EnixamYram

I'm just gonna come out and say, I didn't like it. And I really enjoyed the show before now. I do want to clarify, I'm not saying it was bad, just that I did not personally enjoy it. There is a difference and if you liked it then I'm very glad for you!

Note: This is also going to be a spoiler review so if you haven't seen it yet then skip this post. I'm gonna say my three main points here and expand under the Read More option.

I dislike Jax.

I was very confused a lot.

Caine felt very rushed and underdeveloped.

Now because it's usually a debatable feature in any retelling, the first thing I'll say is that if you're a BIG (and I mean obsessively so) Greek Mythology nerd who is extremely strict on differing interpretations of characters, then this may not be the book for you.

Aphrodite obviously gets the majority of attention and in this story she is very soft and sweet, just bordering the line of being too much so (though never crossing it). Her character is in love with love and only wants to match people with their perfect someone and cares for all the mortals greatly. If you know of the stories of her in mythology, then this is definitely a much more goodie version of her. Zeus is somewhat a one-note asshole. It's not completely wrong but also not complete accurate either. He's clearly the tyrannical leader in this story and doesn't really have anything else to him. Hephaestus is also pretty simplistic in the sense that he's the soft nice guy everyone looks down on but is still so kind to everyone despite that. It's not over the top or too terribly written or anything, but I feel that if you're very into these characters for the complex depth, this book doesn't really do either of them justice. Otherwise I think everyone else is handled quite well. The story is from Aphrodite's point of view but the author still manages to nicely show a deeper layer to other Gods like Hera and Artemis in subtle ways that I really appreciate! There are very small scenes that blend with the rest of the story that had me quite giddy because those are two of my personal favourite Gods (along with Ares) and I really liked the way they were written in this. Even Poseidon, who is clearly another asshole villain, has some nice emotional layers towards the end that shine through just right.

With that long ramble out of the way, I just wanted to share that I thought it was SO damn good! I genuinely enjoyed it so much, I could barely put it down towards the last few chapters! I would definitely recommend it for anyone who loves Aphrodite and Ares as they're easily the best part of the story (which is good since the story is literally all about them).

I can't say it was completely perfect, but only in the sense that even I prefer some tiny features in the mythologies that this story changed up a bit. I won't say what, cause spoilers, but they really are tiny features, things I think "I prefer the other version" before shrugging it off and going back to enjoying this story for what it is.

I feel like Ares was brilliantly written as well. Where the writing for Zeus might not go into the complexity of his character, it dazzles with how it does for Ares. Same with the romance between Aphrodite and Ares. I normally hate hetero-couples-drama and maybe it's my softness for Aphrodite and Ares as a couple but I genuinely enjoyed their drama. It was soft and sweet, heart-breaking and painful but also hopeful and inspiring, everything you want from a romance story.

https://www.tumblr.com/sarafangirlart/765972320470876160/a-review-of-hera-by-jennifer-saint

So, either that post has been deleted or the author has me blocked or something... No idea why but I think the latter cause I couldn't even search their name.