For those familiar with Herc, this work maintains the same writing style, featuring multiple perspectives narrating stories over Aphrodite's lifespan. I greatly appreciate this aspect.

As an avid enthusiast of Greek Mythology retellings, I found this one to be quite satisfying. The only drawback of the ARC was that the family trees and Aphrodite’s footnotes, which are quite humorous, were not showing properly on the e-reader.

Phoenicia Rogerson’s Aphrodite offers an interesting, if not entirely successful, re-imagining of the goddess of love, beauty, and desire. From the outset, it's clear that the author isn’t interested in giving us a deep dive into Aphrodite's inner world. Instead, the book comes across as a collection of brief observations from an outsider—a storyteller who is more reporting what they've seen or heard than truly understanding the goddess. This approach creates an odd distance between the reader and Aphrodite, and unfortunately, that distance ends up undermining the portrayal of the goddess herself.

The tone of the book is perhaps the most jarring aspect. The chapters are short, the dialogue is often brief and informal, and at times, Aphrodite’s voice feels completely disconnected from her divine nature. There are moments where Aphrodite comes across as almost vapid and entirely human, which just doesn’t sit right. For example, on Page 318, she casually says, “Sorry, darling, I just realised I have a terrible hair emergency and I need to run home.” Lines like this—and her constant sign-offs with “Hugs and Kisses”—make it hard to take her seriously as a goddess, let alone as a figure who holds any real divine power.

This sense of humanization is reinforced throughout the book. On Page 95, there’s a “Goddess to-do list” that includes an instruction to “Be Me.” Later, on Page 97, there are what seem to be “Aphirmations” for Aphrodite herself, which come across like modern self-help jargon. These elements, though meant to add some depth or humor, only dilute Aphrodite’s identity as a goddess. At one point, Aphrodite even refers to her son Eros as “Ro-Ro” (Page 318), which feels more like a pet name than anything befitting a divine being.

While the author may be attempting to create a relatable, modern Aphrodite, the effect is that she feels more like a celebrity or a character from a reality show than a timeless, multifaceted deity. The author seems to misunderstand that part of what makes Aphrodite compelling is her mystery and her power. By stripping her down to something more approachable, more human, the goddess loses much of her mystique.

As the book continues, this issue only grows more pronounced. The tone shifts in strange ways—sometimes seeming more like a diary or journal, other times like a series of casual notes or letters. At one point, there’s a graphic of a note that reads “Do Not Open the Jar” (Page 145), referencing Pandora’s myth in a way that feels more like a gimmick than a meaningful exploration of the myth. And then there’s the transformation of Aphrodite into Venus, which is handled in a rush, as though the two are one and the same. The transition from Aphrodite to Venus is never fully explored or justified, leaving us to wonder if the two goddesses are truly the same or something entirely different.

In the end, Aphrodite could have been a fascinating examination of the goddess’s complexities, but instead, it reduces her to something almost entirely human. By the time we reach the final pages, the divine Aphrodite seems almost unrecognizable. Aphrodite’s fall from grace is depicted in a way that feels rushed and incomplete, and the book leaves us questioning whether this portrayal of her was the author’s intention or if it’s simply a misunderstanding of the goddess herself. Unfortunately, the end result is that Aphrodite is depicted as all too human, and that is unfortunate.

Thank you Netgalley and HQ stories for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I am a huge fan of capricious gods and goddesses, so when I saw Aphrodite, I was excited to read it. The beginning was intriguing with Aphrodite's birth from the castration foam of Ouranos and her subsequent handling of the threads of fate.

The book is written in a very comical tone, and the more I read, the more I realized it wasn't for me. There are places where it's clear the author has a deep understanding of Greek mythology and the original sources, but I just found myself getting more or less annoyed as I continued to read. The characters seemed more like the punchline to a joke than someone to be sympathized with, and I found it really hard to care at all. Additionally, Hestia is made into literally the most overbearing, irritating person imaginable. Don't even get me started on Aphrodite and Ares's relationship: his nickname for her- foamy- was the really what pushed me over the edge.

I can appreciate what the author was going for with this book, and I'm sure it will resognate with some people. I struggled to get through this book though, which is really sad because I had high hopes

This was a good retelling of Aphrodite once I got into the writing style which was some what humorous in tone. I liked the different pov from all the featured gods which gave a few sides of the story. I found the pacing a little slow but that was fine for this type of book. I did chuckle a few times during this while also finding out more about aphrodites story which was interesting and of course had tinges of sadness

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc

Welcome the Real Housewives of Olympus

Stunning, brilliant, witty, so delicious it could only be divine.

Maisie Peters once wrote, ‘I am the Iliad of course you couldn’t read me’
Because as we know greek mythology books can be notoriously ‘difficult’ to read. It isn’t something you tend to pick up for a light hearted, easy read. And by difficult I just mean you have to adjust to the language and can get lost and overwhelmed with names. We all know Circe is a masterpiece, but she’s tough too.

Not Aphrodite though.

This might be one of my favourite greek retellings to date. It is multiple pov and the only way I can describe it is like a Real Housewives of Olympus. Each of the characters are telling the reader their story, with Aphrodite being the main narrator and voice, even butting in on other characters storytelling. So you get the ‘interview’ moments of characters talking directly to the reader but also recapping of the storyline. There is also a lot of modern language used to make the dialogue and narration much more digestible and very entertaining. The tv show Dickinson is a great example of the type of narration used.

My deepest thanks to netgalley and the publishers for this arc. I adore reading greek mythology retellings.

I already cannot wait to own a special edition (she better have a special edition) on my shelf as a trophy

only down side of the arc was the family trees and aphrodite’s footnotes (hilarious btw) weren’t formatted perfectly for reading on an e-reader but I am confident that will be sorted for the final version