Reviews

Queens of Themiscyra by Hannah Lynn

des_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

eris_648's review

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

4.0

ssweizer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

3.5

applejacksbooks's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

I'm not sure why I keep torturing myself with reading these beautiful stories of Hannah's even though I KNOW they're tragedies. But also they're so well written and I love them. 

This follows Amazonian Queens Hippolyte and Penthesilea in their stories of love, loss, and betrayal after an encounter with Theseus (boo hiss🍅🍅🍅). The story is well done and I like the small moments of kindness both queens share with children that I like to think help out in large ways. I also appreciate the connection to other stories the author has written. About 65% the plot felt like it stalled a little bit, but It picked back up around 75% until the end. 

angel07141789's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

poseidons_siren's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

If you aren't familiar with the story of Theseus, Panthesilea, Hyppolyta, the Amazons in general, or the Trojan war, then you will love this book 😀 I already knew the mythology and stories, and this book was a big let-down for me. I do want to say here that I know and acknowledge that authors have no obligation to stay true to the myths when creating a retelling, but this one felt like too many creative liberties were taken and I think a better story about the Amazons could have been told. I thought it was okay, I didn't love it, and I felt that the creative interpretation of the myth was a bit messy and different paths didn't need to overlap. Am I mythology purist? Absolutely. Am I being too critical? Probably. But I desperately wanted a great retelling of Hyppolyta and to touch more on Themiscyran society or something and this book wasn't it.

sugarpop's review

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

lenemsl's review

This one felt somewhat dissapointing. Taking on the Amazons, telling their stories, and yet they felt so incredibly one dimentional. Hippolyte especially felt so reduced without any more explanation that well she loves this horrible man she also hates, and son. It felt so incredibly hollow and empty. Penthesileia got a bit more depth, but here it was all rushed. We spent so long on Theseus romancing and being just so nice and amazing, untill he isnt, and then the rest is a speed run. I dislike Theseus greatly, but even he was reduced to a one dimentional character who was so amazing and intriguing, till he is horrible and cruel, making Hippolyte's actions even more hollow, cause they were all for this? At least make the man she does this for worth it, both his good and bad, so we can understand the actions of the Queen of the Amazons. 

kade_1's review

emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

savetris's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

thank you so much to netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review! 

and i'm gonna be real honest... WHO needed this story told (in this way, at least)? while i wasn't too knowledgeable about these particular women in greek mythology (ok i only remembered their names because of wonder woman), this can't actually be the best modern "feminist" retelling for their stories, right? did we need theseus playing such a huge part in this? everything i read about that slimy man just keeps getting worse!

i think i enjoyed penthesilea's pov more, if only because i'm more familiar with anything trojan war related.