break the vile and terribly violent Titan rule of her father Cronos, alongside her siblings and dares to dream that the new Olympian rule will be much more fair. Yet, it soon becomes clear that Zeus has inherited mean and cruel streak and takes his pleasure when and where he wants. Hera wasn't always a jealous and vengeful wife, taking out her anger on the mistresses and offspring of Zeus. Saint paints a picture of Hera when she feared her father, when she lived freer, hoped more and had visions of a brighter future, giving us a fuller picture of all the elements and events that led her to become the fierce queen Hera of legend. #hera #jennifersaint #netgalley

This is a book follows Hera Queen of the gods and includes a retelling of some of the Greek myths but from a different slant.
Zeus has defeated his father who defeated his father before him, and tests his power whilst fearing his offspring might overthrow him.
The book covers his relationship with Hera his partner. Is the relationship mutual and equal. Whom has power over whom.
It explores revenge, misogyny, controlling behaviors and redemption.
Who really are the monsters and who are the heroes?
Is one regimes more benevolent and more equal than another or is behavior repeated.
Do mortals need the gods or do the gods need the mortals?
An excellent read an a bright inventive reimagining of the gods of Olympia
Can't wait for what Jennifer comes up with next. Perhaps something similar for the gods of the Norse.

I love that Jennifer Saint chose to write about Hera and highlight this particular goddess, but the story itself fell a little flat for me.

Jennifer Saint, the muses are on your side for real! What a way with words you have! Hera wasn't by far my favourite greek goddess, but Saint made me open my eyes and see her from a diferent light. It always amazed me how Jennifer can make a woman out of a myth and now of a Goddess, Not my favourite of the author, I must say, but if you a fan of her penship you don't what to miss this one.

I’m a huge fan of Jennifer Saint’s books (particularly Atalanta) & was thrilled to be given the chance of an early read of this one. Hera is the Queen of the Gods - & if you believe the stories, not a very warm one. She’s portrayed variously as vengeful, bitter, violent & downright terrifying, but this story turns her ‘almost’ human (which she’d be utterly furious about!). The story begins in the early days of the young gods & fills in the background of their upbringing. Fast forward a while & throw in a rebellion or two & before you know it, Zeus is taking charge & bossing them all about. Being married to him against her will sets the tone & poor Hera is stuck. I really enjoyed this book & having read lots of recent stories of the Greek myths, it was nice to hear the Queen’s point of view. With thanks to NetGalley for an early copy.

Every Jennifer Saint book I read I end up falling in love with. Hera is a glorious retelling packed full of beautiful prose. From what I knew of Hera I was expecting to struggle with her character as she's known as the jealous wife of Zeus, but Saint has given us a fully fleshed out, complex character and you understand her motivations and end up rooting for her.

Her motivations are clear, she has so much depth and her story really stays with you long after you finish the book.

Saint always manages to draw you in with her lyrical writing and feminist perspective and I know I'll be recommending this to so many people.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I can't remember the last time I felt such a kinship with a character quite like this, despite not having much in common. Hera, as written by Jennifer Saint, is a complicated and absolutely captivating person. Her inner thoughts were so clear and powerful, and so gutwrenching at times. The book tells the story of the era of the Olympians, from when Hera is a young goddess, and flows through to more current times. It was beautifully written, with depth and weight. I finished the book a while ago, and I still think of Hera's feelings. I think it's going to stay with me for a long time.

Jennifer Saint is a genius when it comes to feminist Greek mythology retellings. Hera is just a mixture of everything I love about Greek mythology and it might be one of the best retellings I've ever read. I loved the different portrayals of Hera in different situations and it really gave her the depiction that she deserves.

This is Jennifer's 4th Greek mythology retelling and the 4th book of hers I have read and it certainly did not disappoint. Jennifer's writing creates such vivid pictures in my mind whilst reading that I forget for moments that I am not there in the midst of it all. This book is based on Hera - Zeus sister (and wife) and queen of the heavens. All the usual suspects are involved in this retelling from Zeus to Athena and the rest of their children with lots of stories intertwining, the Argos get a mention as does Heracles and Jason. The monsters of Typhon are explored in great detail. I love the female perspective and being the shamed and embarrassed wife of Zeus when he plays away and the punishments she Hera dishes out. Will she finally get revenge on Zeus after so long of him ruling the world. This was big bold and wonderous full of tales of power and wickedness and I loved it. The writing was superb and so much is detailed within the pages. I will be recommending and looking out for more from Jennifer

Feedback left on Audio version of the book. DNF at 60%

I really really wanted to love this one as Jennifer Saint wrote one of my all time favourite mythological retellings but I listened to 60% and gave up, I was just so very bored. I could tell I was supposed to be feeling rage for Hera but I just didn't and even more than that I didn't care at all which I hated because Ariadne broke my heart.

As someone who loved Jennifer Saint's previous books, especially Ariadne, and enjoys Greek Mythology retellings, I was surprised that she chose Hera as the subject of her next book as she's not an especially likeable character and is typically written off as Zeus's angry, jealous wife. What Jennifer Saint does in this book is give much more depth to her portrayal of Hera. The writing was beautiful and it was interesting to enter the world of the Greek Gods from Hera's perspective. She's by no means an easy character to root for, and some of her decisions were very questionable but you do start to understand her anger much more and it was a compelling read that held my attention throughout.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the advance copy.

As someone who has only read one other Greek mythology retelling, I started this book knowing very little about the Olympians and Titans, and despite this, I loved this book! Although there are many characters, the author does a great job in the way she portrays each one and Hera’s views towards them. The book stretches across eons, experiencing life through the immortality of the gods, and yet I was captivated by each chapter and inclined to see whatever the next steps were for the goddess. A truly captivating read!

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 loved this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, to the publisher and of course to Jennifer Saint for allowing me the absolute honour of this latest serving as an eARC.

And let me tell you - it's wonderful.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The timeline of this book is expansive, detailed, and quite frankly fascinating, as well it should be, given that it centres around what could be described as a (misunderstood) rageful and jealous goddess.

Any fan of greek mythology retellings will absolutely lap up this book as it touches on moment after moment of the lives of the gods, goddesses, and mortals that we are all familiar with, but is retold in a way that only a goddess could muster, sometimes angry, sometimes frustrated, and sometimes just indifferent, that can only be achieved through Hera's eyes and world.

I partly read and partly listened to this one - Hera is perfect for fans of mythological retellings and you’ll love it if you liked Jennifer Saint’s previous feminist retellings. There are a lot of triggers in this book, so please check them out - but overall, I enjoyed reading about Hera and how she fit into the world of the Greek gods. It definitely humanised Hera who is normally cast as a villain, and showed her POV for Zeus’ antics… we see her as a woman, who doesn’t always make the right decisions, but who does?! An in depth and interesting read.

The story of the Ancient Greek goddess Hera and how she went from Zeus’ sister, leader of armies, to Zeus’ wife, goddess of marriage.

Despite rushing through the centuries of Hera’s life, this book is quite slow paced. I think this is because of how closed off Hera is from everything else around her. The narrative follows her so closely that we barely get to know any other characters beyond Hera’s opinions of them. Even these opinions are quite limited as Hera seems to avoid any close relationships with the other gods. It is very definitely a character driven novel, putting every single one of Hera’s thoughts and actions under the microscope. Often the story refers back to her upbringing, hidden away from Kronos under the ocean. Jennifer Saint cleverly uses this as a constant reminder of the hardships that Hera has suffered to become the woman that she is. Her story rouses a lot of sympathy. Although this is often balanced out by her treatment of others, especially of her children. By the end of the book, I still wasn’t sure whether I actually liked her as a character or not.