I really liked this and I think I should teach myself a lesson on not reading other people's reviews before posting my own. While I'm not shocked this turned out more divisive than not with people, I was surprised at people not picking up on many of themes and elements that I greatly enjoyed (but I guess that makes sense on why they didn't enjoy it).

Meneka could be reduced down to a love story but I actually really enjoyed it as a character driven story of someone getting away from a basically cult like religious upbringing. Meneka as a central hero felt like a success where many other author's fail, in expressing someone raised with certain beliefs having trouble functioning outside of their beliefs while still being likeable and sympathetic.

While I liked the central romance well enough who I really enjoyed was Meneka and her finding out who she is outside of the strict society she was put into. I liked the world itself of myths and legends. The world building was well done (I can't speak for what is established myth vs not as I do not know a lot about this mythology world).

I did think for 90 percent of this that it was a standalone and am a little disappointed its a series (I just miss standalones). But I thought the pacing was good and kept the tension well and I will be checking out the rest of the series to see where the world and Meneka goes.

Overall, I really enjoyed this in a way that most Romantasy is a miss for me. The romance never overtook the plot and Meneka wasn't forced to be an idiot for the romance to work. She could be but it was in a believable way.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review!

3.75 ⭐️

The Legend of Meneka is the story of an apsara, a celestial dancer, who has been tasked with seducing a human sage. But when Meneka starts to fall for him she is forced to choose between being true to herself and her loyalties to her lord and sisters.

I love mythologies and stories inspired by them so when I saw this was based on Hindu mythology I was really excited to read it. The first 30% was a little rough to get through but I think that’s because I don’t know much about Hindu mythology and culture. I’m so glad I continued reading though because once I finally got a grasp of all the characters and terms it was really good.

I enjoyed both Meneka and Kaushika’s characters and can’t wait to see where their story goes next!

Thank you Netgalley for the arc :)

Kritika M. Rao brings us the epic tale of Meneka, an apsara of Lord Indra’s court in this romantic fantasy. I’m so beyond ecstatic to be reading about the stories and deities I grew up learning about in new and reimagined ways.

The writing style in The Legend of Meneka is both immersive and atmospheric. I love the way the magic system is portrayed through mudras, and how each character has their unique strengths. That being said, I think this is one of those books where I like every character except the main character because there are just some decisions of Meneka’s that I can’t get behind 😅

I am appreciative of the Queer normative universe that’s been built reflective of the original Hindu belief systems.

Overall I’d recommend The Legend of Meneka to anyone looking for non-Eurocentric romantic fantasy, fans of queer normative universes, and those who appreciate unique and culturally relevant magic systems

Thank you net gallery for an advanced copy of this book. This is a legend of a goddess of desire falling for her mark, but it is so much more. This is the story of a young woman finding her power and standing for what she believes in. I would definitely recommend.

Thanks to HarperVoyager for an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

DNF'd at 9%! I could already tell I wasn't the target audience for this book. The writing style was mostly fine, but I wasn't here for the author giving exposition through dialogue. Also, I didn't get to feel what the MC felt, I was told her feelings instead. I didn't want to keep reading this book to see if Rao would stop giving exposition like that, so I decided to put the book down. Unfortunately, this was a miss.

This was... fine? The premise was really interesting, and I was excited for it. However, I felt the execution was lacking. Meneka's initial love for her fellow apsara felt flat and lifeless, and her relationship with Kaushika felt predictable. I thought the fantasy/mythology elements would help me overcome my general disinterest in romance, but it was too romance-y for my liking. I think others would really like it though.

I loved this fantasy book - it was such a gorgeous, unique interpretation and I need a lot more books based on Hindu mythology. It's the perfect combination of mythology and romantic fantasy, and readers of the genre will love it.

in order to gain her freedom, an apsara takes up one last mission: a human sage growing so powerful the gods themselves are worried. will she succeed? or will she fall in love breaking all her rules?

the legend of meneka [★★★★★]

“𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙃𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚.”

MS KRITIKA I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS MASTERPIECE OF A RETELLING!! this book was about one of my favorite things on earth: Hindu mythology. and as someone who had these stories and tales and legends as their bedtime stories, i adore this book so much. also i am incredibly grateful that this retelling takes the less painful route cause if it went the other way, i wouldn't be sane enough to be writing this rn 😂😭

ᯓ★ meneka!! oh her character was so well written and her conflict with her devotion was so natural. i know the original legend obviously doesn't delve into the emotions of the characters, so what miss kritika has done here is phenomenal. the way she proved her devotion to the person that deserves it, even when it put her heart and lover at stake 😭😭 also her relationship with all the other women in this book>>>

ᯓ★ ngl i was suspicious of literally every single character in this book for the first 65% worried they would harm my beloved meneka. geniuninely no one was spared, im a suspicious detective first, a lover second.

ᯓ★ then there is kaushika! oh he is… he is an amazing human 🥹 that's the best way to describe him ig. he had his charms and his flaws and just like any human, his past haunted him and that clouded his judgment 😔

ᯓ★ the romance in this is next level angst. cause every second they had their seemingly happy moments I was like this bubble will pop any second and my tears will fall like a waterfall. why do all the legends have such doomed love stories T-T

this is your book, if you love:
🦢 hindu mythology
🪞 falling in love with the mission
✨️ heavenly politics
💘 a most probably doomed love story
🥹 female friendships

that one scene with shiva? why did it almost feel like it was not just a message for meneka herself, but us the readers as well? 🥺😭🫶🫶 thank you so much for writing this book! it’s always so heartwarming to the ten year old me who never saw these stories in books 🥹💗

the legend of meneka is out now!!! thank you so much to @harpervoyagerus @avonbooks @kritikahrao @coloredpagesbt for this opportunity to be part of the book tour!

romantasy meets hindu mythology in the legend of meneka, a retelling of the love story between a powerful sage and the apsara sent to seduce him. meneka volunteers for the assignment in hopes of gaining her freedom, but kaushika is a challenge unlike any of her past marks and she finds herself caught between two warring ideologies.

so… maybe i’m just not a Romantasy Girlie™, but this one was not for me. while i enjoyed reading about a mythology other than greek mythology (and went down several very interesting google rabbit holes while reading), i found the plot (and meneka herself) very repetitive. the romance was… not exactly the spicy, yearning enemies to lovers storyline i was promised, so the “love is magic” angle didn’t really work for me either. and the ending was such a heavy-handed, clunky setup for a sequel—does everything need to be a duology?

I really wanted to love this book. I love myth retellings, especially of cultures I’m not as familiar with such as Hindu. But I found this book equally overwhelming and slow-paced.

This book was billed as a romantic fantasy, but it was more philosophy than anything else. Maybe I should have seen this coming due to the MMC being a sage, but there were so many in depth philosophical discussions that went completely over my head, I started skimming them by the end. I think this would be easier for someone who was already familiar with the terms being used, but so much was thrown at me so quickly that I couldn’t keep up.

Similarly, I was disappointed by the romance. It didn’t feel like the center of the story to me as I was promoted as being, and I found it to mostly be lust based, which is ironic given that the difference between lust and love was a major theme of Meneka’s inner thoughts.

Where it shone was Meneka’s journey to discovering her inner strength and the politics going on between the deva, I think that might be a bigger feature in the second book though.

Overall, I think people might enjoy this more than me if they have some familiarity with Hindu mythology and philosophy already, or enjoy philosophical discussions!

Thanks to the author and publisher for the copy.

This book is beautifully written with fantastic detailed imagery, but I just found myself uninterested. The read was easy. It just fell short for me- it wasn’t bad, but it was just not pulling me in. The cliche of the power of love was a bit much.

Thank you so much Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the egalley.

The Legend of Meneka is a beautiful and lush world, spanning the celestial and the mortal realms in vibrant and exciting ways. Our main POV is Meneka, who is an apsara who's sole purpose is to use her powers of seduction to further the agenda of the god, Indra. She is a well-developed character who embarks on a final mission of seduction in exchange for her freedom, yet finds herself on a road to self-discovery and freely-given love instead. Overall, this was a fast read that was hard to put down, and the plot keeps the pace moving in engaging ways. I'm very much looking forward to book two in this duology

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Release Date: Jan. 21 2025
Vibes:
• Hindu Mythology Retelling
• Enemies to Lovers
• Immortals & Magic
• Sex is good! Romance is good! (aka, a sexuality positive story)

Once the story got going, I just couldn't stop myself from reading more. To the point of ignoring my book club pick for January...
Then reading this so soon after A Song to Drown Rivers was a choice on my part since they have a similar premise, but they were steeped in different cultures that allowed for these two stories to stand apart. In both stories, a woman (whether mortal or immortal) is used as a weapon to seduce a king's enemy, but that's pretty much the only similarity.

What I really loved with Meneka and Kaushika was that even if they were not honest about *everything*, they still somehow managed to be their most authentic selves and find their own truths. They teach each other some really important lessons that help them grow, even if they are also set on their own paths that they won't stray from.

I didn't have too many issues with this book, though I'm not really sure if the ending going into the sequel really appealed to me... It very much felt like a set up for a repeat of the first book. There was also quite a slow start and the first quarter or so of the book was kind of "meh". I also just can't really stand when a character is very much too young of an option (20s versus hundreds of year old) but is told they are the best ever. Like really? This apsara that you said has not mastered much of anything? She's the best?

I was definitely invested in the relationship between Meneka and Kaushika, and would love to see them in a world where there doesn't have to be lies and manipulations. On the immortal side, I am really interested to see where things go regarding Indra's rule. I am definitely not well versed enough in Hindu mythology to know how much this book follows mythological events or is more separated, but I feel like accuracy to mythology is less necessary than having a world of your own that works with the messages you have to share.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for providing an eARC of The Legend of Meneka. This book is a beautiful mythological romance that brings the spotlight on those in history that are often just a footnote: the women in the lives of heroes.

Oh how I wanted to love this! A beautiful romantasy? A retelling of Hindu mythology? I was beyond intrigued and then started reading and it just felt lackluster. The mythology itself and the world building were both done well. But the over dramatic turmoil of the FMC combined with the lackluster 'romance' made for a hard read. There was no chemistry, no banter, and no anything to make the love even feel slightly real... and well, I expect romance in a romantasy! Had this just been a fantasy read, I would have gone with 3, possibly 4, stars... but being that it was labeled a romantasy, and there was that subplot... it was just not it.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

A sensual, powerful read that drew me in immediately. I couldn't get enough! Ideal for fans of mythology retellings like Circe or Daughter of the Moon Goddess,

Meneka is an Aspara serving in Lord Indra's heavenly realm, her job is to go where she is told and seduce her marks to make them so devoted to her that they forget whatever path they are on that threatens Indra. Unlike all of her other sisters Meneka cannot bring herself to become intimatly entangled with her marks, she struggles enough knowing that her magic enthralls them to the point of deadly obssesion. Any time she is in the mortal realm and away from Amaravati The City of Immortals and the capital of swarga (heaven) she begins to question herself and the missions that she is sent on. Daring to escape a life she isn't sure she wants the boon she asks of Lord Indra gets her sent on a mission that will surely be her end.
Kaushika is a mortal man that has become a Sage so powerful that he threatens Lord Indra's existence, he is bringing people to his way of thinking and Lod Indra's devotees are slowly dwindling. The other Asparas sent to him have not returned. Meneka finds herself sent to seduce him and stop his assault on Indra. If she doesn't complete her mission then she will be expelled from Amaravati and possibly put to death.
This mark is different though, he causes her to question everything about herself that she already doubted and she in turn causes him to challenge his beliefs.
What does one do when their entire existence is called into question, when two people who are complete oppisites mirror one anothers soul?

#TheLegendOfMeneka by #KritikaH.Rao is a spicy fantasy steeped in Hindu lore, rich with vibrant colors and world building that consumes ones senses.

Thank you to #Netgalley and #HarperCollinsPublishers for the chance to read #TheLegendOfMeneka in return for a for and honest review.

Celestial dancers known as apsaras are revered for their beauty, allure, and enchanting magic. Meneka is trained in these skills and is used as a weapon for Lord Indra, the king of heaven. She craves her freedom, so when a mortal threatens Indra's supremacy, she strikes a deal—if she can seduce Kaushika, Indra will allow her to forgo future missions. When Meneka meets him, however, everything she has known changes. She isn't sure if she can overthrow Kaushika, and must choose between her duty and love.

The Legend of Meneka is book one of the Divine Dancers duology. Meneka is young and impetuous, hoping to get to Kaushika to stay in heaven and court her friend and supervisor who she loves. Kaushika is arrogant and distant, an ascetic hoping to devote his energy to Lord Shiva, he who destroys. This is antithetical to Lord Indra, just as his style is antithetical to Maneka's attention to pleasure, dance, and illusion. Kaushika has his own troubles to deal with, though quite frankly I don't like him and there's very little to soften his harsh demeanor. Meneka can do better than him, even as I recognize the opposites attract and grumpy/sunshine tropes at play. They find each other attractive and bring up points to challenge each other's views. The story becomes the challenge of humans and their abilities against the celestials.

The descriptions of the locations are well done and vivid, tinged with mythology and the question of how much influence the gods should have over humanity. This is a reflection of the known fragments of mythology and gives Maneka depth and nuance. Maneka is caught between her duty to Lord Indra, following his every whim without question, and Kaushika, who challenges the status quo. She sees the situations where Kaushika lost his faith and understands it but is still shaken and tries to please everyone. This is impossible to do, and Maneka feels more and more inadequate. By the end of the novel, she's trying to prevent a war, too. It's a hefty challenge, and her story doesn't end here. She's an aspara but more than that, and I enjoyed her part of the story.

The Legend of Meneka had such promise. It provided an opportunity to provide insight into a rich culture and philosophy, but the poorly executed romance story line distracted from it. It is extremely disappointing that the author used the lust before love trope to develop the romance in this work, I was hoping for some more substance there. Nevertheless, if you enjoy this type of romantasy , this should not be an issue.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I thought this was a pretty interesting fantasy! The world-building and magic systems were pretty straightforward, and the writing was very easy to get through and understand. The first few chapters were a bit slow, but after the first roughly 15%, things really picked up, and I couldn't put the book down! Meneka was an interesting main character, and while I definitely got a bit annoyed with her at times, I overall enjoyed the story from her perspective! The romance between Kaushika and Meneka was pretty well done (lots of yearning, which I loved), and I thought their characters complemented each other well. I really liked the Hindu-inspired fantasy world that this author created; it was really interesting to read about, as I haven't read many books that are Hindu-inspired! Overall, I would recommend this book, and I'm very interested in seeing where the duology goes in book two! :)

Absolutely beautiful. Rao writes lyrically, the world coming to you fully formed and lush. After I finished the book, I told a friend that I could not really find the words to say how much I enjoyed this, only that I did and it was wonderful. I loved the intense exploration of Meneka. I loved the ending. I loved this book.

I will only say that I think it was a disservice to market this book as romantasy. It was a fantasy with romantic elements. I saw several people angry in the Goodreads review who were expecting something different from this book based on it being described as an enemies to lovers romantasy.