I was so excited when I was chosen for this ARC. It took me a while to finish it due to some personal struggles. However, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this. I absolutely loved this book and the fresh take on Hera's story. Her character arc was incredibly compelling, and I really felt her sense of despair with each setback. I celebrated her small wins and admired the fierce determination she had in challenging Zeus in every way she could. I highly recommend this book—Jennifer Saint does an excellent job of offering a captivating narrative that gives voice to the women of Ancient Greek mythology. Well done! I feel like I need more !!

Dear Hera,
I really enjoyed you. All of Saints mythological retellings bring ancient characters to life. I went into you only knowing the bare minimum about Hera but your story really brought her to life. My heart broke with her as Zeus paraded his cheating ways in front of her and mocked their relationship. While the relationships between the gods were complicated, and I sometimes found myself getting lost between all of the interwoven story lines, I really liked you overall. I will continue to be a fan of Saint and her writing.

I'm a huge fan of stories that explore "unlikeable" female characters and/or often-maligned female figures in mythology, having loved books like Yellowface and Circe, and Hera by Jennifer Saint definitely delivers.

Jennifer Saint's writing fully immerses the reader in the world of Greek mythology, with all its various gods, goddesses, demi-gods, mythical creatures, and tales of lore. The story of Hera is told in such a way that it doesn't shy away from Hera's vengefulness and wrath, and it doesn't try to redeem her actions, like taking out these feelings on Zeus's mistresses - or rather, victims. And yet the narrative does a fantastic job of making Hera understandable and even deeply sympathetic in many ways. We get insight into her past, before she became this angry version of herself and was spending her time gallivanting with river gods and helping to win wars against the Titans, and what ultimately began her descent into this anger: her brother Zeus tricking and sexually assaulting her, and then forcing her to marry him. We understand that Hera, even though she is a powerful goddess, is also a victim and a survivor, who suffers constant indignities, and who is oppressed by the gendered hierarchy of the Greek pantheon and her marriage to her brother-husband Zeus. In other words, Jennifer Saint succeeds in crafting a wholly complicated, multi-layered, and often morally ambiguous portrait of the goddess Hera. One that really makes the reader examine the misogynistic lens through which Zeus and Hera's story has been portrayed in the past, with Zeus (an incestuous rapist, philanderer, and abuser) being glorified at worst and having his misdeeds glossed over at best, and with Hera (a victim of Zeus's assaults and abuse) so thoroughly villainized.

The only thing that detracted from the reading experience for me was that it felt like the story was cramming too many things in, which led to some repetitive story moments that could have been more creatively distinguished from one another (ex/ Hera trying something and it not working, multiple times). I also felt that the pacing was inconsistent, and shortening the story a little bit could have tightened this up.

In any case, Jennifer Saint's retelling is a much-needed righting of historical wrongs, with an ending that was at once devastating and hopeful, and it is a story that I would definitely recommend reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Definitely a book for library purchase. Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Rating: 2.75 out of 5

This is my third read of Jennifer Saint’s (previously read Ariadne and Elektra) and I was really looking forward to this. Unfortunately, this was a massive let down. The writing was inundated with descriptions that didn’t carry the story forward. I think one of main reasons why this was a flop read was because Hera is such a big character with so much to write about. When you compare her to Ariadne and Elektra, they had smaller stories to focus on and really delve into. Because this was oversaturated with so many stories of Hera’s timeline, I was left skimming almost 50% of the book. Overall, I’m disappointed by this read.

From the start, Zues has always taken what he wanted; the throne, his title, Hera, and the other women.

Did you ever want to learn Hera's villain origin story? This book has Hera's life from the time of the war with the Titans to when the Olympians were no longer relevant. Before this story, we only see Hera as the woman who always takes a her anger out on the women her husband Zeus would go after. After this book, we see that those women were not the only victims in their story.

This story takes you through all of the highs and lows of Hera's life.

This story has:
~Third Person POV
~Baddie FMC
~Hera's Origin Story
~Reconnecting with your Power

Trigger Warnings:
~Owernship
~Rape
~Sexism/Misogyny
~Incest

Thank you Flatiron Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Jennifer Saint for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I’ve read all the books in this series so far and enjoyed them a lot. For some reason, though, I couldn’t get into this one when I tried to read it… Maybe I just wasn’t in a mythology mood. I hope to pick it up again in the future!

Jennifer Saint never misses and is an auto-buy author for me when it comes to mythological fiction and retellings; HERA is no exception. Saint always manages to add such depth to these goddesses that they become even more intriguing, compelling, and brilliant in their own right than they already are. Loved this book & would definitely recommend it out to others!

I adore Jennifer Saint. In my opinion, she can do no wrong. Hera is no exception. The characters are so rich, and even though you may feel like you already know their stories, Saint will still surprise you. I will definitely be recommending this book in my store.

As both a Hera and Jennifer Saint stan, I was so excited to see this book on NetGalley and couldn't wait to crack into it. I was not disappointed- this was an amazing story recounting the life of Hera throughout the entire Greek myth saga- from her birth to even after the Odyssey ends. I felt as though I knew her personally, as if I were Hestia or Klymene and listening to her woes. I love how Jennifer Saint never really redeemed Hera's actions; she just provided more context on how Hera got to be the villain wife we all know. My only critique is I wish the part about Jason was longer! I wanted to see her really open up and help someone! But otherwise, this book was flawless.

Thank you Flatiron Books, Jennifer Saint, and NetGalley for providing me with this book!

Hera by Jennifer Saint was a really enjoyable modern retelling of Greek mythology.
It is such a well written and researched book that adds some twist to many of the myths surrounding this Greek Goddess. It makes you want to learn more, read more and hear more about the famous Greek myths and legends.
I loved Jennifer's style of writing. It was a very different pace to most of my recent reads, and I loved the imagery and the minimal dialogue. The world-building was fascinating and well done.

Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I haven't read a book yet that has solely focused on Hera and i am so grateful that Jennifer Saint gave Hera her moment. We see Hera from her time of escaping her father Kronos to how she carries on. We are literally taken through Hera's life in her POV. From her navigating the new life of being a goddess and the Queen of Gods, dealing with Zeus and his shenanigans/offsprings, her relationships with other Gods, and the struggle of seeing where she fits in the bigger picture. I felt like we finally got an understanding of this character that we have only gotten bits and pieces of in all the other stories we know so well. Hera has always been one of my favorite greek gods, so this book definitely did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the last few chapters the most because the author did such an outstanding job of the God's roles adapting as humans start to overtake their world. Where did the Gods go? What did they do? What did she do? It is all tied together so well and I loved it. This book was such a beautiful tribute to Hera, and I will highly recommend it to all my fellow greek mythology friends.

I have been so excited to read this book from the minute it was announced. Hera is a character that I’ve never read as a main character, only a secondary or background character at most so getting to finally get her perspective was something I was very much looking forward to. I do feel like this version of Hera is going to come across as unlikeable to some readers, but for me, this is a woman who just wants what is rightfully hers. A woman who is constantly overlooked and humiliated. Did she take out her anger on the wrong people sometimes? ABSOLUTELY. But did she have every right to be angry? Again, ABSOLUTELY. It was so interesting to see her reactions to Zeus’ many infidelities and her quiet (and sometimes not so quiet rage) at his disrespect towards her was very well done and honestly a little terrifying at times. It was also interesting to see the gods’ perspective on humans and their various kingdoms and relationships. It does take a bit for the central plot to get going and it’s still much more character driven than plot, but I was so intrigued by Hera and her story. If you’re looking for another Greek mythology retelling to enjoy, definitely try this one!
CW: rape, kidnapping, death, murder, violence, sexual assault, child death

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought Zeus and Hera were happily married. But also I was wondering what type of arrangement they had knowing Zeus had a baby with every breathing female on earth. I didn't know Hera would be this hateful, this vengeful, and this resentful and I'm here for it.

In the past couple of years, we read many retellings of princesses' and goddesses' stories, but no one really paid attention to the queen of all gods and goddesses, and another sibling who stood against his/her Titan parent to create new world order. Hera was forgotten as Zeus forgot about her. Why would someone like her be settled with goddess of marriage for the love of God?!

I appreciated Jennifer Saint's retellings a lot. She brings out the unknown sides of the stories of each of these women. They were always depicted as wives of some well known men, but there was always more to them than that. Hera was a good addition to this list.

Jennifer Saint does not miss! The writing is beautiful, the plot is fresh even for a retelling of a well know myth. The character work is amazing, she somehow manages to make you root for, dislike, and sympathize with Hera all at the same time. Highly recommend!

First thank you to netgalley and publishers for the opportunity to read more about Hera. Second if you are someone who struggles with reading themes of abuse and SA this book does contain these topics, so please proceed with care.

I absolutely love all things Greek mythology and Jennifer Saint is one of my go-to authors when I want to read up on the Goddesses and God's. Most likely if you know who Hera was, then you know her as a jealous and vengeful Goddess, but honestly can one blame her? Ideally her target should have been Zeus rather than his victims.

I appreciate how the author didn't make Hera one dimensional and that she had a bit of depth as the story progresses. She was not just portrayed as the evil step mother and scorned wife. I feel like there could have been more focus when it came to some of the characterization. To me, it was a bit of a slow start, however the last bit of the book and the last few paragraphs made up for it and were superb.

Overall I really enjoyed this read and cannot wait to see who Saint captures in her next book.

3.75 stars

I’ve loved Saint’s previous books, but Hera is the toughest one to read and review. Greek mythology is rife with badly behaving gods, and this story does NOT shy away from the more brutal aspects. It needs a lot of content warnings for SA, so please be aware before you pick this up.

Unending impotent rage is how I’d describe this version of Hera. To be fair, my expectations were quite high for this book, and I was looking for a version of her that took some power back or triumphed in some way. But 75% of this book is her thinking she’s gotten some sort of payback on Zeus, and then it all falling apart. We do eventually, at the very end, see her claim her power. But at that point, the era of the gods has passed.

There’s some great philosophical stuff near the end on gods and their relationship with both power and their worshippers, and which way power actually flows. And it’s all very well written. But at the end of the day, this is my least favorite of her books (Atalanta is my fav now).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own

I liked this retelling. Hera, Zeus' wife, is often described generally as jealous. In this novel, she's often vengeful, but in a much more nuanced way than mere jealousy. Hera never wanted to marry Zeus in the first place. He raped her and forced her into the role of his wife and, ironically, the goddess and ideal of marriage. Jealousy falsely implies she's possessive of Zeus and his attention, but instead, she rages at his sexual predation. Because she can't fight Zeus himself and win, she unfairly takes out her wrath on his human victims instead.

This novel incorporates a lot of Greek myths, obviously, but it's interesting that some become important events in this novel's plot, while others, like Paris and the Golden Apple, are just rumors about the gods from mortals. It has some interesting ideas about gods needing worship from humans to sustain them, more than the humans need the gods.

Because this was a free digital ARC from Netgalley, there were a few errors and typos. Here, I noticed words being used incorrectly or confusingly at times. For example, a palace is described as somnolent (that is, it makes people sleepy). It makes no sense in context, but maybe the final version will replace it with opulent or something that fits better.