Content warning: Vomiting, gore, bloodshed, death by drowning, dismemberment, death in childbirth, misgendering, deadnaming, pregnancy

The Iliad with a trans lens. Achilles is a trans woman living on Skyros with women just like her when Odysseus comes searching for him to partake in a war to retrieve Helen from the Hittites. Instead of fighting as a man, Athena intervenes and gives her the body of a woman, and she goes off to war.

Drenched in glory and war-time gore, there is also a surprising amount of love and beauty to be found in this modern retelling.

I’m going to start off by saying that my knowledge of The Iliad extends about as far as the movie Troy goes and what scant memories I have of that hyper-fixation from when I was a child. That being said, I can barely comment on the accuracy of this retelling, though the one thing I will definitely say is that the events take place over the months of a pregnancy rather than years upon years.

The prose, however, flows like an epic story. It’s very readable with a rhythm that adds a lyricism to each scene, whether it’s quiet conversations, dream sequences with gods, or thundering battles. It’s cinematic in its presentation. It’s also video game like in the best way with some dungeon crawling for weapons that can take down the source of the war—Queen Helen herself. I found myself enveloped in the atmosphere and the trip of each evolving sequence.

I loved Achilles as a narrator. She’s so multi-faceted, equal parts ferocious and tender, arrogant and caring, and more dualities. Deane really leans into Achilles’ mythic arrogance. She’s a fierce fighter with a track record to prove it, but also told repeatedly that she’s the child of gods. There were moments when I wanted to smack her for going a little too far, but it’s still very fun to watch unfold. This book also fucks, especially as Achilles goes so far to claim King Agamemnon as her lover. Does this happen in the original work? Probably not, but it works really well for the greater scope of the warrior woman’s character arc.

The coolest and most thoughtful aspect of this epic is how it acknowledges the many ways one can be a woman, both cis and trans. We have the warrior in Achilles, the priestess in Damia and Iphianassa, the sorceress in Helen, goddess Athena, and the nerdy ethnographer in Meryapi. There’s respect and admiration across each interaction, and even in the narration. Though each woman served a role in Achilles’ story, she wasn’t reserved for that role. There is such dimensionality to all of them. My personal favorite is Meryapi and every scene she is in. They are fun, but, more importantly, add dimensionality to the vision of ancient Greece painted by Deane. There’s so much complexity, it borders on heartwarming.

This book also confirms one more thing: dolphins are cheeky, awful bastards.

I only know the bare bones of The Illiad, so most of Wrath Goddess Sing was new to me. With my knowledge, I kind of knew the big pieces of the story, but the depths of it - and everyone involved - was a surprise. That being said, the action in Wrath Goddess Sing is unparalleled. It delivers a steady current of action, adventure, and intrigue. I loved watching the threads of this story come together. Like a lot of stories of mythology, a large theme of fate and agency is present.

This has to be one of my favorite elements - I'm so predictable. But give me a character straining against the ways our lives are influenced, pushed and pulled by the gods any day. I will always root for them to figure out their own agency and choices. So figuring out what the gods are hiding from us, as well as how our futures are guided by pieces of magic and destiny, is explored throughout Wrath Goddess Sing. If you love that theme, and Greek mythology, then you have to read this one. It feels similar and fresh all at once.

HIGHLIGHTS
~do not read if you’re looking for Achilles/Patroclus
~do read for epically deadly trans woman Achilles
~and amazing Egyptian sorceresses
~never trust a god
~or a dolphin

There are books that strike you like a hammer against bronze, making you reverberate with their glory. Making you peal out your fierce, wild joy like the greatest and sweetest of shining bells.

Wrath Goddess Sing is one of those books.

*

It is theoretically possible than some other author could have put in the years of work and research that clearly went into every detail of Wrath Goddess Sing.

But no one else could have made this story as beautiful and as bold, as extraordinary and as entrancing, as poignant and powerful and profound as Deane has done.

With prose like a wine-dark sea, she sweeps us away into a rich, complex world like no other Trojan War retelling we’ve ever seen: one anchored in real Bronze Age history, weaving together so many unexpected threads, peeling back the…the polish, the Anglicisation of the tale we all know, to get at a story that’s never been told before.

Because we do all know this tale, don’t we? At least vaguely? Via any one of the dozens of film adaptions if nothing else? Maybe you’ve read other retellings; maybe you even studied The Illiad at school or at uni, like I did, and thus don’t really think Deane can take you by surprise. Not really. Not much. She still has to make Wrath Goddess Sing recognisably the story of Achilles, right? How different could it be from what we’ve heard before?

Spoiler: the answer is very. Wrath Goddess Sing is very different, and that took me by surprise and utterly delighted me. I’ve studied the Illiad! In an academic setting! For two years! I picked up Wrath Goddess Sing for a queer take on an old story, not expecting for one minute that Deane could really, genuinely work in twists and turns and takes that I not only hadn’t seen before, but also wouldn’t see coming.

But she absolutely did. She has done.

And it is breathtaking.

Here’s what I mean about peeling back the Anglicisation of the Illiad: if you do know a bit about the story of the Trojan War, there are names you’ll expect to see here – Paris is a big one, and so is his brother Hector. But there is no Paris, and no Hector, in Wrath Goddess Sing. For that matter, there’s also no Troy! Because all those names – of characters and places – they are the names that went into the English translations of the Illiad. But Deane has scorned all of that, and replaced it all with the original, historically accurate names and terms. A few are as we know them – Achilles, Odysseus, Sparta – and others are still recognisable – like Patroklos instead of the more familiar Patroclus. But many are as unfamiliar as the made-up proper nouns of a secondary-world fantasy novel, and honestly, I think that may be the best way to approach Wrath Goddess Sing: forget what you know, or think you know, about the Trojan War. Because this book will not map neatly onto your expectations. It’s much better to come to this story as though you’re opening up an original fantasy epic, where you know nothing and no one and everything is new to you.

That way your preconceptions can’t get in the way.

*

How are you supposed to describe a book like this? How can I possibly do it justice???

I want to geek the hell out and tell you that the title of Wrath Goddess Sing is also the first three words of the Illiad; I want to talk about the Easter eggs scattered throughout the book for Classics students, how I grinned like an idiot when I spotted Aphrodite’s son and screamed at the many-coloured coat; I want to gesticulate wildly as I explain just how much I love Deane’s take on the gods, how the same beings are cross-pollinated across multiple cultures and HOW AWESOME THAT IS.

This is a book that demands caps-lock, and also grand, epic poetry; I want to write hymns to it. I have sat down so many times to work on this review, and – have you ever heard the Earnest Hemmingway quote about writing?

‘There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.’

Trying to write about Wrath Goddess Sing is like that. It’s touched me so deeply, moved me so much, filled me with such fierce crowing joy that trying to talk about it is – it all overflows. If I could cut open my fingers and bleed over my keyboard, the oracles could divine everything I don’t know how to say in the raw wet red, but short of that… Words fail me.

Love is madness, she thought.

And in the grips of that madness, those who love become deadlier than the gods, and lose all rational fear.

It’s everything, is the thing. It has the most incredible prose, an incredibly human cast, magic and intrigue and danger. It’s a story about a mortal war that is simultaneously a war among the gods. It’s poetic and crude, brilliant and hilarious, intricate and deceptively simple. It will have you cheering and sobbing and laughing and gasping; it will give you chills and get into your dreams. It’s so beautiful. It’s so clever. And it’s a fucking battle-cry of a book, especially here, especially now.

Because yes, this is a queer book. A trans book. It doesn’t just feature a trans protagonist; it’s transgressive in its storytelling, in its approach to myth and history, in its underlying message. In its complete subversion of our expectations and assumptions and beliefs. In how, and what, it challenges and celebrates.

Wrath Goddess Sing doesn’t feel like a novel; it feels like magic, like something impossible, like Deane has stepped out of the world to show us a truth we had no idea was there. The only thing more impressive than the scope of her imagination is that she had the skill to pull it off, perfectly, and write a book worthy of her vision. I’m in awe.

And I guess I owe my old Classics teachers an apology, because I’ll never consider The Illiad the ‘real’ version ever again. Wrath Goddess Sing is too true to not be true.

They’ll be talking about this book long after they’ve forgotten The Illiad. Don’t miss it.

DRC provided by William Morrow via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: queer trans Greek protagonist, Egyptian secondary character, trans secondary character, Greek secondary and tertiary characters, queer trans Greek tertiary characters, Egyptian tertiary characters, queer trans tertiary character, queer Greek tertiary character.

Content warning: war, transphobia, suicide ideation, depression, anxiety, mentions of past abuse, homophobic slurs, violence, death, slavery, mentions of rape, alcohol.

Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane is a masterful retelling of the Greek myth of the warrior Achilles as a trans woman, discussing themes of womanhood and transness, family, sisterhood and divinity against the backdrop of the mythical Trojan War.

After escaping the clutches of the terrible Chiron, Achilles takes refuge in Skyros, disguised as Pyrrha in the court of King Lykomedes. She lives serenely for a time until a stormy night a boat reaches the shoreline of the island. The heroes Odysseus and Diomedes are looking for her so that she can take part in Agamemnon’s war against the Hittites.

Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane is excellence in literary form. A re-imagining of Achilles’ myth through a trans lens which quite literally broke my brain. After reading this book I did not manage to write a single review for months. I read this masterpiece in March and only right now in late May I finally succeeded in writing the resemblance of a review for this brilliant work.

I must tell you I had high expectations for this debut and not only it managed to exceed them, it actually made more unproductive than I usually am. I started and finished other books after Wrath Goddess Sing, but this book left such a mark I just could not write a single review, not even if a pay check was in order, because at the back of my mind sat this book with all its gloriousness.

I was simply blown away. I read it in four to five days and for me that is FAST. The last book I read took me eleven days! And not because it was a bad novel, I am just naturally a slowcoach, the personification of a snail in reader form, who in rare occasions can sprint. It was just that good.

In Wrath Goddess Sing, Maya Deane reimagines Achilles as a trans woman. It’s a beautiful, slyly funny, and blisteringly angry book. It’s such a fresh and different telling of the familiar Trojan War.

Achilles is living on an island where she and women like her are welcomed and loved. She is a member of the kallai. Her sisters worship Aphrodite, though Achilles, herself, does not believe in the gods and so takes no part in worship. Her lack of belief though doesn’t protect her from the gods. Athena sends Odysseus to find Achilles to fight in the war to reclaim the kidnapped Helen, and Athena reshapes Achilles body into a female body.

The Achilles of Wrath Goddess Sing has always been a woman, even when other people tried to make her a man, even when she had male body parts, and she is still a woman with trauma around her identity when she has an entirely female body. One of the things I’ve noticed in reading trans and nonbinary authors is that often their characters relationships with their bodies is expressed more purposefully. Achilles relationship with her body before and after transformation, and the way other people relate to her in her body feels important. Her narrative voice doesn’t change, but the way she interact with her body does, or more simply, Achilles core self does and does not change when Athena transforms her.

Maya Deane gives her characters so much life and texture making Wrath Goddess Sing wonderfully layered. I didn’t love the interstitials. I understand the information and context they were providing, but they kicked me out of the story every time with the exception of the last one.

When I read The Master and Margarita a few years ago, a friend said, in Stalin’s Soviet Union, living together in the grey of Purgatory is a happy ending. If you are familiar with Trojan War stories, you know what happens to Achilles. Deane does change details, and in the end, I think she gives Achilles an ending that she would call satisfying.

I received this as an advance reader copy from William Morrow & Co and Netgalley. My honest opinions are voluntarily given.

This book absolutely deserves a place on all of our shelves next to Madeline Miller's works. I loved this read - the main character was so incredible and I loved following her journey throughout the novel. 10/10

Truly the only part I enjoyed was the spice. The writing was lack luster. I hated the portrayal of all of the LGBTQ characters and felt the author could have tried harder. I do appreciate the representation though. The ending wasn't great and if I didnt have to review this because it was an ARC given by netgalley I would have stopped about half way through.

Thank you to William Morrow for this copy of Wrath Goddess Sing on Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This is a gender-bent, transgender Achilles during a war against the Hitties to 'recapture' Helen on behalf of King Menelaos.

Because the character Achilles is a transgender woman and I am a transgender man, I will not be commenting on the representation of trans women in this book, but as there are other LGBT/trans male characters I can comment on those. I will say, some of the ways transgenderism, gender essentialism and everything is translated to a Greek world can seem problematic. There may be triggering content for trans people reading this, so be aware go in.

All that aside, the reasons I rated this book low have a lot more to do with the writing. I loved the play on Gender and sexuality with characters, how deeply we dive in Greek lore. However, the plot seemed kind of all over the place, the ending was not satisfying either from a mystery or from a finality perspective, and if it weren't for my review numbers needing to be higher, I would have DNF'd. I will say the spice in here is very good, and as a fan of imperial military fantasy someone may enjoy the fighting scenes more than I did.

In general, I would not personally recommend this book. However, I would not decline reading more from this author or say authors might not enjoy it.

This was a interesting read for me. I love the trans representation but this retelling was a bit off for me. I'm not a huge fan of the (SPOILER) pregnancy trope which I knew was coming from the blurb about the book but I still wanted to see what happened and I just found it weird especially with who got her pregnant. The writing is nice, albeit a bit clunky and brings up amazing imagery.
I'll probably give it another read and just skip over the parts I wasn't fond of.

While this wasn’t one of my favorite reads, I still think a lot of other readers would really enjoy this story. This book is a tough one for me to review. I enjoyed it but at the same time I didn’t. I liked the Greek myths and all the gods and goddesses in the story but maybe I just don’t connect with the authors writing style. I felt confused quite a bit through out the story. Almost every time a god or goddess is mentioned there are 5 or 6 different names for them given along with the different regions and people the names come from. I understand that different areas called the gods different titles but I felt like these long lists of names disrupted the scene that was going on and didn’t make the story flow smoothly. That being said though I didn’t think the book was bad, it was still a solid story. I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

*(I received an e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changed or influenced my views or opinions.)

I loved this book! And I loved the cover! This book was beautifully written and pulled me in right from the start. Achilles was such a strong and amazing character that I couldn’t get enough of her. She was flawed but quite interesting and I loved as she interacted with her family and her bullies. It was an imaginative and cool way of presenting Achilles that IMO was truly unforgettable. I loved the story and would recommend it to anyone interested in mythology.

TW: death of a child, family and friend

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

a retelling of the Iliad with trans woman Achilles! (Though I was sad Achilles and Patroclus aren't lovers in this retelling :c ) This book is chunky, first of all, so get ready to read a lot of gorgeous prose (but maybe a few too many pages worth) and excellent descriptions and cry when a certain someone (or someones) die at the end.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-ARC!

Ok first of all I loved the cover so much! This book was everything! The writing was great and the idea of all of it!

This has to be the weirdest classics retelling I have ever read. The author basically used the character names and general theme then made it their own sandbox to play in. I feel that I very easily could have rated this book 2 stars for certain reasons but other parts felt like a 5 star read. I’m settling here for now.

Pros: There was four named trans characters in this book as well as sapphic and generally queer representation. I feel like the change to Helen’s character was the best done. I loved meryapi so much. She was awesome.

Cons: The plot was WEIRD. Things happened and the way that Achilles died in this version was just. Not something I wanted to read. Also I don’t know exactly how to verbalize this but I worry a little bit about the representation of Achilles as a trans woman as she was written in this book. I would love some input from trans readers but to me she almost felt written like a cis woman at times and that those around her did not actually view her as a trans person.

Thanks Netgalley for this ARC!

This story was so beautifully written, perfectly bloody, gory, and glorious. Taking a twist on a a famous Myth by casting Achilles as a trans women truly emphasizes the strength trans individuals posses. Achilles is a marvelous protagonist, stubborn, angsty, and quick tempered. Growing with her throughout the story was such a beautiful thing. I got to witness her break and heal, die and rebirth again and again. Easily one of my new favorite reads, perfect for readers who enjoy Madeline Miller!

This book is a retelling of the story of Achilles with the context that Achilles is a trans woman. It's bloody, dark, and intense. The word "wrath" is in the title and it's definitely appropriate. There's a lot of anger in this book.

I was very excited to read this, but ultimately it didn't work as well for me as I expected.

Some parts of this book were really good. I loved the beginning, which shows Achilles living among other trans women. I was really intrigued by this plot and the side characters. After Achilles leaves this area, I really liked some of the new characters that were introduced, such as Patroklos' wife Meryapi.

Unfortunately, the book quickly took a turn more into the details of war and battles and I got really slowed down by the vast amount of names of people and places. The story moves all over the place (there are some really fascinating settings!) but I got lost along the way. There was also a plot point that I really disliked (being vague to avoid spoilers) that ended up taking up a lot of time in the second half of the book.

Overall, I just felt like the pacing and writing style presented me from fully connecting with the characters' motivations and experiences. I liked the idea and I tried so hard to get into this one but I couldn't.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

CW: violence, transphobia, dysphoria, traumatic childbirth, sexual content, grief

The “obsessed with Greek mythology as a kid” to “oh hey we’re queer now” pipeline is real and WRATH GODDESS SING is the most glorious story to encompass this feeling. A beautiful story of Achilles and her journey as a trans woman, exploring her body and defying the gods from choosing her path for her. I absolutely loved this story and Meryapi quickly became a fave character of mine. You MUST read this story!

Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane. William Morrow, publishing date June 7, 2022

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

Spoilers Ahead! You’ve been warned.

This is not the story you think you know.

Wrath Goddess Sing is a historically deep retelling and reenvisioning of The Iliad, the story of Achilles, Helen of Troy, and the 10 year old Trojan War. Starring Achilles, one of the kallai–transgender priestesses who worship Aphrodite, who is given womanhood by her Mother, the goddess Athena. She returns to her cousin Patroklos (Patroclus, if you know the stories and that particular transliteration), and prepares to fight. However, Helen is the enemy, a wicked sorceress who may or may not (I’m honestly not even sure) for Achilles. Achilles must prove herself as a powerful woman in charge and defeat Helen.

This book confused the absolute hell out of me, and I’d like to think I know Greek myths very well. You can tell the author has done their research; everything from the gods’ other names/titles, groups of civilizations (Hittites, Amazons, etc.), and even the Greek translations and transliterations of names. However, instead of reading like a fiction novel, it reads as if the author was showing off how much they know about this subject instead of telling a compelling story.

If you’re really into the histories and variations and intricacies of Greek myth and classical studies, this is totally for you. But for us who love Greek myth and appreciate it for what it is without going into depth about it, prepare to be confused and unhappy.

The only chapter I sort of liked in this book was that of Patroklos’, which is the first and only time it is told from his perspective. And guess what? That was the chapter he died in. It was the only chapter with the first person perspective, too, and I much preferred that to the 3rd person. I wish that the author had more chapters from other perspectives, or that they didn’t include Patroklos’ at all. It felt like a cheap way to show his death. Why hadn’t the author done more in his perspective? That would’ve made the story more compelling.

I really, really, really wanted to like this book, but the more I read, the more disinterested and confused I became. I thought Achilles gaining the body she had always wanted would be spread out throughout the story more, but I was surely mistaken. It happened within the first few chapters of the book, then that was it. She was fully the woman she was meant to be, off to war now!

Oh, and can we talk about how she screwed Agamemnon and got pregnant? If there is one thing I hate more than anything, it's the pregnancy trope. It feels so unnecessary, and especially so in this book. Seriously, like why?

So many things in the book made me so desperate for relief, I read so many other books while reading this one, and when I realized I needed to finish it, I did everything I could not to return to it as long as I could.

If I have to say one positive thing about this book, it's the vivid descriptions. The author does a great job with the imagery, but that’s about it. Her details are intricate and beautiful, and that’s something I always look for in books. However, it didn’t do enough to make me like the story as a whole.

I had such high hopes for this book–I love the book’s description, the title, and the cover–but the book flopped hard for me. Really, really hard.

My honest rating? 2 out of 5 stars. If I wasn’t reviewing this, I wouldn’t have finished it.

Wrath Goddess SIng by Maya Deane was phenomenal. It was one of those books that takes a while to read, not because it's a poorly written book, but because the writing was so lush and rich, I felt like I needed to take my time with it as a reader. My one concern is that people will come into this work thinking it will be Song of Achilles. This is not Song of Achilles. It is a work that stands on its own with its own take on Achilles and the Iliad. Achilles as a trans woman is such a great interpretation. I was spellbound by this book.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. A story about Achilles in the Trojan War. Changes are made, but the core of the story remains the same. The ending was interesting with how everyone came together. Will definitely recommend to others.