Thank you to Net Galley & Ghost Orchid Press for this ARC!

A first-person retelling of the life of the Goddess Demeter that includes the evil, misogynistic realities of Greek myths. This book does an amazing job at personifying female rage, a version of it that is able to run rampant. I absolutely loved many aspects of this book, like Demeter's strength and resilience, her rebellion against the patriarchal Greek hierarchy, and the way she claims her power.

As are most Greek retellings, this story is extremely dark. It goes fully into the depths of the pain Demeter and other women in Greek mythology withstood. I loved how emotional it was, how much of Demeter's pain you could feel. I also loved how the author didn't put Demeter on a pedestal- Demeter's mistakes were not withheld from the story and it made her feel all the more human. I loved the differing dynamics between all the shows of power and it was overall really well done.

The one thing I have to say is that the writing style did not appeal to me as much as I thought it would. It was very straightforward and simple, which honestly matches with the way the story is told - its very guttural, almost primal in the way the narrative is presented, which is what I'd expect from this personification of Demeter. However, it just wasn't for me. I definitely have a preference for a beautiful and complex prose, but I could tell what the author was trying to achieve with the style.

Overall, if you're interested in the story of Demeter (not Persephone bc it doesn't go into depth about her), this is the perfect book to read. Even if you're just interested in the Olympians/Greek mythology, I think it's worth the read.

Winter Harvest is an intense adult fantasy that revolves around the Greek goddess of harvest, Demeter, and her vengeful search for her missing daughter, Kore. Just a heads up, this is a very dark, Greek mythological retelling of Demeter therefore there is potential triggering content: violence, sexual assault, abuse, death, etc.

I’m not familiar with the myth of Demeter so I didn’t know what to expect when diving into Winter Harvest. Portrayals of gods tend to romanticize their cruelty and leave no space for empathy or connection. However, readers are able to understand Demeter's motives. Demeter truly cares for her daughter and her vexed actions indicate that she’s not entirely good nor bad. Her past and her reason to fight are what makes her a wonderfully complex character.

I enjoyed how character-driven the story is around Demeter, as well as how readers are able to gradually humanize her. In the midst of her rage, Demeter develops as a somewhat relatable character and readers cannot help but sympathize with her.

Many thanks to Ghost Orchid Press and Papadopoulou for the eARC.

Winter Harvest 🌕🌕🌕🌕/5

Are you a fan of fictional Greek mythology? I am. If you are a fan of Circe you’ll love this!

Warning Triggers: rape, incest.

Most of us are familiar with the story of Persephone but this novel is based on the life story of Demeter, her Mother.
Demeter is the goddess of harvest, creator of the Seasons, sister to Hestia, Hera, Zeus, Hades and Poseidon.
Demeter shares her life story with us here. Her origin, divinity, unbound love for her daughter, immense sorrow and the darkness that dwells within her.
After her daughter Kore is abducted she becomes grief incarnate. Her strong will, daring acts and anger are unleashed upon her brothers and all humanity until she can be reunited with her daughter. The ever radiant goddess of life becomes darkness and death.
She yields a power unlike any Olympian woman, mother or goddess.

What I Liked:
Demeter as the narrator emotionally connects the reader to her character.
Demeter’s abilities as a divine goddess and transformative dual nature.
She is iron-willed, unshakable and defiant in the face of cruelty, misogyny.
The world building is imaginative and believable.

What Could Have Been Improved:
More involvement between Hades, Persephone and Demeter
The story could have been extended to include a glimpse of the Underworld and the powers Persephone yields there.
A map would be quite helpful to navigate the landscape.

Thank you to Ghost Orchid Press and NetGalley for the DRC in return for an honest review.

Winter Harvest was a delightful dark read. I love Greek mythology retellings and this one was so good I read it in one go. I loved the honesty and rawness of the story of Demeter and the relationship with her daughter. It was such a nice and complex read. I loved it.

3.75 stars

I really liked the premise of "Winter Harvest" and overall I quite enjoyed this retelling of the myth, but the writing style didn't always work for me.

If you have a deep adoration for all things Greek mythology, this one is for you.\

Demeter is a goddess who has been demonized and misunderstood by the media viciously, but Papadopoulou takes all the mythos around the harvest goddess and makes her a complex, empathetic protagonist. Yes, Demeter is still a vengeful, wrathful goddess who does not hesitate to punish anyone, mortal or immortal, who wrongs her, regardless how justified they may be (I mean, I would be upset, too, if I witnessed someone I trusted throw my baby into a fire), but that's Greek gods for you! They're terrifying beings of superior power who cannot conceive what it is like to be human. Papadopoulou did a fantastic job capturing that element of Demeter's character.

I also love how unapologetically brutal the story is. Demeter goes through a lot of horrible stuff, from her being eaten by her dad immediately after her birth to getting assaulted by two of her brothers. All this trauma feeds into her, completely transforming herself into the monster she had desperately had tried to hold in throughout her life. Demeter is a goddess, but her struggle is still undeniably human.

All in all, this is such a fantastic read, and I'm really glad I got to read it early!

As an Own Voices writer myself, I was delighted to hear that this Greek mythology re-telling is in fact written by a Greek author, and that the cover is illustrated by Greek artist. I really love the bookcover, and the story is an interesting - if at times very disturbing - take on the tale of Demeter.

Dysfunctional families are of course everywhere, but the inhabitants of Olympus really do take it to a whole other level. How else can one explain the fact that Kronos not only swallowed his daughter Demeter whole, soon after her birth, but that several of her other siblings, including Poseidon, also did a stint in the prison of their father's stomach!

In the end, it was the youngest of the siblings, namely Zeus, who delivered them from their imprisonment, subsequently making himself the head honcho of Olympus - albeit not without protest. But honestly, between sitting in someone's stomach and accepting someone as an overlord, what would you choose?

The thing is, Zeus' subsequent betrayal of Demeter was so much worse than anything she could have imagined. And when she lost the daughter that she had created in order to have a loyal companion to assuage her loneliness, Demeter's fury was matched only by her determination to find Kore.

This is an absorbing read about one of the less-known characters of Greek mythology. While the writing style is somewhat unadorned for my taste, the portrayal of Demeter is in some ways very relatable - if only wrt her emotions and her loss. Even goddesses get a raw deal sometimes... Definitely worth checking out if you like mythology retellings.

From what I've seen, retellings of Greek myths, are often romanticised and the gods themselves are portrayed as perfect creatures, who are always just and can do no wrong. Well, that's definitely not the case in Winter's Harvest where we get to know the darker side of the most-beloved gods. This is a story of Demeter, goddess of harvest, who loses her child Kore (Persephone) and is willing to do anything in order to get her daughter back, even if it means that she will have to destroy the world in the process. It starts with Demeter's birth and her meeting her siblings, starting her life on Earth and figuring out what it means to be a woman in a world dominated by men. At first, Demeter seems like a determined, but still soft, loving mother, who cares both for her child and nature, but as the story progresses and one bad event follows another, she evolves and changes into a completely different woman, one who acts on a whim and who is likely to hurt others as much as they hurt her. She becomes a 'grey' character, someone who can't be classified as either good or bad, but rather has various qualities that correspond to both. That's why I have mixed emotions when I think about her. Although I'm not very familiar with Greek mythology, I recognised most of the characters that appeared in the book, and the others made me curious to find out about them more. I'd say this book was better than I expected in a sense that it was quite easy to read, even though it was a bit slow and I found some parts repetitive. I couldn't relate to Demeter's extreme need (in my opinion) to find her daughter, that is why probably it seemed a bit annoying at times, but overall, I think this story was quite solid.

Thank you to Ghost Orchid Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

Demeter was raised in darkness, swallowed whole by her own father the day she was born. But in darns she was nourished by the love of her sister Hestia. Throughout the years others intruded upon their space—siblings consumed by the father. Hera. Hades and Poseidon all must learn to survive somehow in the darkness of their father’s stomach. That is until their youngest sibling, Zeus, frees them and brings them into the light. Zeus enlists his siblings in the war against their father and they agree to follow him, but they are not so eager to submit themselves to him after the war as their king. But Zeus is ever persuasive and manages to get almost everything he wants, everything but Demeter herself. When he forces himself upon her, Demeter takes some of his power and nurtures it into their child, a daughter, Kore, the companion she had longed for her entire life. Demeter raises Kore away from the other Olympians, afraid that Zeus will try to take control. She never could imagine the lengths he would go to for control, the betrayal he would commit. When Kore disappears, Demeter will do anything to find her daughter. She will wage her own war against Zeus, against the very world itself to get her daughter back. But when she finally meets her daughter again, will she be the same Kore? And will Demeter be the same Demeter, or has she become as monstrous as her father?
Winter Harvest is a powerful retelling of the myth of Demeter. Readers should be aware of themes of sexual violence and abuse committed by family members when going into this book as it can be triggering.

DNF at 41%. I try really hard to not DNF books. Really hard. But this was just boring and I wasn’t invested in the story or attached to the characters. I was looking forward to this, but the writing is shallow and not special. Parts were quite repetitive as well.

I would enshrine this book if I could.

I am someone who very much did not enjoy Miller's Circe (unpopular opinion, I know, but it was mentioned to me as a comp title, and not unfairly. I do think those who love Circe will also love this!) , so I was a little cautious going in. I love Greek mythology, but so often, I find myself disappointed. It was beginning to feel like I was chasing the wrong stories, since everyone else was enjoying things that made me feel hollow or bitter.

I was so hopeful when I saw that this story is written by a Greek author (and the cover is designed by a Greek artist as well, I understand! And isn't the cover art glorious?), that I decided to give this tale one more try.

I am so emphatically glad that I did. Winter Harvest is everything I could have dreamt of and more. It is a feminist retelling, but done in a way that did not leave me as a reader feeling disjointed temporally. Demeter is very much a product of her time and circumstances. She is shaped by her privilege and power just as much as she is by her pain, and Papadopoulou has us witness every high and low on Demeter's journey. There is no sugar coating of anything, from the circumstances of anyone's birth to power dynamics. Instead, we get the myths of Demeter's triumphs and losses, weaved together with the raw emotions of her perspective, all combined into one cohesive narrative. To me, this is a masterpiece.

Everything about this book was incredible to me. I read it in three delightful hours, and I would absolutely give any other story this author wrote a try.

This.
Is.
Dark.

Obviously, Greek Mythology has always been dark.

But this?

"Are we monsters?"
"No, sweet sister. Not yet, at least."

Hmm. Sorry, but here there are monsters. Demeter, but also, forced to become a monster to fight the patriarchal monsters that plummet against her very existence.

Dealing with loss, and changing yourself completely to be what others assume you are, this book wrestles with what feminism means and the lengths one must go to find one's self (even if self becomes lost in the process). And even if the patriarchy doesn't know what to do with you.

"We have changed. We are not the same creatures who once walked in this place. We are not the same."

"This world broke me and changed me." Don't expect a light fluffy story. This one packs a punch.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review.

This book was... interesting to say the least. If you don't know anything about Greek mythology, I don't recommend reading this yet. I think most people know about the story of Persephone and Hades, but there's a bit more mythology in the beginning of the book that sets up the tone for the remaining plot. There is also scenes (not super graphic) of rape, violence, etc. so please be aware of that as you read. It *IS* a dark book.

Personally, this book was not for me because of the writing style but I can recognize and acknowledge why other people like it. Demeter is usually portrayed as kind, soft, and caring given that she nurtures the earth, so when she loses Kore in this book, you see a whole new darker side of her. She realizes that her nurturing power can be used to hurt others, so she uses that to her advantage to find her kid. You also get to see the extent to which she will find her daughter: travelling the world, threatening people in the process, turning boys into lizards, etc. It's like she no longer cares about anyone except Kore.

Would I recommend this book? Sure!

Winter Harvest is the story of an angry goddess and mother. Its a story of anger and pain and the monsters inside you.
Its a greek retelling by a greek author and so weird (like very weird, as weird as actual greek mythology is) and thats amazing!
The gods are very well done, they are not human at all, they feel like actual gods and not like divine humans. They have the fickleness, timelessness and completly different morals, values and wordlviews that I expect godly beings to have.
Demeter, our main character, is very flawed and sometimes even downright evil and cruel (from a mere mortals perspective) but you cant help but root for her and emphatize with her pain snd anger.
For someone whos really into greek mythology its an easy 5* read. If youre not though, a content warning: greek mythology does not abide to our modern morals, there is a lot of r*pe and its mostly treated as something completly normal and fine.
I did eat this book up in two days but it was rather slow paced so it felt to be much longer than 250 pages. Which is my main reason for not giving it 5*.

From the moment of her birth, Demeter, the second-born daughter of Kronos and Rhea, lived in darkness, trapped inside her father’s stomach, always fearing that inside her body a monster lived and she had to keep it caged

I'm really picky about mythology retellings but I really enjoyed this one. Very well done.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

This is one of those books that at the beginning I wasn't sure that I would like (a part of it is because of the prologue, which the book would probably be better off without), but by the end, it really grew on me.

This is the story of Demeter (who I admittedly didn't know much about, so I had no preconceptions of what the story should be like), from her childhood (if you can even call it that), to many of the conflicts during her godhood, the most significant being the disappearance of her daughter Kore.

As expected from any Greek mythology retelling, there's a lot of terrible people (or gods and godesses I guess) and terribly disfunctional family dynamics involved in the story. One of the things I'd worried about before getting far into the book was the worry that while everyone around her was depicted as terrible (or at least nuanced, with good and bad parts both), I thought Demeter wouldn't be like that, I thought she'd be too perfect, without much flaws, but I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that it wasn't the case. The depiction of her character here is full of nuances and she's one of those really flawed characters that are still easy to root for.

The prose of the story is rather simplistic and straight to the point, at first it bothered me a bit, but by the end, it felt right, it made the story feel more visceral and primal, and if the prose had been more poetic or beautiful, the book wouldn't feel quite that way.

Overall, even though it didn't blow me away or anything like that, it was still quite an impressive book, especially for a debut novel. Definitely worth reading for anyone looking for more Greek myth retellings.

"Winter Harvest" by Ioanna Papadopoulou promises readers a captivating and dark reimagining of the iconic tale of Demeter and Persephone from Greek mythology. The description hints at a narrative that delves deep into the emotions and complexities of these characters, offering a fresh perspective on a classic story.

The premise of Demeter's relentless search for her missing daughter, Kore, showcases a mother's unwavering love and determination, which will undoubtedly resonate with readers. The idea that Demeter is willing to go to extreme lengths, even potentially jeopardizing humanity, adds an intriguing layer of conflict and moral ambiguity to the narrative.

Papadopoulou's deep understanding of Greek mythology and her portrayal of Demeter as a multifaceted character highlight the author's commitment to staying true to the source material while infusing it with her own unique interpretation.

Readers can expect a thought-provoking exploration of themes such as love, loss, power, and the consequences of one's actions. "Winter Harvest" appears to be a compelling addition to the world of mythological retellings, promising an engaging and immersive reading experience for those who enjoy stories that challenge the traditional narratives of legendary figures.

My advice - skip the prologue! I almost DNF it after the first sentence. And what a shame that would have been, because there is something special in this book that is horribly represented by that first page. But I will discuss that at the end of my review.

"Winter Harvest" is a cleverly crafted saga following the goddess Demeter's life. From birth, to captivity, to motherhood, to loss. Written in first person pov, it can take some getting used to since Demeter spends most of her life alone with her own thoughts. However, the imagery is visceral and enhances what Demeter is experiencing. The same style that makes for a very graphic explanation of being swallowed whole, also allows the author to tackle the abstract nature of Greek mythology. The language evolves as the world around Demeter becomes less mythic and more regulated by the Olympians.

I think mythology-heads will love this book. It's the first time I've followed the kidnapping of Persephone entirely from her mother's perspective. Demeter's loss, and anger, and constant metamorphosis is something you can't look away from. While I expected a tale of misery, it was also a testament to the strength of a woman as Demeter fights her brothers to maintain her power. The inclusion of many other characters and smaller myths was exciting, like finding easter eggs. But their stories were crafted into Demeter's narrative so seamlessly. It didn't distract from the main story at all. Dynamics that have been glossed over in the past were cracked right open and I felt that the author showed incredible mastery of each character's motivation.

Papadopoulou does not shy away from the complications of Greek mythology. Which means there are couplings between the god-siblings and several instances of rape. But I felt these were handled responsibly. Even the way Demeter reflects on the experiences is true to the morality of the time, before changing as time passes and the world changes too. Villains will stay villains. There is no humanizing/lame redemption arc for the wrongdoers. Even Demeter is forced to reckon with her failures. And I appreciated that sense of justice in such an unruly world.

Here is where I had an issue - the prologue. Only four paragraphs long, but it sets up the tone of the book as taboo erotica. It read very fetish-like, and made me doubt that incest/rape would be handled responsibly. And since chapter one starts with the graphic, anatomical description of Demeter's own birth, the tone from the prologue cast a shadow on the first half of the story.

It's referencing Persephone's conception which I think is written so much better in the chapters. In fact the first time the book really gripped me was during the conversation Demeter had with Zeus just after that moment. It was the first sense of true power we get from her and I would celebrate that tone replacing the existing prologue.

Judging on the chapters alone, I rate this a 4 star read. This will be a real treat for readers who want to experience the mythology, instead of taking in factoids. It embodies the challenging dynamic between mothers and daughters really beautifully. There is a great sense of resolution with the ending. And Demeter's fierce grip on her own power had me cheering for her the entire time. **Content warnings: descriptions of rape, unwanted pregnancies, child abandonment, incestuous relationships.**

Thank you to NetGalley and Ghost Orchid Press for this opportunity to read rage and review this arc which is available November 21,2023!

Buckle up buttercups because this dark reimagining of the Greek myth of the Goddess Demeter will leave you breathless and craving more.

Expertly spun prose, heavily leaning upon the Greek folklore we thought we knew comes the story of Demeter and Persephone that will scratch every itch you have if this genre is what you love. It was in turns lyrically devastating and darkness personified. It turns what we thought we knew in its head and breathes an almost realistic life into the tale. I cannot recommend this book enough. Utterly darkly beautiful book.

Thank you to Ghost Orchid Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this arc! CWs: (it's greek mythology so) Rape, incest, kidnapping, parental abandonment, sorta-cannibalism?

I very much enjoyed this retelling of Demeter; it doesn't villainize her as an overprotecting, stifling mother the way a lot of modern Persephone and Hades retellings do: how much they love each other, and how terrible her mother (or a similar antagonist is) for being against them. I am not Greek, nor do I claim to know much about Greek mythology; while I loved it as a lot of queer children did, and eagerly read what I could, I have not researched into it, nor am I familiar with the deeper legends, of the Mysteries, or of their function in culture.

But I truly enjoyed this. I found myself pleased with everything I half-recognized-- Eleusis, turning a child into a lizard, the fire to burn away mortality. I also really loved the connections Demeter had to her siblings; what it was like in their father's stomach, how she viewed each sister and brother, her bond with Hestia, and her decisions as an Olympian.

Most of all, I really loved how the theme of change was so great: change from being with one to being with more, change with introduction of brothers, change in the war, change in the victory, change as a mother, change as a mother of a missing child. . .and what effects changes have. Too, I also loved was the acknowledgements of how the relationship between gods and nymphs is a weighty one; all gods hold higher power, and few nymphs can truly agree or disagree.