ARC Review - DNF @ 35%

I really tried with this one. The writing is lyrical and intentionally fragmented, which I imagine will really hit for some readers - but sadly, it didn’t work for me. While I appreciated the mythological themes and creative risks, the story felt too abstract and emotionally distant for me to connect with. I kept waiting for a moment of clarity or engagement that never came, and at 35%, I decided to step away.

This one just wasn’t for me, but I can see it appealing to readers who enjoy poetic, experimental narratives with a mythic edge.

Phoenicia Rogerson’s Aphrodite is a fierce and fresh reimagining of one of mythology’s most misunderstood figures. Often sidelined as little more than a symbol of beauty or seduction, Aphrodite takes centre stage as a complex, powerful, and emotionally resonant goddess with wit and sharp intelligence.

Rogerson writes with lyrical precision and modern flair, breathing new life into ancient stories. The novel skilfully navigates Aphrodite’s many roles; as a goddess, lover, mother, and sometimes manipulator, while also challenging the patriarchal lens through which myth has traditionally been told. The author’s attention to historical and mythological detail is impressive, but it’s the voice she gives Aphrodite — simultaneously ancient and refreshingly modern — that makes this story sing.

The supporting characters, from Hephaestus to Ares to mortal women caught in divine crossfire, are vivid and well-developed, and the emotional depth Rogerson brings to their interactions adds richness to the narrative. Themes of love, power, autonomy, and identity are handled with nuance.

Why 4 stars instead of 5? Occasionally, the modern tone feels a bit too contemporary, pulling you slightly out of the mythological immersion. And while the pacing is generally strong, there are a few chapters that slow the momentum. Still, these are minor quibbles in an otherwise good read.

Aphrodite is a compelling feminist retelling that will appeal to fans of Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes. It’s a book that reclaims and reframes the story of a goddess who has too often been reduced to a stereotype and in Rogerson’s hands, she finally gets her due.

I'm really disappointed to say that I couldn't get on with this Aphrodite retelling. As others have pointed out, this feels like quite a juvenile YA type narrative, and feels unfinished to me. I didn't gel with the point of view and didn't end up finishing this. I hope it finds the right audience.

Having enjoyed the authors previous Greek Mythology retelling, I was very excited when this one was announced and cannot be more grateful to netgalley, the publishers, and of course the author, to have been given the opportunity to read an eARC of this before it comes out next month!

In a similar format to Herc, this tells the story of Aphrodite from those surrounding gods, titans, and other key players to her story, from her origin to her views on those in power, and to her establishing herself as one on Olympus. It spins a different perspective on what you might know about Zeus, Fate, and the Trojan War but it's written in a unique way with trademark humour which left me chuckling a few times. If you want to understand how the gods interact with one another, their relationships with each other and also the mortals in an non-stuffy way then I would absolutely recommend this book!

I did not enjoy this at all, I'm sorry to say. I don't know a huge amount about the Greek panoply but the alternatives put forward in this really threw me. I don't know why it made it hard, but it did. It was almost too casual, like someone was chatting to me and expecting that I knew who or what they were on about, but i didn't.

Greek mythology is my favourite genre, and I really enjoyed Phoenicia’s take on this retelling of Aphrodite.
I particularly found The Authors notes at the end of the book interesting as she explains why she went in the direction she did with her novel.
I wasn’t a fan of the continuous swearing, it gave the book a modern day retelling feel rather than traditional. However, language aside I really enjoyed the book and couldn’t put it down!

Aphrodite was very different from what I was expecting, although being completely honest, I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting.
This is written as if Aphrodite is talking directly to you. She's telling you her story with the help of the other gods whose point of view you get throughout the book.
It's definitely an interesting concept, although I did find that parts of the story did drag a bit.

It's an intriguing story, but the narrative is messy and confusing.
There are multiple perspectives and each character has their own short chapter, but their narration style changes if they're stressed.
I really wanted to enjoy the book because I loved Herc so much, but I think that the choppy, partial sentences were just too confusing for me and it made it hard to follow.

Phoenicia Rogerson’s previous book Herc was a Kindig Gem for me in 2023, so I was excited to read her latest book – Aphrodite.

If you have read Herc, then you will be familiar with the writing style of Aphrodite, as it is very similar. The chapters alternate between characters in the story as they tell events from their unique perspectives. The book feels really well researched, and I would love to read Phoenicia's commentary on each chapter and what her sources were, as the original myths are often contradictory or confusing. She gives a small taste of her method in her author’s notes, and it certainly left me wanting more.

As with Herc, I’d known a small amount about the Goddess of Love before I’d begun, but I’d only scratched the surface of the story. There’s a lot of fantastic tales to unwrap here, and it delves into the in-depth history of the Gods, from Cronus all the way through to the War of Troy. I do wonder whether Phoenicia has shot herself in the foot a little here by giving so much information about so many Gods, Titans and Mortals instead of saving them for another novel. If she’d like to pen another book about someone else I’d be happy to read it, but I would imagine she might want a break from all that research!

I think the narrative suffered a little when we got to the War of Troy, and weirdly I was less invested at this point which I believe is down to the amount of new characters suddenly thrown at us. On the whole I wasn’t quite as engaged as I was with Herc – a lot of Aphrodite’s story is so entangled in other people’s tales and so sprawling across the ages that I didn’t empathise with her as much as I did with Herc’s more linear story.

There are footnotes throughout that are asides from Aphrodite, mainly giving a little bit of backstory about minor characters that are referenced and whether they are relevant or not – a bit of snarky commentary, if you will. These were not hyperlinked in my ARC and so I had to flick ahead a few pages to find some of them. The timeline diagrams were also not readable on my Kindle version which is a shame as they are specifically mentioned in the forward. I’m sure these will all be fixed in the finished edit though.

Overall, Aphrodite is a great follow-up to Herc – another skilfully written and researched epic utilizing a well-executed and unusual narrative technique. Thank you to NetGalley & HQ Stories for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Phoenicia Rogerson’s second novel Aphrodite, is a sharp, funny and absurdist take on one of the most underrated Greek goddesses. From Chronos’s epididymis to the world, Aphrodite comes into being after Ouranos slices his father’s testis. In recent years, there has been an increase in feminist-infused retellings and reinterpretations with modern viewpoints, making accessible what many deemed dull historical or fantasy fiction. This tongue-in-cheek style can easily fall into Young/New Adult territory, and for me, only Natalie Haynes manages to strike a balance between canonical mythology and modern critique. What became clear from Aphrodite’s cynical voice was that I am not the target audience for this Greek retelling. It’s a shame.

To illustrate Rogerson’s absurdist humour and cynical voice, here’s a passage: “I don’t know why I, or the Titans, or the gods, have lungs or livers or kidneys or any of the above. They can’t be doing anything vital, because nothing is vital for any of us. Maybe the lungs are there to let us talk, but no king, no creator, at any point in the process, has ever seemed happy that anyone was talking, so their existence remains a mystery. One I wasn’t concerned with at the point of my drowning.” And then: "Cronus thought of the worst shame he could possibly imagine, and he castrated his father. Chopped his balls off. De-testicled him... Those balls were me." These snippets highlight the playful narrative adopted in this novel.

I appreciated Rogerson’s attempt to craft a compelling Greek retelling, but I’m afraid this book is aimed at a younger audience interested in female rage and comedic prose rather than Greek mythology enthusiasts, which might feel unfair, given the author’s own enthusiasm for the subject. It somehow felt reminiscent of fan fiction. One personal gripe is the excessive, exhausting and unnecessary use of curse words. They appear on almost every other page, serving only to reinforce a bratty voice (not compelling to me). Unfortunately, I cannot say I enjoyed reading Aphrodite, and I wouldn’t recommend it, except perhaps to readers who enjoy a more comedic (albeit unfunny) take on Greek mythology.

Rating: 2.0/5

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I cannot pass the opportunity to read a retelling of Greek mythology and I loved the take on Aphrodite and the reinterpretation of her story.

As someone very much into greek mythology retelling I couldn’t pass the opportunity to read this book.
I was excited to read about Aphrodite, a little bit disappointed to see it is not much about her.
The writing was a bit difficult to get into it but after a while I got used to it and enjoy the book.
I found most characters too childish and immature with no depth to like any of them. Some modern slang too often for this kind of story, it took me out of it unfortunately
I wish the timeline of events was more clear and more often accurate, some of the events happened too late im the storyline.
It is mostly a good book if you like greek mythology or as an introduction as you get a glimpse of every events.
3.5⭐️ round up

*Thank you Netgalley and publisher for sending me this ARC *

3.5.

I was really excited to have a chance to read this book, not least because Aphrodite is one of the most compelling Greek Goddesses to read about - of course you love her (she's the literal Goddess of Love, duh) but she's often portrayed as vengeful, vain and vindictive in many of the retellings.
And so, I love that Phoenicia Rogerson gives Aphrodite her own voice in this book, one that lets Aphrodite defend herself as a mother, a daughter, a wife and a fate. I was intrigued by the exploration of Aphrodite as one of the earliest (and oldest of the) Fates, a really compelling detail from ancient history that was worth seeing explored.

The book was a long-spanning epic that starts from Aphorodite's birth (creation?) all the way to the Trojan War, so there is a lot of ground covered in the chronology of ancient myth. It was fun to see here interactions with many of the Gods, especially with our fave Prometheus; but her relationship with Hephaestus and Ares is also interesting to hear from her own perspective.

The pacing of the book felt slow at times and then faster towards the end, during the Trojan War; though the many multiple POVs made it feel a little hard to follow at times. Some of the writing style works for some characters, but then is overly casual/colloquial and so it did feel as though I was ready many different books in one. The writing style on the whole wasn't my preferred format as its overly colloquial and modern, and feels a little reality show at times. but the plot was interesting enough to finish the book - though I am not too sure I came out liking the character anymore after hearing her own side of her story! Then again, I suspect Aphrodite doesn't really care what I think.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*1⭐️ (look on my profile to see what my ratings mean to me)

**ARC REVIEW**
First of all I would like to thank Phoenicia Roberson and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

I did try and reading this book but I just couldn't get into it.
Maybe one day at some point I might retry reading this book again but right now I can't seem to get into this. I do hope to read Phoenicia Roberson future works.

I enjoy Greek mythology including retellings which is the main reasoning for me being interested in this book. But the layout and writing put me off. I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn’t get into reading it.

I'm so sorry, i have tried but I just can't get into this book.
I may try again another time, but it's not for me.
Thank you so very much for the opportunity

Modern take on Greek mythology but I found it quite a boring read - it's set up didn't lend great to an ebook either, the family trees didn't work

So I adored Herc and told basically everyone I knew to read it. So when I saw Aphrodite was available by Rogers on, there was no doubt I was going to read it.

It's a fantastic deep look into the stories of Aphrodite, told from her very beginning to...well I won't spoil the ending for you.
It takes aspects of her tales, where she seems to have 2 origin stories and makes that make sense. It gives her a personality that is deep and ambiguous, well beyond just the incredibly beautiful goddess of Love.

I would say I prefer Herc, but I think that's because I enjoyed some of the more comedic aspects of that book, whereas this, although it had the odd amusing moment, had a lot less of it.

But overall this was a fantastic book. Highly recommended for all lovers of mythology. You won't be disappointed.

Aphrodite is written in the same brilliant style as Herc, with stand-out voices and fantastic characterisation. My favourite POV character was Ares - which isn't something I think I've ever said about Greek myth before!

I am in love with this refreshing take on Aphrodite. And this is from someone who had to DNF the author's debut book Herc.

Phoenicia's writing style has definitely matured for this book and while the whole vibe is still more light-hearted than your usual retelling it flows a lot better. There are still a few overly silly chapters thrown in here and there but they are few and far between, and honestly you need them as a break to the absolute DRAMA of Aphrodite's life.

I am in awe with how the author has so beautiful woven multiple versions of the myths together seamlessly. And we even have some lesser known aspects of Aphrodite's past thrown in too which was really interesting to see. For once we have a book that doesn't just focus on Aphrodite as a beautiful but jealous person. Instead we get to see the woman who sparked the Trojan War, complete with all her scheming. And I ate that up.

The only flaw I could find with the book was that the timeline gets a little messed up. Which I'm sure is intentional from the author but there were a couple of scenes that confused me since events were happening but then the key factors for those were introduced later in the book. (I swear Eris is mentioned way before she's born?)

But no matter, I still had a brilliant time reading it and I was genuinely sad when it finished because I just wanted more.

Big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review the advanced copy.

Where to even start with this?? It’s a Greek mythology retelling but not as you know it.
Though if you’ve read Herc and enjoyed it, you’ll have some idea what to expect from Aphrodite.

I’m fully riding on the Greek mythology retelling bandwagon, but this is my first that features Aphrodite front and centre. I loved the rise and fall of Olympus from her POV (and the other characters along the way) and her take on all the main players in the Trojan war.

The interweaving of fate was a new angle for me, which made this fresh and original. The dialogue and narration is not going to be for everyone but give it a chance and you’ll absolutely never look at the Gods the same way again!