Content warning: incest, rape, murder, torture, imprisonment

While I've enjoyed Saint's other novels about women from Greek mythology, HERA was a miss for me. I kept choosing to listen to other things so it took me longer than usual to get through this audiobook. Hera is an interesting character so it wasn't the subject matter, part of the issue was pacing, I never really found my stride while reading.

Even with Saint giving space for the women of Greek mythology's voices to be heard, I felt like so much of this plot centered around was Zeus was saying and doing making Hera a background player in her own novel. I can see others loving this novel, it just wasn't for me.

Naomi Frederick does a decent job with the audiobook narration though some of the pronunciations of well known players in Greek mythology threw me. Maybe these are the proper ways to say their names, but more than once it took me a while to figure out which God/Goddess was being referred to.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

It was so refreshing to read a hateful and angry woman who it's preoccupied with being likable! At the same time, Jennifer Saint's version of Hera isn't the jealous wife most retellings paint her as. Yes, Hera strikes down many of her husband's lovers and progeny. But there's nuance here that makes her motivations so interesting to read.

Hera is pissed. She was Zeus' co-conspirator. They both trained in secret to overthrow their father. She freed her captured siblings. She fought the titans and lead the monster armies. She inherited the same divinity as a daughter of Kronos. But when the dust settles, her brothers cast her aside and her sisters retreat for their own survival. And then Zeus rapes her to make her his trophy instead of his equal. Centuries unfold as Hera plots, strikes, suffers and rallies again.

What I enjoyed the most was Hera's individuality and how her personality is entirely separated from the role she's given as the Goddess of Marriage and Women. She rejects domesticity but then nurtures monsters in secrets. She wants the support of family but she won't give up on herself to placate them. She's all these contradictions and I found it very relatable. She's not the best mom, or god, or partner.

As an audiobook it was very easy to follow along. Naomi Fredrick narrates the entire story as Hera in third person. She captures the duality of the goddess so well. From raging frustration to total disinterest, she had the perfect regal and impatient tone. I listened to this in two days! The character reminds me of Alicent Hightower in the House of Dragons (tv) as she confronts Zeus for his disrespect over the centuries.

DNF @ 48%

Honestly at this point maybe I should finish it, but I have too many exciting books to read to waste my time on a hate read.

Saint’s writing is technically good. I have read a couple of her other books and loved them; it was more the plot and flow of the story that were my main issues with ‘Hera’.

This book starts at the fall of the Titans and follows the establishment of the gods as rulers and the creation of Mount Olympus. Though Hera and Zeus fought side by side in the uprising against the titans, Zeus in a wild act of white man audacity, assumes himself the leader of the gods after the victory. Since none of the other gods want another conflict, they all go along with this. Zeus had been lusting after Hera (HIS SISTER) for a few hundred years he asks her to marry to which she of course says ‘no thank you, I am your sister’ which he doesn’t love. So of course he assaults her. And in another act that was entirely unexplained and difficult to understand, Hera then decides to then marry Zeus but plot against him for the rest of eternity. Plots that prove to fail time and time again. ‘Hera’ is the story of her failed plots against Zeus.


For someone who repeats often that She is as powerful as Zeus she finds herself either not fighting back or creating terrible plans to fight back that are ultimately thwarted. Zeus was intolerable and monstrous and Hera saying for 75% of the book that she is as strong as him yet does nothing about his treatment is actually infuriating. Hera does not fit on Olympus; she has no real attachments and never takes action to find the place she does belong. She hates all the other gods, and they all hate her so why stay? There could have been such a magical way to spin Hera’s story of abuse, yet Saint’s retelling is ultimately a nothing-burger. Hera is too helpless to take any real action but is a victim of all actions against her. She’s a goddess for Christ’s sake but she’s written as a helpless idiot, and I’ll never forgive Saint for that.

The plot is basically Hera complaining about Zeus with small moments of action which makes the book drag out. This already doesn’t need to be 400 pages, 75% of it has been Hera lamenting about the injustice and very little about her actually doing something. Call me crazy but I don’t think of a goddess being this passive. Even more internal dialogue about her feelings would have at least help to characterize Hera. I didn’t feel any attachment to her because she just spent all her time complaining and failing but still saying she was just as strong as Zeus. Ok, but then why are you failing every coup attempt?

As per usual, Jennifer Saint never fails to impress me. I loved how she weaved together this story of a goddess without diminishing her power. I was worried at first because of how villainized Hera has been made out to be throughout time, but I should have trusted Saint to work her magic on the story. While the tale was meandering a bit, I couldn't imagine any other way the story would have worked simply due to the fact that time moves differently for the gods. Hera still sometimes comes across as a bit misogynistic, but Saint really tries to stress that all of Hera's actions are more to work against Zeus rather than those he abuses. I really liked the ending and the little twist in the story that Saint added, it shows how Hera has been reclaimed by victims, survivors, and maligned women across time where as Zeus's legacy has been less accepted by modern audience.

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.

This was such a great Read -

Living in Greece i have grown up with all the stories of the Gods and studies in Athens History of Art, this book had so much depth in terms of the Gods History, some parts of the story depend on where in Greece you live to what you are told but it was so interesting all the same.

Hera Has always been the Vengeful, Mistreated Wife - and takes her Anger out on not her philandering Husband but on those that dare to get involved with him and any children they may bear.....

But this Novel highlights Hera's softer side that isn't as renowned as her Anger..... Her relationship with her sister Hestia, Her monsters even her handmaiden - nothing can excuse her Behavior but this is Hera's POV and not everything is emphasized in the Myths we are surrounded with.

The Book would have been a 5 star - but i am reviewing the Audiobook - i found alot of the Greek places and Names were mispronounced - i would understand if it was highlighting the Greek pronunciation but speaking both Greek, Some ancient Greek and English, it sounded like nothing i have ever heard of, i think the Narrator should have researched a little more

For the most part, Jennifer Saint is always a hit with me. I was slightly disappointed by Atalanta, but the other books I've read by her were really great. This one is no exception.

Saint takes the story of one of Greek mythology's most unjustly hated goddesses and tells it in a way that may FINALLY get people to sympathize with Hera's seemingly unjustifiable actions. And all I can say is... It's about damned time.

It's time that people stopped automatically despising Hera and seeing the other side of that particular coin.

And as usual, Saint has done a phenomenal job of sticking to the basic myths while adding an entirely new viewpoint. She stays true to them without sacrificing her vision for the character. Of all the writers out there today doing retellings of ancient myths, she's one of the best when it comes to balancing on that fine line between telling a new story and not destroying the old.

If you love retellings of Greek myths, powerful women, and/or just want to see a different side of Hera's motivations, this is the book for you.

It’s like Greek Mythology and Feminine Rage had a baby.

This book made me ponder a great number of things. I was always one of those kids that was obsessed with Greek Mythology mostly due to Percy Jackson, but because of that, I am always down to read anything involving those absolutely unhinged Gods & Goddesses!

This book follows Hera Goddess of a great many things, though her journey of finding herself and most importantly finding out what is most important to her, Power? Or Happiness? How much can a woman take regardless of godly powers, before she finally breaks?

I loved how we got to see a large cast of all of the Gods and Goddesses you know and love, and because of the Narrators wonderful accent, I got to hear new pronunciations of the main Gods which almost made it seem like a whole new story.

I haven’t seen anything from this Author before but I really enjoyed this retelling of Hera’s story and I thought everything was tastefully done even regarding some of the harder topics, but I would check out some of the TW before you read though, just to make sure! 4.5 ⭐️’s

Thank you to the Author Jennifer Saint and the Narrator Naomi Fredrick for sharing their work with us!

Big thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my free audiobook copy of “Hera”.

I received this advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I’m always happy to read books that are re-tellings of well known stories from the female’s perspective, especially mythology related stories. This one was no exception!

I grew up watching the 1981 Clash of the Titans on VHS as many times as my parents would rent it from the Curtis Mathes, which was what our town had before Blockbuster was a thing. That movie portrays Hera as very cruel and unforgiving. I also love with the Percy Jackson series, so I had a pretty good knowledge of the stories from all the other perspectives.

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing all of the stories related to Hera from her perspective to help hear why she might have made some of the decisions she made. It definitely gave me empathy for Hera that I had never had before.

Trigger warnings for rape/abuse but that should be obvious if you have read any Greek mythology before.

The narrator Naomi Frederick did a great job of helping give an empathetic voice to Hera. I can’t wait to see what other retellings Jennifer Saint comes up with in the future.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

I listened to Hera as an audiobook, The narrator gave a stunning performance. Her voice was smooth and satin-y as you would expect a the gods and goddesses voices to be, It was a performance worthy of the gods that the story was based on.

I am not a very knowledgeable about Greek mythology and this novel was wonderful to read and incited a desire to learn more about the origins of these characters. I highly recommend this novel and look forward to diving into some of her other stories.

I really enjoyed the authors previous 3 books so I maybe hyped this one up in my head but it really never connected to this story. It felt disjointed and all over the place. I will try future works by the author though.

This book definitely taught me way more about Greek mythology than I thought I would ever learn! This book was well written and I enjoyed that it was separated into parts so I could follow the story better.

I really enjoyed the portrayal of Hera as the jealous Queen who had to deal with an extremely egotistical Zeus. I appreciated that Jennifer Saint was able to incorporate many different myths about Hera into one cohesive story.

I definitely enjoyed the ending of this book and gave me pause to think about ancient history.

I listened to the audiobook and I was impressed by the narrator and glad to have the narrator pronounce all the Greek names and not me!

This beautiful, wrathful, and poignant book tells the story of Hera, the Queen of the Greek gods, from her own perspective. The story covers everything from the defeat of the Titans, to the birth of Heracles, to the eventual retreat of the gods. This is my third Jennifer Saint book, and she is just such a talented writer. The way she structures her writing and creates imagery is perfect, and I felt like I was watching a movie in my head!

This retelling of Hera's story offers perspective on one of mythology's most complex and misunderstood goddesses. She and Zeus overthrow their father, and she is confronted with the harsh reality of Zeus's reign. Zeus's cruelty pushes her to struggle against the oppressive roles he imposes on her. The book gives voice to Hera, allowing her to claim her narrative. Hera's story is one of resilience and determination to challenge the violence of men and her internal conflict between her desire to rule and her role as a wife and mother. Her interactions with other gods and goddesses add layers to the narrative. The story needs elements to evoke more of an emotional connection with Hera and the other characters in the book. I felt that she was portrayed as a cold. She could have been written as a stronger and relatable female protagonist. The narrator may have add to this issue as she did not give life to Hera and was flat in the storytelling.

Hera's journey is an unforgettable, tragic story. The book is an entertaining tale that would be enjoyable for anyone who enjoys mythology.

I received an ARC audiobook for my honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and MacMillan Audio.

I don't know that I should be allowed to continue writing reviews for JS's work. She could write me a speeding ticket and I'd give it five stars. I loved how she took a pretty universally unliked character and gave her a back story and didn't try to re-write all of her misdeeds, but instead made us understand them a little more. I read a ton of greek mythology and Hera is always the butt of the jokes and easy to villainize so it's hard to change my perspective when its been drilled in so consistently, but she did it. And i'm talking I grew up watching Hercules where Hera was the primary villain with the peacock eyes on screen so thats a pretty big deal.

This book made me sad. I've always known Hera's story would never be a happy one. It made me feel so many things towards her and other characters, and none of them were positive. Except for maybe Hephaestus. I originally had this one down as 3.5 stars because I walked away and was just...sad. But I have to give the author credit for her ability to make me feel so strongly towards the characters. I loved getting this on audio from NetGalley.

I recently entered my Greek Mythology era and was thrilled to receive an advance audiobook copy of Hera by Jennifer Saint.

Hera is the first book I've read by Jennifer Saint. I think her writing is beautiful and I’m excited to read more of her books. The audiobook is narrated by Naomi Frederic and I found her voice to be both soothing and captivating.

I only had basic knowledge of Hera prior to reading this in-depth retelling. Hera is a very dynamic character and there is so much more to her than the typical label of Zeus’s jealous wife. That’s not saying Hera is an angel, she does many terrible things, but I found myself having compassion and a deeper understanding of her and the motivation of her actions.

We see how Hera navigates her role as Queen of the Gods and how she handles betrayal, disrespect, and dismissal by those closest to her.

I enjoyed the inclusion of other major Greek mythology characters, learning more about their stories, and their personal connections and interactions with Hera. I learned a lot about Zeus and my conclusion is that he is awful. I have so much more to say about him, but I’ll refrain from spoilers for those who are also new to Greek mythology.

As a beginner to Greek Mythology, I thought this book was fantastic and
gets a 5 star rating!

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan audio, and Jennifer Saint for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25/5

Jennifer Saint always does a great job at diving into the world of the Greek gods and goddesses. This story begins at the very beginning with the downfall of the Titans, and it shows how the gods and goddess came to rule their domains. The book is told from Hera's point of view, allowing the reader to see the reasonings by all the choices she makes. This was a very enjoyable read, and I highly recommend to any Greek mythology lover.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I’ve been looking forward to reading this book ever since I first heard about it. In Greek Mythology, Hera is obviously one of the biggest players in many of the myths but you never really get her perspective. We get a surprisingly large scope of the myths from the Gods taking down the Titans, to Hercales, the Trojan war, and so on; all told in Hera’s perspective.

I’m glad that Hera wasn’t made into an innocent character who does no wrong. Though, I’ll never understand why Hera is hated so much by many readers of Greek Mythology, when Zeus is so much more terrible than she would ever think of being. This book does a great job showing just how horrendous Zeus is to those around him, especially Hera.

Naomi Fredrick’s narration of the novel was perfect for the novel. She gives a regal voice to Hera and adds even more to the story as a whole. I highly recommend Hera to Greek Mythology retelling lovers.

Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan audio for the free ALC. My opinions are being left voluntarily. I expected things to move along at a steady pace but found it tooo slow to read even though the speed was ip on the audio. I always assume fantasy books are quick.

Dnf @ 30%