I value the opportunity I was given to read this in advance, but it has been four years and I still haven't read this. With so many books ahead of me, I cannot return to this title.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This was a very fun retelling of ancient folktales as myths. Many legends I have never heard before so I was pleasantly surprised! I recommend this for fans of mythology and folklore!

The premise of this book, a collection of inspirational, powerful female stories is great. The execution, however is not. This is a basic introduction to well known legends, but the writing renders it inaccessible to younger readers but rudimentary for those who have some prior knowledge making it a difficult book to categorize in terms of audience.

Warriors, Witches, Women; Mythology's Fiercest Females by Kate Hodges is a beautifully illustrated book, with the story of females from myths and legend.  It's broken down into different catagories, so you can read about Bringers of Misfortune, or Elemental Spirits.

The females and myths are international, which is another nice feature as it's so often this type of book would specialise on Greek and Roman myths.

 Warriors, Witches, Women  was published on 3 March 2020 and is available from  Amazon ,  Waterstones  and  Bookshop.org .

You can follow Kate Hodges on  Instagram .

I was given access to this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Quarto .

I love reading and learning about Mythology and this book didn't disappoint. Well thought out and collected. Really beautiful book, with a wide variety from all over. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an Advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I enjoyed reading and looking at this book. Each women is given a chapter with an illustration and information about her. There was not a lot of new information for me but it is well written and easy to read. Adults and younger readers will both enjoy this book.

4.5 Stars (I received an e-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

I ended purchasing the kindle version as the book expired in app I had downloaded it in, hoping I would enjoy it. Thankfully I did end up loving this book, and in the process I learned about a vast array of myths I had no prior knowledge of. Some as well were stories I had heard before but also included more information into the background and sometimes pointing out various pop culture references that were inspired by. Even though I was already aware of Medusa’s tragic backstory I was so happy to finally see some nonfiction acknowledging the facts. The only negative I had to point out was that the illustrations, while nice were a bit too simple for my liking. But overall a great read and something that should be in school libraries for young girls and teenagers to read.

Warriors, Witches, Women brought together familiar favourites and new-to-me names from various mythologies. The artwork is interesting, but not really to my tastes and the text (and its minute font size) was a let-down.
Hodges summarises the references of each figure, and the sources stem from poetry, prose, music, film, paintings, operas, and comics to name a few. Many of these summaries meandered, and it often felt that the author was just trying to hit a word count.

The Game of Thrones references were tiresome and there was really no need to make a reference to Lena Dunham. Why support an abusive woman in a text that’s supposed to uphold and support women? This text is also out of touch in its scope. The summaries are presented through a western lens and the vast majority of figures are from the western canon.

It’s a great premise, but definitely could have been delivered in a more diverse and effective way.

This book was FANTASTIC. I picked it up with some high expectations as I like to read a lot about mythology and female historical figures, and I think this surpassed most of them! The way that it was laid out was cool - a big mix of cultures and types of folklore, be it goddesses, fairies, witches or ghosts. It was a really interesting way of reading about these characters.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much information Hodges included on each female archetype and I really felt that I learnt a lot about the historical context for each one through reading this. Even very commonly written about figures such as Artemis, Medusa or Baba Yaga had something new to offer me here. I adored the art too - it isn't usually a style I like but here it was really cool! It was very empowering in its simplicity too.

The lens on each figure felt a little western at times. I liked the historical knowledge, and even enjoyed the way that Hodges provided a universal approach to each mythical figure that would make them relevant again in a modern society. But I didn't totally understand all of the comparisons to pop culture she included, and they were very western references. I'd have liked to see some that were a little more niche.

Fabulous feminist prose as Kate Hodges collates 50 female lives covering the witches and warriors of the title, with some spirits and benevolent goddesses thrown in for good measure. Each of the women has an equal amount of space in the book and there's a chance to explore further reading which is a great idea as you often want to know more about them. A glorious celebration of women that should be read far and wide.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an Advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a really beautiful book. The illustrations are gorgeous. I also really loved the fact that the women depicted in the book were taken from all over the world - Ancient Sumeria, Haiti, Greece and Japan to name a few. The author concentrates on the pro-feminist influences that these goddesses and historical figures have had on the modern woman. Some are very relevant and thought-provoking. Others are more tenuous but still entertaining. I particularly loved the Mythological Women Playlist suggesting music I might listen to that inspired the author. I think this would be a great book for a history loving young woman who wants to understand how mythology, religion and social history have been formed with a feminine twist.

This collection was thorough and well constructed, providing backgrounders on the different mythologies surrounding women throughout time. While it is more like a coffee table book or fun reference text than it is an actual book, the information is useful and fun, especially if you love to read contemporary fiction influenced by mythology. Would highly recommend for anyone wanting to learn more about different powerful women throughout mythology.

Just ok. I liked the premise which is why I requested it. But I just dont think it was for me. No specific criticisms. it just didn't hold my attention like I hoped it would.

Mythology through a feminist lens. This was a wonderful and empowering collection of tales centred around women from all over the world. rom Maman Brigitte to Futakuchi-onna, we learn the history of each persona and their original story before they have been tainted by male authors and changed them to be more wicked or weak.
Kate Hodges did an amazing job of giving us an overview of myths and tales.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this title. Unfortunately I due to technical difficulties I was unable to download the book so cannot post a review, which is a shame as it sounded amazing :)

This book takes women from mythology and gives them their proper credit. Women who were cast in the role of villain, shamed for their strength and beliefs. This book is beautifully illustrated and comprehensive. It covers not only the well-published Greek, Roman and Norse mythology but also other little known myths. 

Told through a feminist perspective, this book gives new life to the Myths and also incorporated modern representations. 

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am new to mythology as I always shied away from it as too complicated or inaccessible. Warriors, Witches, Women is neither it gives a good overview on the women who have shaped our history and given me a foundation to learn more. It is beautiful, accessible and inspiring.

While I was requesting the book on Thor, I also chanced upon Warriors, Witches, and Women. Requesting this book from NetGalley was a no brainer because I love mythology and I thought it would be very fun to have the spotlight on women in various myths from around the world. While I enjoyed this feminist take on various women in religions and myth overall, it failed to impress on several counts.

Warriors, Witches, Women looks at fifty different women that are grouped into five categories – Witches, Warriors, Bringers of Misfortune, Elemental Spirits, and Munificent Spirits. Each profile comes with an illustration, a quick biography and a short paragraph or two about their relevance to the modern world.

For the most part, I liked that the profiles managed to give the readers a good sense of the woman being discussed, exploring their mythology and bringing out their relevance. The author did mention that she chose certain narratives over others, but they don’t always seem to the most traditional ones. For example, in the story of Uzume, it’s said that the mirror was hung so that it could reflect Uzume’s butt, whereas I’ve always read that the mirror was hung from a tree so that Amaterasu could see her face. I imagine that would be hard to do so if it was reflecting Uzume’s butt.

I’m also a bit iffy on the book proclaiming that Saint Brigid was a lesbian – while I agree that her origins are possibly pagan, the claim that Brigid was in a relationship with her ‘soul sister’ seems to a bit of a reach and from what I understand, not an orthodox interpretation. The concept of Anam Cara, which I assume is the basis of the ‘soul sister’ claim, reminds me of David and Jonathan’s friendship which was deep and true and without romantic implications, as well as the call to koinonia within the Church. We should be celebrating and encouraging intimate friendships because we need friendships that are deep and true and it frustrates me a little to see that everything interpreted in a romantic way. So that chapter was mildly annoying on two accounts – first because we don’t know for sure what Brigid identified as and what was presented as fact seems to be a more modern interpretation, and second, because I’m tired of all ‘deep’ relationships being seen in a romantic light because that is not the be-all and end-all of our relationships. The whole “you can only find true happiness and fulfilment in a romantic relationship” idea is a damaging one that leads women to seek happiness in a relationship but that is a rant for another post.

I also liked that there was a reading list and a playlist at the end of the book so that you can use it as a starting point to explore more about the women featured here.

But sadly, there were a few points that stopped this book from being truly impressive to me.

Firstly, there was the issue of diversity. The book definitely tries to be diverse, but it came across to me as not trying very hard. Out of the fifty women profiled,

10 were Greek and/or Roman
16 were from Europe (out of the 16, 4 were from the Celtic mythos)
6 were from Asia
6 from the African continent
2 from the continent of America
10 from the rest of the world
I did my best but the contents page freely jumps between classifying by religion and ethnic group and as someone familiar mostly with Western and Asian cultures, I have a gap in my knowledge with regards to other countries. But even this count shows that over half the women are from traditional Western myths, with the Celtic myths representing a quarter of the whole of Europe. I’d argue that Asia and Africa have equally rich mythic traditions, yet they take up just under a quarter of all the women profiled. It seems like no matter what, there’s still dominance by the traditional Western and Greco-Roman myths.

Secondly, the women chosen were kind of odd too. I mean, from China we only have Mazu, but what about Guanyin, Chang’Er, Mulan, the Huli Jin, or historical figures like the four great beauties? From Japan, there’s the Futakuchi Onna and Ame no Uzume but what about Ameterasu, Yuki-Onna, Murasaki Shikibu? Where are Korean women? Where are Cambodian women? Malay and Indonesian get lumped together in the Pontianak, which is described as a “Malay ghost” but whose Indonesian moniker, Kuntilanak, is also mentioned. I can only really comment on the Asian section but it felt rather random and unbalanced, especially compared to the amount of Green and Roman women mentioned. I can imagine that just reducing the number of Greek and Roman women (most of whom are already pretty famous) to three or four and then adding one or two women from other parts of the world would have made it so much more diverse.

And the parts that were diverse really were the best parts. My favourite bigoraphies were of women who were completely new to me, such as Mami Wata (African goddess) and Yennenga (Mossi, African Princess). If the book wanted to celebrate the lesser-known women figures, as it seems from the Asian selection, then I want to see more of them and less of the more mainstream names like Hel, the Valkyries, Freyja, Cassandra, Medusa, etc.

Finally, the illustrations were a bit odd too – the one about the Pontianak did not remind me of a pontianak at all. Perhaps it’s the lack of blood on her dress, perhaps it’s because her colouring was very similar to that of the selkies, but I did not get pontianak feels. The Japanese characters were better but I suspect it’s a lot to do with the kimonos.

Overall, I’m conflicted about the book. I really like the concept and I think that for the most part, the biographies are well done but I wasn’t impressed with some of the illustrations and while I really love the Greek, Roman, Celtic, and Norse myths, I would have loved to see more from other countries as well. I suppose this is a case of misaligned expectations – For some reason, the introduction made me think it would be a lot more diverse than I found it.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley.

This is a beautifully constructed book that I'd recommend for fans of Taisia Kitaiskaia's "Literary Witches." It's pages feature a different female figures. The information doesn't delve too much (like Edith Hamilton's "Mythology"), but it's a solid primer for a well rounded book! The graphic design is the real showstopper here, the pages are lovely.