I highly recommend this novel to anyone who has a love for mythology, or who loved books like Circe, Song of Achilles, et cetera. In my opinion, we don’t see enough mainstream literature centering on mythology from other pantheons. We spend time with the Irish deity Cailleach, goddess of the winter.

As with so many stories concerning gods and goddesses, Cailleach has no love for humans. In fact, there is little she despises more than these weak, selfish mortals. So when thousands of humans die during a particularly brutal winter, she has no pity for them. Instead, Cailleach turns her heart away from the human population, causing her own mother, the goddess queen Danu, to strip her daughter of her power and status, forcing her to live as a mortal so that Cailleach might come to understand and respect humans.

The book itself was slow to start, but gradually picks up as Cailleach begins her life upon Earth. She experiences all the things that makes us human — the joys and the sorrows. Even death comes for her, until she ultimately understands, even loves, the humans she once scorned so. A compelling read filled with emotion, which leaves the reader pondering on what makes us all human, as well as reminding us that there is no grief without love.

Many thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for access to this ARC. I am looking forward to reading more from this author!

The Winter Goddess is a retelling of Irish myth in which Cailleach, the goddess of winter, is forced to live and die as a mortal woman in recompense for the brutal winter that claimed so many human lives. As a mortal woman Cailleach learns the value of a mortal life.

Rating: 4.5/5
I received the eARC for my honest opinion.

This was my first book by this author, and it will not be the last. In this book you will meet Cailleach, she is a goddess of the winter. She was not born with humanity, like the other gods and goddesses, so when she goes too far one day and sends thousands to death. Her mother Danu punishes her by stripping away her goddess powers and sends Cailleach to Earth to live and die as mortals that she hates. However, after years of not caring and dying alone she finally understands that she can’t do it alone and she reaches for the help from mortals that she used to hate.

I loved this book, and I loved that we got to see all the human lives that she lived and all the people that she helps and the ones that hate her. She came to understand that it wasn’t hate but fear that led them to do horrible acts. I loved the writing style of this author; the words just flew and were lyrical. I loved that the pace of the book was perfect, it was slow but fast at the same time, if that makes any sense. I found the plot to be more character driven, I loved that you got to see the development from Cailleach through each death and the lessons that she learns. It was an emotional read, with a lot of great teaching moments. I liked that in this book it is a fantasy but it also wasn’t. I liked that I knew that if I didn’t like Cailleach in one of her lives that I would still be able to learn from her lives, and I wanted to see why her mother Danu wanted her daughter to live as a mortal.

CW: arranged marriage, unwanted pregnancy, murder, child death and death of pet.

I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin for the opportunity to review this book.

Overall, an enjoyable read. I particularly enjoyed how the human world expands as Cailleach's perspective on humans evolves - this is when the book really hits its stride, and Cailleach's growth as she grapples with each different facet of humanity is extremely compelling. However, it takes a while to get there. The beginning was rather slow could have benefitted from significantly more world building in terms of what life is like for the gods (how their powers work, how they typically interact with each other, etc.) to give readers a better frame of reference for Cailleach's existence before mortality.

this book did not disappoint! the cover peaked my interest, and i just knew i had to read it. it was a beautifully written mythology about the winter goddess, Cailleach. the novel was emotional, and heartbreaking, allowing readers to empathize and grow alongside Cailleach. i would love to read more novels by this author in the future!

Cailleach, goddess of winter, sees mortals as selfish and destructive and isn't terribly sorry when thousands die in a brutal winter. Her mother Danu, queen of the gods, disagrees. She strips Cailleach of her power and sends her to live with mortals to better understand them. Cailleach planned to live alone but eventually realizes she needs the help of mortals. Opening herself to humanity, she learns to live and love as mortals do and then hears a secret that will redefine what it means to be a god.

Cailleach loves the winter and the grove where she was given dominion over winter. As a child, she met humans and was close to one of them, but her mother Danu refused to intervene. Cailleach distanced herself, and the rage at her grove getting destroyed to house the dead created the destructive winter. She's sent to Earth multiple times, and can't survive on her own as a mortal. She doesn't understand love or friendship, and it takes several lifetimes to get it right. The anger at humanity and Danu is intense, which is why it takes so long. The attachments she finally makes really teach her about family, love and truly wanting the best for others. Gods are too distant, immortality blinding them to what humanity really is. I cried along with Cailleach at her significant losses. The writing is spare but evocative so that we feel what she does. It drew me in, and I couldn't put it down.

Thank you NetGalley, Megan Barnard, and Penguin Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I’m such a big fan of this author and I fell in love with her first book, Jezebel, but I might like this one even more. They’re both criminally underrated and I hope more people start to find them both!

This one follows Cailleach, goddess of Winter, after she brings harm to mortals with a brutal winter. Her mother Danu, queen of the gods, makes her a mortal temporarily to live and die so that she will understand them more. This book follows many of her human lives and the people she meets in each.

I loved the way this story is set up and found it emotional and bittersweet. It was great getting to see her grow and make connections with people over time, while learning to appreciate what it means to be human. I don’t want to say much to avoid spoilers, but you will become so invested in her story and root for her as she grows and matures.

This one also felt SO quick and I flew through it. I really hope Barnard continues to write these type of books and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. 5 stars!

This book delivered major emotional damage. I was in tears starting around the 40% mark and didn’t stop crying until the very end. Although the beginning felt a bit slow, the story quickly gained momentum and became deeply moving. It kept me hooked until the end. I bet the audiobook for this would be amazing!
Thanks to NetGallery and PENGUIN GROUP Viking Penguin for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

THANK YOU NETGALLEY!! I read this book in two days and I really enjoyed it! What a unique take on what it means to be human <3 so much heart and emotion in only 300 pages! I learned so much about Celtic mythology and I am so intrigued by it now. I've always been a Greek mythology girl, so I am very happy to get to branch out with a book like this and the cover is just stunning as well. Highly recommend!

The Winter Goddess by Megan Barnard held my interest with every turn of the page. It tells the captivating tale of Cailleach and how she became the goddess of winter, only to have everything stripped away as punishment for a devastating action. She is sent to live among mortals and faces the root of her grief while experiencing different sides of humanity that she never previously considered. Her journey will stick with me for quite some time.

I appreciate this story's exploration of love, friendship, and womanhood. The author's writing style flows and the world building is easy to understand throughout this fantasy setting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books for the opportunity to read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I found The Winter Goddess to be a tale woven of simplicity with echos of the ending seeded right in the very beginning, yet the moments that bring readers from said beginning to end are viscerally beautiful and undoubtedly human.

Readers follow Cailleach the Celtic goddess of winter after she's allowed her own grief to wound the human world. As punishment she's made to traverse the earth as a human again and again until she understands the nuanced nature of being alive.

Woven with equal parts grace and grit, The Winter Goddess is a quiet retelling that'll remind readers of the fragility and wonder of what it is to be human.

Readers who loved the haunting and methodical telling of The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec will fall easily for this Celtic retelling.
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Endless thanks to Penguinvbooks and NetGalley for allowing me and early look at this gem.

I will admit I was hooked from the second I saw this gorgeous cover but the story lives up to the high bar set by it! If you like mythology and books about flawed female characters and power hungry gods, this is a perfect winter read that follows Cailleach, the goddess of winter, who is cursed and forced to live and die over and over as a mortal woman.

I liked how the book followed the seasons and the way that Cailleach slowly learned to appreciate the simple pleasures of a mortal life. Good on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Natalie Haynes or Genevieve Gornichec. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

The Winter Goddess is an incredibly heartwrenching tale of what it is to be human. Barnard artfully depicts sisterhood, motherhood, womanhood, friendship, love, companionship, and the magical and wondrousness of the Irish gods. Cailleach experiences the joys and pains of being a woman in a small village struggling to get by. This novel was an absolute delight to read. I think I spent the last 50 pages muddling through because my tears were so heavy I could barely see, an experience I generally take to be the hallmark of a GREAT BOOK. This book is for mothers and daughters, for those who have had/lost pets, those who have felt hunger and pain and fear, those who have loved and lost, and also folklore fanatics. This book was beautiful, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to read it.

Thanks to PRHAudio, NetGalley, and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars

This was a short, simple, yet moving tale of the goddess Cailleach. Her inability to emphasize with mortals results in her being cursed to live a mortal life over and over as punishment for her cruelty.

In each of her lives, one particular mortal impacts her. And in each life, she learns a bit more about what it really means to be mortal. How to live, how to love, how to find meaning in a fleeting life. It’s a rather straightforward story, but the emotional impact increases with each life. Her final “life” actually got me teary, so I’m rounding up on my rating for that.

I’d say Barnard’s Jezebel was the more impactful story, but I wouldn’t hesitate to also recommend this one.

The Winter Goddess by Megan Barnard is a captivating and poignant story that delves into themes of love, loss, and the sacrifices made for power and immortality. This novel is the ideal companion for chilly winter evenings, as it will keep you engrossed from start to finish. I found myself unable to set it aside, completely absorbed in its compelling narrative.

I devoured this in one sitting! Loved it!

Megan has a way of bringing you straight into her world, and has you feeling her character's feelings as if they're your own. An introspective tale of our own human experience from the eyes of another, who learns humility and the wonders and joys of a seemingly "insignificant" mortal life. Great character and story development. Beautiful visuals. Will definitely be recommending this book!

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Winter Goddess by Megan Barnard is a first person-POV historical fantasy reimagining of the Gealic goddess of winter, Cailleach. When Cailleach creates a long, harsh winter that kills many humans, the queen of the gods and her mother, Danu, sentences her to be mortal until she learns what it means to be human. But Cailleach struggles with mortality and experiences more pain than she ever imagined.

I was not familiar with Cailleach or the importance she plays in Irish, Scottish, or Manx mythology before reading this. A quick check online tells me that there are several versions of this goddess and that The Winter Goddess is more of a reimagining rather than a retelling of her story. I’m curious about her story and will be doing more research in the future, especially into her relationship with Áine.

A major theme is mortality vs immortality and how an immortal could lose sight of what it means to be mortal or become warped in their views. Danu is convinced that Cailleach has to learn what life is like as an immortal after the harsh winter Cailleach caused, but every life Cailleach lives isn’t good enough for Danu. I got frustrated on Cailleach’s before after the third death as she’d already experienced the death of someone she loved deeply and then later betrayal and yet Danu was convinced Cailleach still hadn’t learned. About halfway through, I did start to view Danu as an emotionally abusive mother who is looking to punish their child until they get a very specific result instead of meeting their child halfway.

The pacing is on the slower side and while things happen, everything goes back to Cailleach’s feelings and how what is happening impacts her. It’s not quite literary fantasy, in my opening, but it is veering towards that subgenre because it is so very guided by themes and character in a way that lines up with literary fiction I have read before. I like a character study that recognizes complex feelings and relationships and while Danu’s reaction to Cailleach’s experiences frustrated me, I did find myself looking forward to their next interactions to see if we would ever learn why Danu was making it so difficult and what exactly she wanted her daughter to learn.

Content warning for arranged marriage, unwanted pregnancy, murder, child death, and the death of a dog

I would recommend this to fans of character studies using mythological figures and readers looking for a deep POV reimagining of a winter goddess

"The Winter Goddess" follows the punishment of Cailleach, the goddess of winter - when a beautiful grove, sacred to Cailleach is destroyed by humans, she becomes enraged and brings a long, bitter winter. Thousands of mortals are killed. Danu decides Cailleach must be punished, and removes her immortality, making her into a mortal woman, and banishing her from Tara to live out as many lives as it takes for Cailleach to learn her lesson. Danu wants Cailleach to learn the ways of humans, to see their goodness and beauty, and to understand why the other gods and goddess love the mortals so much. As the years pass, Cailleach learns firsthand the many facets of a mortal life - death, love, family, loss, illness, cold, pain, and hunger.

This book was beautiful - it was introspective, emotional, and heartbreaking. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys books that are more character driven, stories about the Celtic deities, or stories about life in general.

When I saw the cover I knew I had to read it! I’m so glad I did because wow! This book was so beautifully written! This was a super fun fantasy to read I loved every second of it! I would highly recommend

I'll be honest - I am a person who judges a book by its cover. Both the cover and the title had piqued my interest, enough that I had started reading without even reading the synopsis. The world Barnard painted was that of beauty, both in the lyrical writing and in seeing the small joys of life itself. I didn't know what to expect upon reading, but I found myself immersed and wanting to devour each chapter to know more. While I love mythology, I will admit I knew nothing of Gaelic mythos before reading this book. This has inspired me to learn more about it, as I am fascinated with the depictions that Barnard had created within their world. Cailleach lived so many lives, and each one brings forth a bit of warmth to her character and allows you to see more of the world around her. I really, truly enjoyed reading this, and highly recommend.