As a fan of mythological retellings especially told from a villified woman's perspective, I thought Lilith would be right up my alley. Having known her from fantasy stories as the mother of all demons, I was excited to see another portrayl of her.

The chapters were quick reads overall. And once I committed to the book, I was able to finish rather quickly. But I found myself reaching for other books before wanting to delve back into this. There was a disconnection between me ans the character. While I know Lilith comes from Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, I thought we'd see more of that flowing through the pages. I felt this more of a heavily influenced Christian side.

None of the males in the book were at all likeable. And I'm sorry to say this includes Samael. And while this should have been a strong feminist retelling, I honestly found the female characters...lacking. including Lilith. Which was really disappointing

I'm glad I read it just to have a look into what others think of Lilith, I just think this could've been a stronger depiction of her.

This is a whole new to me spin on the Adam and Eve story. The beginning of the start. The Garden of Eden thing. Even a few other things that were have suppose to of happened according to the book called the Bible. While I question almost all of that book as reality some could have happened. But a flood... No way. And the dove bringing back an Olive branch. From where? It would have taken years for a tree to grow and if they were all flooded then the trees were dead. Yes DEAD! As for Adam and Lilith. Adam ruined all of that Paradise.

In the beginning we actually have no idea who made who or what really happened. Only what a group of "men" want us to believe. That women are beneath them. Women are not as good. Not as smart. Not as strong. Totally dependent on these said men. But what if: What if women and men were equal. What if they would have stayed that way. What if Adam had not of decided he wanted her "beneath" him. Both physically and mentally. What if it too a god and goddess to create or start life. What if people have it all wrong. Since I have so many questions about how things are written in the book called the bible then this is just another possibility. It very well could have happened. Since I have never heard of Lilith then how do I know she did not exist. How do I know there was not a goddess in the beginning. I wasn't there. No one ever told us. Mystical. Myth. Truth.

I believe if women and men would have live in harmony. In total equality. In a balance if you will. Things would be different. I believe if the men didn't want to dominate women things would be way more peaceful. What gives them the right to say we are beneath them. To say we have no brains. To teach us that they are the superior beings. Look at the world and you might take a different stance on that thought. I believe if women and men would have worked together as equals this world would not be tearing itself apart. It would still be just as strong as it was in the beginning. That is my thoughts.

This book was a fun read. It gives a new light to the beginning. Lilith is a very smart woman. Her mother, the creator of life, wanted her to be knowledgeable and strong. Yes the Goddess, Asherah, was there. She was the Heavenly Mother. But Yahweh, the God or Father of Heaven, didn't want her to be equal either. Thus this story. Asherah went through hell for women. God just merely spoke. Man just called women names and that was the end of them. How small is that.

This is also a love story. The love between Maryam and Yeshua. They would be Magdelena and Jesus. The story of what really happened had to be covered up for men to stay in charge of the world. Also the love between Lilith and Samael. I enjoyed these very much. They told a whole different story don't you know. How living and giving will work if done together. How sacrifices are made for the ones you love most in the world work out.

Yes this is a fiction story but it could have happened. It may have. I don't know. I wasn't there. As for Lilith, I loved her. She was good. She was strong. She was loving. She cared. Worked her whole life at bringing a better ending than what we are facing according to men. I honestly did enjoy reading this book. It got a bit preachy in parts but that was needed I think. Lilith lost track of a few years but good grief look at what she was doing. Look at what she did. It could have happened.

Thank you #NetGalley, #NikkiMarmery, #AlcovePress for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

I gave it FIVE big stars because in my opinion it deserved it. This author had to know her bible to be able to write such beauty as this. Thank you for that. I recommend you all read it. Just to see another side.

Absolutely enthralling. I read this book thinking it would merely encompass historical fiction, but it was so much more. The story follows Lilith, first wife of Adam. However, it becomes something more special because it brings in many different world religions, ideas about life, history, politics, and even climate change. I find it hard to categorize it because that is my nature, but it transcended all categories. It was feminist, empowering, interesting, and above all, intricately and amazingly well-researched. The author clearly understood what was being undertaken and rose to the task. I highly recommend this if you have read books about Greek Mythology recently and wanted something different but similar.

HIGHLY recommend.

3⭐️

I owe Thanks to NetGalley, Alcove Press and Nikki Marmery for a Digital ARC in return for my honest review.

In Lilith by Nikki Marmery we follow Lilith from the beginning. It starts in the garden of eden, where Lilith and Adam are created by their gods Asherah and Yahweh (4004BC). From the beginning Lilith is set to an almost impossible mission to spread her wisdom and avenge Asherah. We read of her journey of this mission.

The writing is poetic. There are more scriptures in this than I had wished to read (knowing the context of the book, I did expect a few). I really couldn’t stand any man that was brought into the book, except for Samael.

Tragedy, disappointment, fury, and sometimes love and short lived happiness is all covered in the story of Lilith.

My sincerest thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! From the moment I came across this book I was deeply interested in the biblical and mythological elements that would be interwoven throughout the text. I love the idea of a reimagining of Lilith, Adam’s first partner before Eve, and creating a more empathetic version of her as opposed to what is usually portrayed.

Lilith’s character is depicted wonderfully, standing firmly grounded in her beliefs with a clear voice, strong heart, and conscience drawn toward the wrongdoings and injustices committed by the men around her as well as others.

Despite my enthusiasm about this story’s potential, I did struggled to get through many parts as I felt the plot was too drawn out or the dialogue did not feel fluid at times. I also felt that the overall voice of the novel jumped between feeling a bit too antiquated while also being stuck too deeply in modernity from one moment to the next. This was the source of my deepest issue in terms of resonating with the text since, although I felt impassioned by the underlying message of the story, the language, moments of introspection, and the dialogue were elements I struggled to empathize with or connect to on a deeper level. There was a certain level of monotony that overtook the text at one point fairly early on and lingered, making it difficult to focus on the text and truly feel drawn in enough to feel excited through to the end.

I feel that this text had tons of potential but ultimately fell a bit short for me in the end. The overarching message was an extremely valuable and important one to share, but lacked in its voice and emotional resonance. I feel compelled enough to give it another chance in the future but for now am left feeling a bit stranded between like and dislike.

DNF. The cover caught my curiosity, unfortunately the prose did not hold it. Lilith is a ferocious goddess who deserves to have her epic story told, unfortunately, this particular rendition felt shallow and fell flat for me.

Thank you for letting me read this Galley
I really enjoyed it. I love religious retelling.
The was a berry good read it did take a little bit for me to get fully into very much enjoyed the journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for giving me this ARC in return for an honest review.

As a huge fan of Greek mythology retellings, this book was such a treat! It felt very similar to a Greek mythology retelling in the vein of Circe, but introduced me into the world of Hebrew mythology. I adored the main character Lilith and her struggle to empower women was awe inspiring. The theme of feminism was strong without being patronizing or falling prey to corporate or girl boss energy. I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come.

Thank you NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Nikki Marmery for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I enjoyed this book and it’s one of the most unique ones I’ve read. It follows Lilith, who I learned a little bit about as a child, but from a different perspective. It features a lot of people that I’ve heard about and spans a large period of time. I liked that it was split into sections and that helped to keep my interest throughout. I think people who like feminist retellings, books about Biblical women, and more will like this one. It did remind me of Madeline Miller’s Circe, although I hate saying that because some reviews have mentioned how many people compare it to that book, haha. If you like Circe, though, there is a large chance you will like this one. 3.5 stars!

Well I quit at 60%. I skimmed to the end to see what I would miss and I wasn't super excited as it continued.

This book should've done everything for me - a mythological figure I am fascinated by, and wanted to learn more, the rage of women throughout the millennia... but the writing style couldn't hold me, the story was frustrating, and the entire time it told instead of shown. Which, considering the amount of ground it had to cover, was a lot!!! But still. Super disappointing.

Thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for a chance to read and review.

I enjoyed Nikki Marmery's LILITH (and such a gorgeous cover!). It's a subversive and feminist retelling of a historically vilified woman. The character's voice is incredibly strong and I was sucked into the story right from the first chapter. That being said, while I hoped to love the rest of the novel, I just liked it. Lilith's voice is strong, but it does sound quite modern, which took me out of the story at times. I was hoping for more of a consistently ancient-sounding voice, like Madeline Miller's CIRCE. The writing, while entertaining, could also be stronger.

Additionally, it needs to be noted that Lilith belongs to Jewish mythology, and this novel felt like it was told through a Christian lens. As much as I enjoyed the story, it did feel a little like appropriation, and perhaps would have been even more interesting had the novel been told through a Jewish lens. That is a story I would definitely read. Ultimately, LILITH feels like an introduction to Jewish mythology--but perhaps not the best.

Fans of Claire North will enjoy this one, I think. That's the most comparable author and storytelling/retelling style I can think of.

I’ve always wanted to read more about Lilith and why she’s been vilified. Very good read and I highly suggest it!

This was a DNF for me. I didn't like the writing style, and couldn't connect with the story. I also didn't realize that this was a Christianized version of the story and not a Jewish retelling, which rubs me wrong since Lilith is definitively Jewish mythology. I love mythology retellings but this one did not work for me.

3.5/5

Religious/mythological retellings are my jam lately and Lilith seemed to be right up my alley. Added to that, I wasn’t entirely familiar with the Jewish story of Lilith. So I was really looking forward to this and I just wish this story was in a better book.

"Lilith" follows the title character who, according to Hebrew mythology, was the first wife of Adam before Eve and cast out of the Garden of Eden for her disobedience. Compared to Madeline Miller's "Circe," I had high hopes for this feminist retelling. Unfortunately, I don't think this book ended up being for me, but seeing as there are many 4 and 5-star reviews on Goodreads, I'm confident others will like this one.

Marmery's writing style was a bit distant, which wasn't to my personal tastes. I had a hard time connecting with Lilith or any of the characters. I felt like I was dropped into a story with minimal context, and I didn't feel invested like I wanted to be. I think there were some lovely descriptions and word choices here, so readers who prefer lush prose might like this more than I did.

Additionally, several anachronisms in this book took me out of the story. A few examples from the first few chapters include "no way," "mumbo jumbo," and "clown." These words and phrases were not coined until centuries after the book's events, so it took me out of the scene.

Ultimately, I don't think this is a bad book, it just wasn't for me.

A note to prospective readers: Always ignore comparisons to other books—this is not a Madeline Miller-esque story told from a yet-unheard of perspective. This is explicitly a demonstration of how male supremacy and women’s systemic oppression has been cultivated by millennia of men’s religious authority <i> told through the yet-unheard of perspective of Lilith</i>. If you’re expecting a super in-depth character study on Lilith, change your expectations before reading.

In the beginning, I felt that this would be a good introduction to feminism for those who don’t much like non-fiction because I thought the book wouldn’t go further than the basic feminist sentiments many stop at (usually for fear of backlash), but I quickly realized Nikki Marmery went all in and mirrored modern radical feminist theory through the lens of our narrator, Lilith.

Throughout the story, we see examples of the harm done to women and girls and how men have used religion to justify this harm in a way that reflects our past and present realities. Marmery also shows several times the importance of sisterhood and community in educating and freeing women and how men will do whatever it takes to keep women separated and prevent the mass enlightening we see happen at different points of the story.

We live in a time where much progress has been made in the name of women’s liberation, but there is still a lot of work to do, and it is not coincidence that the most reviled form of feminism—radical feminism—is also the most practiced form of feminism globally, and the one most similar to Asherah, Lilith, and Maryam’s teachings.

A couple of complaints I’ve seen were that Lilith seemed a bit one-note, that the story could meander in parts, and that anachronistic terms were annoying, but I don’t really agree with them. Yes, Lilith’s entire story revolves around finding Asherah and spreading her work, but that doesn’t mean she’s a flat character, and it makes sense that the transitions between sections would be a little slow since they take place centuries—or even millennia—apart. Also, Lilith is remembering things that happened over a 6,000 year period, so her using more modern terminology isn’t surprising, and it’s pretty funny most of the time (especially in the beginning).

This book is definitely a great place to start if you don’t typically read non-fiction, but if you want to go more in-depth with the points made in the book, “The Creation of Patriarchy” by Gerda Lerner (I was really excited to see Marmery quote it in the author’s note), “Invisible Women” by Caroline Criado Perez, and “The War Against Women” by Marilyn French are great places to start (“Adam’s Curse” by Bryan Sykes and “The Darkening Age” by Catherine Nixey are pretty good, too)!

With the surge in retellings, I was really intrigued by this premise. Although now I realize it's not that new of an idea (I wasn't previously really aware of Lilith's myth). Readers who like retellings by authors such as Genevieve Gornichec, Claire North and Madeline Miller may like this work as it is similar in style. However, there are a few caveats to such a blanket recommendation.

First, the writing style seemed to flip-flop and at times was too modern and other times it felt very ancient. The consistency was enough to pull me from the story on several occasions.

For much of the book, I struggled to sympathize with Lilith. I get the basic plight that women just want to exist in our own right and lead a fulfilling life on our terms. I'm sympathetic to the experience of men impressing their own expectations/desires/needs/etc on women, which makes us feel like objects and property, rather than equals. Marmery brought up this idea of men naming something and thinking that's the same as creation, whereas women actually create things to which she wove in the idea that Ashera (God's wife) actually created humans, leaving God to twist the truth to say he did because he wants the credit.

That leads me to my second issue: it seemed like every male in this book was presented in a negative way, like none had any regard for a woman unless she served him. I also didn't care for the portrayal of God as distant and aloof. Yet, I recognize this is largely founded in my own interpretation of the Bible and a relationship with God that I don't view to be the cold, arrogant-type male that many might argue He is. But, that being said, since such a large portion of this book clashed with my understanding of the events in the Garden of Eden and my relationship to Scripture, I couldn't really enjoy it. So, if you view God as sympathetic and a friend, and you believe men and women were created to compliment each other (balancing strengths and weaknesses so that they work in unison, and that neither should lord over the other), this may not be the book for you.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lilith by Nikki Marmery is a captivating tale that weaves different mythology together to bring a new light to an long slighted figure. I very much enjoyed myself reading this book, more than similar books like Madeline Miller’s Circe. Although, I’m not sure if that was because I’m not thoroughly familiar with the biblical narrative stories as I am with Greco-Roman mythology. While I did enjoy the first half more than the later, I still feel that this was an intriguing tale that left me wanting to learn more. I would love for Marmery to write a non-fiction piece with all her sources on Lilith cited.

Side note, I am beyond convinced that Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love I Want Power was the soundtrack to this novel. Only the author can say otherwise and even then I’ll believe it so.

I received this advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This novel has an interesting premise, but overall I found it difficult to follow and be engaged with the story. I found Lilith to be both too modern and too ancient-feeling for us to benefit from her perspective as a modern reader, and although there's a great deal of patriarchal criticism I also don't see how exactly the characters plan to do anything about it. Hopefully other readers will enjoy it more than I did, but I feel this novel would be best suited to a very particular reader.

This is such a difficult review for me to write. I would love to rate it higher, simply because of the potential within the story, and knowing that certain groups of people might be angered by this book's very existence. That said, I struggled to focus and finish this book, and the only reason I did so at all was because I felt obligated to write a review.

Lilith was the "First Wife/Woman" before Eve. She fell from grace after refusing to act as Adam's inferior at his demands. She tastes of the forbidden fruit and makes it her life's mission to remind women that they were made to be man's equal by the Goddess Asherah, the true Creator of all life, partner to Yahweh. Her path to attempting to overthrow the patriarchal systems set forth by men is a long and meandering one, taking her through thousands upon thousands of years, and all over areas near and around the nation of Israel.

When I say this book meandered, I mean it. The writing was inconsistent, at times lyrical and at other modern, and sometimes both within the same sentence. It felt Biblical in form in that Lilith does this and see this and goes from here to there, with little elaboration or description. There is a lot of telling with little showing, and it becomes monotonous and tedious to read. I struggled to stay focused and skimmed, a lot.

As I said, I can see why this book should be better than it is, sadly the execution just wasn't it for me and I honestly can't see recommending this book to others.

Thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.