Hera

Saint (Atalanta, 2023) has returned with another Greek mythology retelling, this one with Hera at the center. Known to history as the bitter wife of Zeus, reduced and derided as his jealous queen, Hera was once a young goddess whose power was indispensable in the toppling of the Titans that brought Zeus and their allies into power. She's betrayed when Zeus splits the realms between himself, Poseidon, and Hades (the male gods), and appalled when he insists on her role: she'll be his wife, and the goddess of marriage. Hera grates under her treatment and decides she will do whatever it takes to unseat Zeus, or if that's not possible, to at least make sure his power doesn't grow with the aid of new children from his many infidelities. Saint's newest loses steam in the second half, rushing through epic myths, but will appeal strongly to fans of feminist retellings of mythology. Hera is relatable, her anger palpable and justified, and the way that Saint concludes her story is satisfyingly unexpected.

The gods of Olympus deliver Real Housewives--level drama in this juicy interpretation of Greek myth from bestseller Saint (Ariadne). Hera and Zeus are the most powerful gods among the surviving children of the evil Cronus, whom they defeated along with his fellow Titans. In the aftermath, Zeus unceremoniously assigns realms to his lesser siblings: Poseidon gets the sea and Hades the underworld. His sisters, meanwhile, cleverly maneuver into roles they covet without drawing Zeus's ire: Hestia chooses to rule the hearth, Demeter the harvest, and Aphrodite love. Knowing Hera is his equal and fearing her competition, Zeus hopes to secure her loyalty by declaring her his queen. She initially refuses him, and the furious Zeus rapes her in an attempt to ensure her compliance. Hera finally agrees to his proposal because she wants "a world under the rule of benevolent goddesses, instead of power-hungry gods," but she also vows to "use every resource she has at her disposal to bring him down." As Hera strives to outmaneuver her self-obsessed, rage-filled husband, the unruly pantheon surrounding her engage in Machiavellian power plays, one-upmanship, and petty vendettas. Readers will savor the theatrics. (Aug.)