I love Greek mythology retellings so I was excited to get this book. I enjoyed this retelling of the Amazon Queens, Hippolyte and Penthesilea. Although, I was confused a few times reading Hippolyte's story. For such a strong Amazon woman, I questioned some of the decisions she made and it made me not love the story as much. Penthesilea's story felt rushed at times but was enjoyable as well. Overall the author did a beautiful job telling their stories.

"Hippolyte was the Queen of the Amazons. Invincible in human terms. Fearless. How was it possible that any man could break her like this?"

Queens of Themiscyra is powerful story of two women from mythology, actually not just two women but many and their strife and passion. I finished Spartan's sorrow first and started this back to back and I was quite sure that this won't top Spartan's sorrow as I was quite sad reading the story of Clytemnestra. But this was heartbreaking. I just felt so devastated , so much lost for both the Queens of Themiscyra.


Hippolyte was the Queen of Amazon and their life was so simple till a man entered her life and caused the destruction of the whole world they had set themselves in.

"Old enough to consider himself a man, yet still oblivious of the burdens that fell on one who was truly accountable for their actions." Theseus is the typical example of naricissicist, egotistical maniac who believes there's nothing that matters more than him. He is cunning, ready to go lengths to achieve what he desired.

And Hippolyte and ultimately Penthesilea and every woman of Amazon even though not involved directly in the affairs suffered at the hands of Theseus. To be honest one can't help but curse Hippolyte and yet feel broken for her. Love can make people blind even if it is a strong passionate woman.

"For it is not in our own deaths that we face the worst torment a man can know. It is in the deaths of those we love.”

And time and again it is proved how women suffered they fell in love with the wrong man or is there a right man out there?

"She had always believed that she and her sisters were immune to such folly. They loved each other. They loved their lands and their women. Wasn’t that enough? What more could one man possibly bring?"

I have loved this book. The starting is bit slow but it gets interesting. After the war of Athens again things slow down and at first I wasn't interested in the rest of the story but I liked it nevertheless.

This is even better than Spartan's sorrow, very well written.


I will definitely and highly recommend it to all Greek mythology fans out there and those who Will like to read Hippolyte's side of the story.

Thank you Netgalley and sourcebooks landmark for the amazing ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I enjoyed reading the first 65% or so of this book, then everything went south. I found Hippolyte unlikeable and felt many of her choices to be unbelievable. The ending really threw the whole book into a tails pin that the story never really recovered from.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to review this book. All opinions are my own.

Lynn's work is descriptive, and the world building is done very well. I enjoyed getting to read a story about the Amazons and the two queens. I admit, even with the description, I did not expect the plot to go the way it did. This was a pleasant surprise. The characters are well developed and easy to believe /root for. Overall, I liked the book.

I think readers that enjoy the retelling, and the reimagining of ancient myths and legends will enjoy Hannah Lynn's work.


Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the eARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

A refreshing take on the Amazonian queens and their stories. I enjoyed this, however it appeared that the book was trying to rewrite the women’s story into a feminist approach however failed to reach that at certain moments.

This devastated my heart in the best way possible. Their story was tender and heartbreaking and made me hate Theseus.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. Before reading this, I knew the broad strokes of the myths of the Amazons and their queens. This novel did a fantastic job of adding in more to the story that you would never get otherwise. While incorporating all of the myths of the Amazons, Lynn was also able to give the queens interiority and pathos and everything that mythology likes to take away from women. So many retellings hit the same beats but this felt new. I really enjoyed it. 4 stars.

I love all things mythology and this was wonderful. It was a great retelling and I can’t wait to see what this author does next. The story was beautiful and the characters were perfect.

"Queens of Themiscyra" tells the story of the two most famous Amazon queens, but - for me at least, it suffered from a lack of character development. The characters all felt rather two dimensional and the story managed to both feel drawn out and rushed.

I'm not sure why I keep torturing myself with reading these beautiful stories of Hannah's even though I KNOW they're tragedies. But also they're so well written and I love them.

This follows Amazonian Queens Hippolyte and Penthesilea in their stories of love, loss, and betrayal after an encounter with Theseus (boo hiss🍅🍅🍅). The story is well done and I like the small moments of kindness both queens share with children that I like to think help out in large ways. I also appreciate the connection to other stories the author has written. About 65% the plot felt like it stalled a little bit, but It picked back up around 75% until the end.

Woof, another tragedy.

This book was extremely well-written, but the story itself was just so so sad. I couldn't imagine the life of Hippolyte and how, even at the end, she sacrificed herself for a man. Period. Let alone a man who treated her like absolute garbage at the end with seemingly no reason. I felt like this little twist was so bizarre and it didn't make any sense to me. I don't know the true story of the Amazons and Queen Hippolyte, but I really hope there was more to this sacrifice she gave than what the book portrayed.

I know Grecian and Trojan stories end in tragedy, but I ended this book feeling so sad and hopeless which is such a shame. I was really hoping this would be a story of women finally seeing a new ending, but it wasn't to be.

3,75☆

Having read 'Athena's child', I had a lot of expectations regarding this book, and let me tell you, it did not completely disappoint, especially the beginning.
Hannah's writing style is beautiful and compelling, and so I read the book in one sitting.

The story was also really interesting. I am a fan of Greek mythology, so I love reading retellings, but sometimes those said retellings are more a compilation of myths than an actual retelling. It was not the case with this book, which I absolutely love.
However, towards the end of the book, I felt everything became very rushed, and the ending was completely disappointing for me.
At the same time, I got the feeling that the characters are underdeveloped and their personality is a contradiction, especially when it comes to Hippolyte.

Still, it is a very enjoyable book, and I absolutely loved seeing more about the Amazons.

3.75!

I love Hannah's writing style, it feels like watching a movie because its so vivid and gripping However in this book the first 70% of the book was so captivating that I was actually loving it (I even thought of giving this book 5 stars) but the last 30% of the book fucked itself so hard and the ending doubled the fuckery, this was the same problem I face while I was reading her other novel A spartans sorrow I was enjoying it until it decided to end in the most ridiculous ways. I get she wants to write sad endings and I truly do enjoy bittersweet/sad endings BUT only if they are done right and sadly here it wasn't done write.

I have always been fascinated by the Amazonians and was even more when I watched wonder woman, I didn't really know the complete lore surrounding them and I wanted to learn more, I just knew that there were strong, capable, fierce women who were also the strongest warriors and I wanted to learn more about Hippolyte and there was romance with minimal but sufficient spice to keep me intrigued. The book was going so good, I was actually loving how hard choices Hippolyte had to make, the things that she had to sacrifice and the loyalties that bound her and I was actually shipping her with Theseus but then the plot twist happened and all I wanted was revenge and like?? I didn't even get that. Hippolyte was supposed to be strong, not someone who was a doormat with no backbone, in this book she was literally a disappointment to any female warrior alive because what the fuck??

SPOILERS

So I knew that Theseus used her and then discarded her like she was nothing an brought a new wife, he never really saw Hippolyte as an equal and throughout the book she was proclaimed as this strong warrior that everyone feared but she couldn't even do a single thing to Theseus, LIKE OK he drugged you and took you away from your home but you still chose to understand him and what he was trying to do because you loved him? and then started treating you like you were worthless and replaced you and when the time came for you to kill him you were fooled by two of his words and jumped in front of him to take an arrow that was meant for him and then fucking died?? and Peninthsila (watev her name was) deserved a better end, killing her made no sense.

SPOILERS END

I did like Hippolyte's relationship with Theseus's father and I also liked how the book was split into two povs and how well balanced it was.

Overall, it was an enjoyable book until the last 30% messed it up. I have another arc from this author of her new book Daughter of Olympus which sounds so good! I want to read it as her last chance despite loving her writing style and the way she thinks I will not read her books, if the ending part is not well thought or well written.

3.5 stars.

As someone who doesn't typically read mythology retellings, I went into this one without any existing knowledge of the events and characters covered (I also haven't read anything else from this author).
I read some other reviews for context and to help me frame my own thoughts, and I see a lot of people talking about the difficulties inherent in the source material with Greek mythology especially as Theseus was just an absolute wrong'un.

While I enjoyed the strong feminist vibes between the sisters themselves (I'm here for an Amazonian warrior princess, taking what she wants, every day of the week), I couldn't get past my issues with Theseus, the kind-of love interest. His actions left a bad taste in my mouth, and I found the subsequent romance and Hippolyte's actions difficult to believe.

The book itself is beautifully written. The prose is engaging and poetic and I've seen from other reviewers that other books in the series are even better, so I'm intrigued enough to add them to my TBR list. While "Queens of Themiscyra" may not have been the perfect fit for me, I can appreciate the author's style and would recommend it to fans of the genre who are willing to overlook some questionable character choices.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC.

Very good book! I was very impressed with the female dynamic! The cover is very beautiful also! Great job!

When King Theseus of Athens arrives in Themiscyra, he disrupts the lives of the Amazons by ensnaring the heart of their Queen Hippolyta, who is supported in her reign by her sister, Penthesilea.

Leaving her kingdom to Penthesilea, Hippolyta relocates to Athens only to discover a restrictive lifestyle for women that is very different from the independence of the female Amazon warriors. How will she cope with these very different circumstances? And how will Penthesilea and her sister Amazons manage in Hippolyta's absence?

This is a wonderful feminist retelling of Greek mythology, where Hannah Lynn has done justice to her fascinating material.

I loved the book, especially the way the characters were brought vividly to life, and their stories told with equal parts empathy and passion. Highly recommended, it gets 4.5 stars.

I enjoyed this book. I'm a sucker for myth retellings, and especially retellings that focus on the women of myth. I had a lump in my throat for most of the final chapters - something about the women choosing to band together got me.

“Queens of Themiscyra” is a novel of strength, love, family, loyalty, freedom, tradition, betrayal, female relationships, and the queens of lifetimes past - the Queens of the Amazons.

This novel is moving, heartbreaking, thoughtful, filled with action and adventure alongside moments of tenderness and insecurity in a time and a place where the Amazon women were feared and revered. They were indomitable, fierce, loyal warriors who Lynn juxtaposes against the women of Athens and many other places of the time where women were to be hidden away, admired, coveted, and could be taken as property. This myth shows that even the fiercest warrior in all of us is not infallible. I appreciated the depths of emotion shown by Hippolyta’s character and the changes that occurred upon her departure to Athens. Despite this we have glimpses showing that even in the Greek world of mythology there were women who were loved and adored for who they were. Primarily the story of two of the daughters of Ares, princesses/Queens Hippolyte and Penthesilea, I only wanted to read more about the women: their way of life, their upbringing, training, connections with each other, their sisters, and the other Amazons. I ached for Penthesilea in the last part of the novel as she tried to come to terms with who she was and all that she had done. I admired their strength and fierce connections to each other and their home.

Filled with heart pounding danger and moments of pathos so heart breaking they made you want to curl up and cry, the Queens of Themiscyra will live in my mind as the mighty Amazon women who could do it all.

Thank you to @bookmarked and @netgalley for the advance ebook of “Queens of Themiscyra.” I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am looking forward to reading her next book in the “Grecian Women” series. Available for preorder now, you can find this title on shelves on May 7, 2024.

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thank you so much to netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

and i'm gonna be real honest... WHO needed this story told (in this way, at least)? while i wasn't too knowledgeable about these particular women in greek mythology (ok i only remembered their names because of wonder woman), this can't actually be the best modern "feminist" retelling for their stories, right? did we need theseus playing such a huge part in this? everything i read about that slimy man just keeps getting worse!

i think i enjoyed penthesilea's pov more, if only because i'm more familiar with anything trojan war related.

3.5 ⭐️

"She had been a wife, she had been a mother, but she would always be an Amazon."

Choosing the rating for this one was really hard because the writing is excellent, every sentence is beautiful, but the story itself made me so angry so many times it left me very conflicted (i might have permanent frown lines bc of this).

“Since you are here, it seems wrong not to make some use of you,” she said, still holding the sword as she straddled him. “But do not disappoint me, or I will end you.”
“I was born to serve you, my Queen. That I promise.”

So here we have Hyppolite, the strongest most badass and powerful Amazon Queen, who enjoys some d time with lover boy Theseus until he drugs her and kidnaps her 🤨 typical Greek mythology event moving on that's not the issue, in fact it was an interesting moment to read UNTIL SHE HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO KILL HIM AND DOESN'T.

“This is what you want,” he said, the blood trickling from a cut above his eyebrow. “You want a man who can control you. Who can best you.”
“There is not a man on this planet who can control me."

Right so in 2 weeks she got head over heels for baby boy despite a lifetime of using men for their body and living in a community of self sufficient women. Okidoki let's go then!! oh wait that backfires and she gets terribly wronged by him???? naurr who could have expected it 😧

“You? It was not you that was never enough. You were too much for him, sister. Always too much. Too strong. Too powerful. Too smart. Too compassionate. Too brave. Too loving. He tried to bring those things down in you, but he could not succeed. He did not replace you because he wished for something better, my darling sister, believe me. He replaced you because he knew you were more than he could ever live up to.”

I wont spoil anything so I can't even describe the most infuriating, revolting, scandalous, and any other intense and dramatic adjective TURN OF EVENT that left me absolutely dumbfounded and by this point forward I gave up on these women having any sense. Since the book also follows her sister Pe- (can't remember the name for the life of me) and her own stupid decisions, as if the status of Amazon never meant anything and they just let men win over them time and again (and refuse to listen to sound advice, which is a personal pet peeve).

Anyway so those are my main complaints, but as you can see it may just be history related and the author didn't have a choice to make the events that way so the story would make sense. I just couldn't enjoy this book fully while the two most powerful women on God's green earth let men get away with the worst of the worst.

On this note, please if you haven't already, check out A Spartan's Sorrow (2nd book in this series) which was flawless, tragic, beautiful, mesmerizing etc etc a 5 star read no question.

[review posted on goodreads and probably later on Instagram and tiktok]