Natalie Haynes is such an interesting author: she is able to present highly-researched and detail-oriented retellings of her subject matter while also being relevant and funny, relating the stories of 2,000 years ago to the stories of today. This is my second nonfiction book by her and I really enjoy her writing style and passion for the classics. And of course the little reference jokes that only fellow nerds might get.

Thank you to NetGalley, Natalie Haynes, and Harper Perennial for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book tried by this author. Wanted to give this one a try especially since Greek mythology is usually presented in a very dry, basic manner. Unfortunately this one didn't do it for me. May not be the target audience.

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

I am going to wait for the day that Natalie Haynes writes a book that deserves less than five stars, however, I believe I will sooner witness Hel freeze over.

This, along with each of NH's previous works, is a MASTERPIECE. Divine Might is telling/informative but it's funny and full of humor, it is what 14/15-year-old me wished she could had have in school to make learning more interesting without facts being so mundane and brain-meltingly-boring. I just finished it and I'm already excited to read it once again to see what I may have missed the first time. I don't think I've ever highlighted so much on my Kindle. This was absolutely spectacular.

Stone Blind is still by favorite book to be written, but Divine Might is certainly in the honorary mentions category!

I loved this follow up to Pandora's Jar! This book describes the major and minor Greek goddesses and as with Pandora's Jar, it provides a feminist spin on well-known myths. I really appreciate the breadth and depth of Haynes's knowledge of ancient Greece and the modern spins on the goddesses discussed. Her descriptions of both literature and art are equally illuminating, and her humor is fantastic.

I highly recommend this to readers with an interest in Greek mythology and a writer who likes to take down the patriarchy a notch or two.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

You will learn a lot from Divine Might, laughing out loud the entire time. Natalie Hayne’s latest contemporary and feminist interpretation and critique of women in Greek myth (focusing on Olympic goddesses and the Furies) is insightful, wry, and clever. When she hits full gallop on her subject—which happens frequently—it is a rollicking ride. She is a gifted teacher—always speaking to the reader, not listening to herself talk—but sometimes it still feels like she is breaking a fourth wall with a clever aside or self-aware observation. She tackles the rampant sexism (and sexual assault) of Greek myth and literature head on, pithily summing up the moral of the story (to wit, “Don’t pretend to be less than you are to make a mediocre man feel better.”). She can invoke Playmobil and pop culture with the same facility as explaining the subtleties of translations of ancient Greek and contextualizing the rise of Christianity. Highly recommend.

This book is another great look at Greek mythology from Natalie Haynes. I really enjoy how the author approaches her discussions of the goddesses she's chosen, adding much needed context and reappraisal of many of these characters. I also liked the variety she chose; we get the typical Athene and Artemis chapters that you may expect to see, while also getting discussions about goddesses like Demeter and Hestia that are less commonly seen in their own right and not attached to another myth. I was particularly interested in Hestia, as all I knew about her was from the little that she features in the Percy Jackson series. Haynes has a fantastic wit in her writing style that makes her books engaging and fun to read, while also dropping a lot of knowledge. It is obvious she knows her stuff, and it's refreshing to hear about this mythos from a female pov.

I’ve loved everything Natalie Haynes has ever written, and this is no exception. As a person, I tend to gravitate toward fiction more right now, but when I saw she’d written this book, exploring how the goddesses, muses and furies might look through a more femicentric framing, I knew I had to read it.

Haynes takes a topic that could be considered stodgy and makes it come to life, interspersing original text with pop culture references. Her prose is incredibly accessible, and if you ever get the chance to hear her narrate her own work as an audiobook, you should do it. I’d be willing to bet this book would be no exception.

The women and goddesses have long gotten the short end of all kinds of historical interpretations. Hera is a jealous shrew, Demeter is a controlling mother, Aphrodite is vapid and punitive. But by considering that maybe Hera might (just might!) have reason to not trust Zeus farther than she could throw him and that the women who worshipped Hera would have been women with very little power in their own marriages to potentially volatile men, Haynes is able to take a great deal of the misogyny out of the myths and make the argument that these goddesses have been misrepresented by male authors through history. And better yet, she does so with a tongue in cheek wit that I can’t help but enjoy.

Each chapter reads almost as it’s own short story, focusing on one goddess, and lays out what is said about her previously, then looking at those original texts more critically and coming up with something better and more compelling. I particularly enjoyed look at Artemis and the Furies.

In some ways, this reminded me of a nonfiction version of Wake Siren (which was a femicentric retelling of Ovid’s Metamorphosis).

If you’ve enjoyed Greek retellings in the past and enjoy personable, accessible nonfiction, there’s no question to me that you’d enjoy this book as much as I did.

Natalie Haynes's Divine Might is a wonderful novel that reads like your friend who studied classics and Greek mythology is telling you a bunch of stories. Separated into chapters focusing on a goddess (or group of goddesses in the cases of the muses and the furies), Haynes makes a deep dive into what makes these women tick, who they are, where they came from, and why they did the things they (supposedly) did.

As a fan of Haynes's retelling of the Trojan War, A Thousand Ships, I was eager to read Divine Might. While I am not ordinarily a nonfiction reader, Divine Might does not feel like nonfiction. The mythology inherently allows it to straddle the line between the real and imagined, and Haynes does a great job of pulling you in and making you want to hear the stories about each powerful woman or group of women.

Any lover of Greek (or Roman) mythology is sure to enjoy this book.

Natalie Haynes has done it again ! After capturing my attention with Pandora’s Jar she has fanned the flames of my reignited Greek mythos obsession with Divine Might . This title will be the perfect read for those already in love with mythology and looking to take a feminist lens to some old favorite stories.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the stories about the women really kept me interested and made me see them in a different light, especially Hera. I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

Natalie Haynes brings humor and modern metaphor to ancient myths. The way characters are discussed in Divine Might makes even gods and goddesses feel like they are flawed and human. This sequel to Pandora's Jar takes a look at goddesses from Greek mythology, analyzes them through a modern and feminist lens, and asks the question of why we view female characters the way we do. Is it really them or a male dominated society viewing powerful women differently from men? This book perfectly encapsulates the line between academic reading and a fun non-fiction read. Divine Might and all of Natalie Haynes' work is perfect for fans of Percy Jackson and other Greek Mythology based media. From the beloved Muses to the feared Hera, this book covers the goddesses you thought you knew in an all new and enlightening way!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I loved Pandora’s Jar so I was incredibly excited to be chosen to receive this ARC! The author brings the same wit and excellent research to the topic of goddesses and I enjoyed every minute.

I often struggle with nonfiction reads but it’s certain now that I’ll enjoy anything this author puts out

This is a great take on goddesses and another well written novel from Haynes. Her prose is so descriptive and informative on Greek mythology. I just love the little notes of humor she puts in between the essays and the range of information we get to learn on different goddesses. Overall, a great book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced reader copy.

I was confused through the first two chapters, as I assumed it was a fiction book. Once I went back and clarified, it was in fact, non-fiction, it made much more sense. Obviously a huge amount of research went into this piece. I enjoyed the premise but the layout and outline wasn't for me.

This is another great book from Haynes. Her signature wit and sarcastic asides and stories always make for entertaining reading. This time we explore the most famous goddesses in Greek mythology. Each essay gives us just enough backstory, anecdotes, and insight, while definitely leaving me wanting more. I honestly would have read twice the number of words on Hera, Artemis, and Athena. This is a must-read for anyone that loves Greek mythology.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a requested copy to review. All opinions are my own.

Really enjoyed this book and the authors take on the different goddesses. I really liked how she talked about all the mythology, and even about the art involving these women. I also enjoyed how the author talked about these women as complex beings, having feelings and how their emotions sometimes played into their actions. also, how the author brings this old mythology into current times with movie and books I found extremely interesting. this book is definitely very female focused however, there is a smattering of mention of the gods and other prominent characters in mythology. Excellent book for anyone who is looking for a female focused view on Greek and Roman mythology.

I love everything related to Greek mythology, so immediately jumped on this latest book by @nataliehaynesauthor. This tells the story (nonfiction) of the Greek goddesses -- some well known (Aphrodite or Athena) some lesser known (Hestia) sandwiched by the Muses and the Furies.
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Typical of everything she's done before, this is packed with information about these goddesses--even when she says up front that there's just about nothing in existence, she still manages to pull together a really engaging story. It provides context of how these goddesses showed up in art and culture throughout time, including modern pop culture references. And all the while, it's infused with her typical dry humor that makes all these characters accessible if not relatable.
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My only real critique is that there seemed to be a lot of information that was only somewhat tangential to the goddess in question (as much as I love reading about The Hunger Games in a book on Greek goddesses, I'm not sure we needed *quite* that much of a plot recap), that felt like it could have been edited down some.
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But like always, I definitely learned something, and really enjoyed reading this!

“Divine Might” is written very much in the same vein as Haynes’ previous publication, Pandora’s Jar,” wherein prominent women from Greek mythology are given a thorough reexamination. This time around, it’s the Greek goddesses who take center stage. The end result is a read that I found to be just as much a delight as its predecessor!

I’ve read about the figures covered within this book through countless tellings and retellings of their tales since my childhood, and as a result I thought that I knew them to some sizable degree. That however has changed quite a bit. With every chapter, Haynes took a battering ram to the lens through which I viewed a particular goddess with eye-opening new takes. And now that my perspective on a large chunk of Greek pantheon has been partially demolished and rebuilt, I honestly want to revisit the classic myths in the near future, for it feels like the old stories will now come across so differently that for some it may feel like I'm reading them for the very first time.

To say the least, Haynes has once again successfully given another burst of fresh life to Greek mythology, at least for this particular reader. I hope to see yet another nonfiction work of this type from her in the near future. However, I won’t be picky - with her track record, I’m sure that no matter how she revisits Greek mythology, I’m sure to be as entertained as I was with her latest publication.

Pobody’s Nerfect…expect Natalie Haynes. Who else can write such witty, intelligent books? Who else continually educates the masses on feminism and Greek goddesses and quotes the terminator and talks about Lizzo and everything in between?

Am I gushing? I’m gushing. Divine Might, a non-fiction book, examines the Muses, Hera, Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter, Hestia, Athene, and the Furies. While I love mythology, I’ll be the first to admit it often seems inaccessible. Haynes removes that barrier.

Thanks NetGalley for sharing the goodness that is Natalie Haynes with me.

This is an interesting (although a little dry) analysis of Greek myths and the roles the goddesses play. I was hoping for a bit more of Haynes' humor (which I love so much from her podcast - she's laugh out loud funny!) but she always has interesting things to say about mythology.