Hera is staggering.
I devoured this book in one feverish sitting and, about halfway through, I looked up - dazed, confused, to find the real world looking back at me rather than the decidedly real world I was holding in my hands - and realised that I absolutely believed in this book. I believed every single word. As far as I was concerned, it had all happened - this was Hera’s story, this was how it went.

Jennifer Saint has totally reframed the narrative we thought we knew about Hera into *her* story, and it just ..make sense. I feel like everything - all the snippets we have about Hera, her behaviour, her lineage, her life before Olympus and her complex relationship with Zeus - has been woven back together and explained. I am, quite honestly, never going to look at Hera in the same way again (and for all the best reasons).

Saint’s writing is always beautiful, we all know this. Her descriptions of Olympus and the mortal world, mortal palaces, are breathtaking. They’re real. But, most importantly, so are the gods.

Zeus’ voice is 100% Zeus. Hephaestus is Hephaestus. Athena is precisely as we expect her to be. Every single one of the multifaceted, extraordinarily complicated gods is absolutely and completely themselves - and none more than Hera. Saint’s writing is pure magic.

There is so much to love about this book it’s impossible to fit it all in, but there are several conclusions drawn towards the end of the story that are just…staggering. and I can’t say what they are - you’ll have to find out for yourselves - but Athena’s conclusion has left my mind reeling even still (iykyk).

Saint has done something here - with this conclusion, with Hera’s voice, with everything - which is beyond anything I have ever read. This book is truly remarkable, from beginning to end (though the end will absolutely leave you speechless) and I really, really don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say it is one of the best, most genuine and evocative, mythology retellings out there.

When the immortal goddess Hera and her brother Zeus overthrow their tyrannical father, she dreams of ruling at his side. But as they establish their reign on Mount Olympus, Hera begins to see that Zeus is just as ruthless and cruel as the father they betrayed.
Jennifer Saint's gorgeous retelling of Greek mythology is continued through Hera, twisting her complicated story into an adventurous battle against patriarchy. Helping Zeus overthrow their father, Hera struggles to accept her fate as she goes from a partner in war to a vengeful wife and secret enemy to Olympians. The story takes the stereotype of Hera, goddess of marriage and a one-dimensional villan, to show a fearless leader driven by loss and suffering. As always, Saint's writing style, character development, and storyline were all beautifully created and teaches the reader who Hera really was.

⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Jennifer Saint and Headline Wildfire for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Hera' by Jennifer Saint.

Jennifer Saint is back and better than ever. 'Hera' follows one of the most convoluted but beautiful Greek goddesses ever and as always, I love the way Saint adds her own touch to decades old stories and adds a sense of humanity. Each person in this novel had dimension and beauty and as always I fell in love. Saint is the actual god of Greek myth retellings and I love her for it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in return for a review!

Now before going into this my knowledge of Hera wasn't great, but I am a fan of mythical retellings and was so excited and when I tell you this blew my expectations out of the water!

From the very first page to the end I was gripped by this story. The writing was beautiful and having Hera as the character showing us her view of the Gods and Mortals felt to me like I felt when reading Circe by Madeline Miller (so as to say, I could not tear my eyes from the page with how interesting I found Hera).

Truly one to recommend to fans of mythical retellings, especially those who have loved Jennifer Saint's books before!

Jennifer Saint never fails to disappoint. I love her writing style and the way she re-tells these stories. Would recommend highly.

‘She will be his wife, the Queen of Heaven, and she will use every resource she has at her disposal to bring him down’

Wow. I finally read one of Jennifer Saint’s books! I’ve been meaning to read her work for AGES because I love Greek mythology and mythological retellings. This was also a chance for me to cross something off of my aspirational reads list and I was so so so incredibly excited when I got approved for Hera 👸 - and it did not disappoint!

I loved her writing style! The way this book was written really had me enraptured and the story just flowed so well that I found myself not being able to put this down! I think Saint did an excellent job at portraying Hera’s story from Hera’s perspective, which is one I haven’t read before, and giving her a voice when usually her story is narrated by someone else who sees her as an antagonist. And this retelling did show her as an antagonist, but it did a great job or portraying her as nuanced and more dimensional, not just bad. Some of my favourite parts were when Saint showed us how Hera saw the monsters as beautiful, and that the real monsters were the Olympians. I also really enjoyed the sisterhood between her and Hestia. This book was entertaining from start to finish, and I really enjoyed the ending and Hera’s arc! This was a super fun and fast read and I will definitely be checking out all of her other stuff (bumping them up my TBR as I write this👀).

4/5⭐️

Thank you to @headlinebooks and @netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this eARC in return for a fair and honest review🤍

This book will be published in the UK on 23 May 2024.

P. S. Zeus will always and forever be the real antagonist.

Jennifer Saint never disappoints. Up there with Madeline Miller, she has the expert ability to take a tale as old as time and craft it into something wholly new. In Hera, the first of Saint’s novels with a Greek goddess at the centre (rather than a heroine), the opulence and divinity of Mt. Olympus really shines through. I adore the recent wave in historical fiction of giving voice to female characters in classic myths that were continuously sidelined and silenced, and Saint’s Hera is a paragon of this.

Hera is usually portrayed as the vindictively jealous wife and wicked step-mother, and not much else. In Saint’s iteration, she can be those things, but she is so much more. She is complex, nuanced, fleshed out, simultaneously otherworldly but also - and she’d hate me for thinking this - very human at her core. At times, she is extremely unlikable and frustrating to read about, but that just makes it work so well. Saint does not shy away from this side of her, does not try to paint her as perfect.

This is my favourite so far of Saint’s work, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Thank you to Headline and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. All opinions are my own.

A very satisfying read about a goddess I knew little about - the story of a woman whose life didn’t go according to plan, but found her own way.

I've always loved mythology and jumped at the chance to read a collection entirely about Hera, who seems often sidelined and one note considering her station in the pantheon of gods and goddesses. Maybe because I have read and enjoyed the author's previous work I feel a bit more critical of this one and at times wondered what the goal was. I didn't feel it brought enough variance in perspective to give Hera a true retelling. Overall Hera is a good book and full of great stories if a reader is someone who is not familiar with these legendary tales. Yet there could have been much more and that waste of potential is what left me with some measure of disappointment.

After reading Ariadne, I quickly became obsessed with Jennifer Saint and have been lucky enough to receive EARCs for each of her subsequent novels (thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!).

I’ll admit, I was equally excited and worried going into this one. Of all of the legends of Hellenism, Hera is arguably one of, if not the single, most challenging to recreate and bring to life in the nuanced ways that I have grown to love Saint’s writing for.

However, I truly believe that this one is quite possibly the best book she has written yet. It’s an incredibly deep, insightful and well-considered exploration of Hera in a way that I’ve seen so rarely done. Rather than portraying her as simply the wronged and vengeful wife of Zeus, the many layers of complexity are unravelled in a way that drew sympathy in spite of some of her questionable actions. The pacing is excellent and I was absolutely hooked, and found myself really upset to finish it.

If you enjoy Greek mythology and retellings, and especially if you have read and enjoyed anything by this author in the past, this isn’t one to miss.

Jennifer Saint is my favourite author and her beautiful writing continues in Hera. It's much different to her other books, I had a feeling it would be. Hera's story in greek mythology isn't an epic tale that has a clear plot direction, her story is sparodic as she's often the antagonist in many greek myths, simply there to punish Zeus's conquests before the tale continues to follow Zeus's offspring. She has no big story of her own, she is simply Zeus's bitter wife. Honestly, I never liked her. She punished the women Zeus cheats on her with when I think the anger should be aimed at him, especially as many of these women don't have a choice.

But Saints new book shows Hera in a new light. She is the strong and independent goddess who helps to destroy the titans, only to be excluded from the division of the realms. After Zeus forces himself on her, she feels utterly powerless so she tries to reclaim her power by agreeing to be his queen... But she makes the mistake of assuming that marriage ties him to her as it does her to him. She finds out the hard way that this is not the case and begins secretly plotting his downfall.

I haven't felt sympathy for Hera before now, she's a goddess and yet powerless when in the face of Zeus and his thunderbolt, trapped by her marriage vows and dombed to watch her husband cheat while giving Olympian thrones to his children by other women. Her only way to punish Zeus is through the women he sleeps with... Though I still don't think it's fair that she does so. It's not like any of them could have stopped him if they'd wanted to. But this book does a wonderful job of explaining Hera's thinking and I feel like, while I still don't agree with her, I understand her and I do feel sympathy for her now too.

The book begins quite slowly, jumping quickly from myth to myth from Hera's point of view and it quickly becomes clear that the more her punishments for Zues fail, the more bitter she becomes. However, over the eons was Hera grows from a bitter scheming wife into so much more than that! I really liked her by the end of the book and I was tearing up at the ending. It was also very satisfying to see Zues's ending too. No spoilers from me beyond that!

I love the way Jennifer Saint paints a picture of the Greek myths and as long as she continues to retell them, I will continue to read and recommend them. I have posted the review on Goodreads and will post on Instagram in the next week or two also

Definitely a worthwhile read. I have been searching for a good Hera retelling, to examine her psyche through another lens and this book does just that. It's a seamless and enticing narrative, as can be expected from Jennifer Saint. I do have 2 bones to pick though: I found the passage of time a little bit jarring, but given that deities' conception of time functions on a different scale, I understand it; and I thought Hera's rush for reconciliation following the Battle of Troy to be a little idealistic and forced. The previous ~75% of the book has been about Hera's subdued wrath towards her Olympian family and now that mortals can't entertain her that calls for forgiveness? It just seems a bit out of character, and it would have been worthwhile if those emotions had been given some more attention. But overall, enjoyed it and am looking forward to who else Jennifer Saint brings back to life.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tinder Press and Wildfire Books for this ARC.

An incredibly well written Greek story following Hera through the years - Jennifer Saint did an amazing job of cohesively linking so many gods stories together in a very understandable and gripping read.
It was also interesting to follow a character like Hera who isn’t inherently ‘likeable’ but you can sympathise with her even if you question her bold and rash decisions. This story really pulled me in so many directions as to who to side with or invest myself in! I found it so hard to put this one down and will definitely be going on to read more by Jennifer Saint!

I loved this book, it really made me realise that thought out most narratives that I’ve heard and been taught Hera is depicted as spiteful, manipulative and hateful. She is all of these thing but this book really shows that she is also her own person and a victim. It doesn’t excuse the things she’s done. But she is as much a victim as those she hurt.

I found the book a bit slow in the middle. But it is worth it. I loved the end and how it was all wrapped up. It was lovely to see.

This is actually my first time reading one of Saint’s books (even though I own most) and I loved it. Will definitely be reading the ones I have.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for the chance to read this eARC.

3.75/5 stars

Another great adventure of a Greek Goddess by Jennifer Saint. If you like history based stories then this is for you. Can’t wait what the next work will be.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

"Hera" offers an interesting perspective on Hera and her role as Queen of the Gods, but I felt like the characterization wasn't really deep enough to really make me care. The ending also didn't really work for me.

Throughout all Greek fiction, Hera is typically depicted as a jealous, spiteful and enraged Goddess who directs her wrath for Zeus at everyone else. While, Saint's work also depicts the Goddess as these things, the she is also able to weave so much more into Hera's personality. I felt myself rooting for her more than ever before and I even though Zeus will never learn from his mistakes or change his ways, I felt as though Hera was able to grow so much in Saint's depiction of the Goddess.

This was a wonderful read and a fantastic addition to Jennifer Saint's mythology retellings. I'm eager to see who she'll depict next.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Another great Greek Goddess adventure by Saint. This time around we follow Hera's mythology. Hera is not as likeable as previous Saint women. However, Hera's ups and downs are fascinating to imagine through Saint's eyes and although Hera's actions are explained and justified they are not glorified. I look forward to her next retelling.

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.

A really gripping read, I thought the characters were intriguing and I'm going to look out for more by this author.