Publication Date: Out now!!!
Formats: Hardback & Ebook
Price: Hb £20/ Ebook £9.99
Publisher: Wildfire
I would like to say a huge thank you to Random Things Tours (Anne Cater) for inviting me to take part on this divine tour. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Wildfire for allowing me to read and review a digital copy of this brilliant book. I would like to say a huge thank you to the creative talent, Jennifer Saint, for re-enhancing a goddess, well the Queen of all goddesses, Hera, and how she came to be the wife (long suffering), sister, and at one time fighter with Zeus. King of all Gods. But this isn’t about Zeus, well he is involved of course he is, but it’s more about a woman who wanted to have her freedom, but got ‘’manhandled’ into a position of being an empty Queen, rather more like a wife… this isn’t a love story, this is about vengeance and hell hath no fury like a woman or goddess scorned. Intrigued? Let’s head to the blurb and find out a bit more.
When Hera, immortal goddess and daughter of the ancient Titan Cronus, helps her brother, Zeus to overthrow their tyrannical father, she dreams of ruling at his side.
As they establish their reign on Mount Olympus, Hera suspects that Zeus might be just as ruthless and cruel as the father they betrayed.
She was always born to rule, but must she lose herself in perpetuating this cycle of violence and cruelty? Or can she find a way to forge a better world?
Often portrayed as the jealous wife or the wicked stepmother, this retelling captures the many sides of Hera, vengeful when she needs to be but also compassionate and most importantly , an all powerful queen to the gods.
This book held me in its grip as it wrestled with the legend that is, Hera, Queen to the gods, wife of Zeus, but is there more to her story than that? And what about all those times, those many times where Zeus betrays her with his dalliance with mortal woman? Is the jealous archetype, the one that sees red as soon as her man sees or glances at another woman or even anyone? Or is there again another side to this story in which we have all been drip fed from…. Yes you have guessed it men. Hera’s tale is so irrevocably tied to the stereotypical moral story of woman knowing their place and how to be supportive to your man when he strays. But that’s not what Hera really does, she get’s into blinding rages and will threaten and cause untold torment on the woman rather than Zeus because how can you act against your own husband? one who is technically “king of the gods”. And let’s ignore the err weird incest at play too what with brother marrying sister and all.
This story of Hera, gives her own voice and side to her own views on what really went on between her and Zeus and how she felt and dealt with her anger over Zeus’s many torrid affairs. Though I do have to point out that I have never been really all that keen on Hera and Zeus as characters I find them too big and too loud to really want to get to know them. Especially Zeus who is considered to be a bit of a bad boy, pervert and just a sleeze. Hera’s reputation is worse, wicked, vengeful and scourge against anyone who even looks at Zeus be it nymph or human, she’s also considered evil too in her many attempts to try and wrest back some control from Zeus.
I do think this novel is written incredibly well and the amount of detail and attention that has gone into unveiling Hera to our world that still has some way to go into recognising her worth as a feminist icon, for she is rage, scorn and vengefulness against men, and also how she is both a loving mother and doting grandmother to what some would call monsters she only sees the beauty and naturalness that lies within them. I love how her many sides and facets are shown both the harsh, cynical and aggrieved wife, mother and at times distant goddess. For me I wasn’t as caught up with story as I have been with other of Jennifer’s novels but it is still a wonderful and gripping book.
I would highly recommend this to anyone loving Greek retellings of myths and legends and gods and goddesses who have had enough of getting only one side of a story, this is Hera’s tale and oh boy does she have things to say…..
Ratings: 5 ⭐️s with a large ☕️ and a large 🍰
Author’s Blurb:
Jennifer Saint grew up reading Greek mythology and was always drawn to the untold stories hidden within the myths. After thirteen years as a high school English teacher, she wrote ARIADNE which tells the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur from the perspective of Ariadne – the woman who made it happen. Ariadne was an instant Sunday Times bestseller, shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year in 2021 and was Waterstones Book of the month in January 2022. Her second novel, ELEKTRA, was a Number One Sunday Times bestseller and explores the curse upon the House of Atreus, giving voice to three women who are caught up in its shadows: Clytemnestra, Cassandra and Elektra whose lives are shattered by the Trojan War and who seek to find justice at any cost. Her third novel, Atalanta, tells the story of the only female Argonaut and is a Number One Sunday Times bestseller. Jennifer Saint is now a full-time author, living in Yorkshire, England, with her husband and two children.
I hope you have enjoyed this divine, vengeful, enigmatic tale of a Queen, Wife, Mother and above all else, Goddess. This is Here’s tale and one in which every woman should read. Truly brilliant. If you are looking for a copy you can find it in Waterstones, any independent store, and of course on Amazon. I will leave you now to say Happy Reading and see you soon!!!
Zoe's Book Nook 
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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