Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald || Book Review

I love any retelling of Hades and Persephone's story. It is the only one about the top gods that isn't a horrifying story. At least, as far as I know. Knowing how all the Greek myths are, maybe there's something twisted in their story too that isn't well-known.

Girl, Goddess, Queen caught my eye in the bookstore with its pink cover and bold letters. When I saw that it was about Hades and Persephone, I added it to my list. Months later, I finally read it.

about Girl, Goddess, Queen

To hell with love, this goddess has other plans...

Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying.

The real story is much more interesting.

Persephone wasn't taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.

Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld's annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. A plan that will shake Mount Olympus to its very core.

But consequences can be deadly, especially when you're already in hell . . .

A fierce, fresh and enormously fun YA fantasy re-imagining from a growing TikTok superstar.

my review

Although I enjoy Hades-and-Persephone retellings, all the ones I read before weren't in the proper Olympus setting. They were always in a more modern setting with modern types of violence (like guns).

This was my first Hades-and-Persephone retelling which is not in a different setting. This is properly and fully in the same setting as the actual myths. We see grandiose descriptions of the places and we see the gods in all their cunningness. Some characters are humanised a bit but it's not a lot.

I'd rather perish, rather be another tragic tale for a mother to use in warning, than become a long, drawn-out sign in a hymn, an immortal life spent in misery.

The first thing you need to know is that this is a feminist retelling. Right from the start, we see Persephone as a confident and determined woman. She is constantly pushed to fit a mold that her mother and the world want which she tries to rebel against as much as she can.

When it's time for Kore (Persephone's name when she was unmarried) to get married, her mother Demeter and her father Zeus decide to pick from a line of suitors. Since Demeter kept Kore on an island with strong wards and no one ever saw her, her mystery made her highly wanted. However, Persephone was not interested in marriage so she ran away to Hell.

Reading the book from her perspective, it's hard not to like Persephone. In fact, it's hard not to be inspired by her. She believes that she deserves the world, believes that she can make a difference and make it a better place, and rebels against the brainwashing that most women go through.

She is surrounded by women whose lives are dictated by men and is constantly told to be a certain way by her mother. Instead of accepting things the way they are, she decides to make her own path. She found a loophole that could allow her to escape her parents and a dreaded marriage, and she took it.

Throughout the book, Persephone paves her own path and doesn't wait for anyone to help her with it. She refused to take things silently, was empathetic to others' struggles, and did her best to make the world and the Underworld a better place.

'You're a woman now.' What an arbitrary word. I don't remember much of a transformation on my birthday but apparently the whole world saw one.

I liked that Persephone constantly challenged things throughout the book. Most of these things are what we already know about so it's not like it's very special compared to other feminist books. However, this book calls out almost every bad thing in the Greek myths to the point that even if someone didn't think about it, they'd hate it now.

Although some Greek myth retellings call out the terror and injustice in the stories, they mention it in bits and move on to make the story feel better in a different way. It's hard to remember that Greek myths are atrocious to women when you're reading a romanticised version of it (like Neon Gods or Drag Me Up).

I appreciated this book and the author for calling out as many things as possible in one story. If I had to give a Greek retelling to a young reader, I'd choose this one because while remaining entertaining and maintaining the allure of gods, it clearly separates good from bad.

Obviously, it's really hard to talk about all the bad things in every Greek myth. There are way too many for that. However, there are some really big stories and popular goddesses who seem to have freedom but don't. Persephone calls it out and says why that is wrong.

I don't think I'm the only one suffering under Zeus's order. I don't think it's just us girls chafing under its restraints.

It's a long-standing tradition that whenever a woman says something feministic, at least one man will ask her why she doesn't stand for men's struggles the same way. Well, here's a book that does.

Girl, Goddess, Queen focuses on the ill-treatment of women but it does not ignore or wave away men's struggles in patriarchy. I really liked the way the story depicted it as well.

Persephone grew up around only women so although she had an idea of the struggles she faced, she had no idea about men. She did not know what their lives were like or whether they had systemic problems of their own. When she ran away to Hell and forced Hades to host her for a while, she had to get to know him.

As she grew closer to Hades, she learnt of the hidden ways patriarchy hurts men as well. There is the constant expectation for men to be "strong" and "manly." Men are applauded for killing or violence and are demeaned if they have sensitive emotions or refuse to conform to patriarchal ideas.

The struggles are not well-known because they're forced to always pretend as if they're doing amazing and can crush everyone on their path. If they refuse to hurt others, others hurt them.

I will admit that the book does not dive very deep into men's struggles. However, it is highlighted quite a bit because Hades struggles through all of them and Persephone cares about him.

Marriage as freedom? I'd never considered such a thing was possible. But here it is. Somehow, impossibly, Hades has managed to redefine the institution that has haunted me my entire life.

The marriage-of-convenience trope was used beautifully in this story. I cannot tell you just how much I loved it. The romance has everything you'd want and more.

Persephone and Hades got off on the wrong foot but it didn't take long for them to start to trust each other. But their romance is not short in any way.

The two take a LONG time to fall in love. They go from hating each other to tolerating each other to becoming lowkey friends to becoming best friends and getting married as a solution to problems and then they fall in love. I loved every step of their story.

There was a LOT of pining towards the end which was a little bit painful because it was so obvious how much they loved each other but they didn't think the other person felt the same way. So many times, Hades and Persephone sacrificed something for the other person's happiness.

I often talk about how most romance novels are centered around the woman and hence they sometimes forget to make the relationship balanced. Way too many times, the man supports the woman for everything while she doesn't support or help him the same way. That's not the case in this book.

Persephone was consciously selfish and made sure to put herself first because it looked like no one else did. Along with that, she noticed when Hades looked tired or sad and did her best to help him. I loved that he supported her in any way he could and she did the same.

I loved how their bond was built over banter and insults. Their bond grew in a really playful way which led to deeper feelings and trust. At one point, Persephone mentions how she feels all the 7 kinds of love for him which shows how they bonded in so many different ways.

Hades and Persephone complement each other really well in terms of personality, ambition, and passions. Throughout the book, it's easy to feel like they were meant to be. Even if their story did not happen in the same way for any reason, it's easy to believe that they'd have found each other anyway. They're such a power couple that it's easy to be in awe of them.

I'll hold your flowers while you tear the world apart.

The Queen of the Underworld was first named Kore which did not suit her at all. Later, she found a new name that was accurate and felt like her. Persephone — chaos bringer.

As I mentioned earlier, Persephone is a strong character. She is certain in her beliefs, does her best to learn something if she doesn't know it, and tries to make the world better.

In the story, she comes up with an idea to change the world by changing one thing that she has control over and it is brilliant. I was genuinely in awe of that idea. It was such a cool way of representing that even if we don't have power over the world, we can change it just by strategically doing something in our area of control.

I really liked that the book encourages the reader to be like Persephone by making her a role model. After finishing the book, I wanted to change my whole self to be like her. Sure, she has flaws, but she's amazing in the things that matter.

Reading her story made me want to take charge of my life, be brave to go on unknown adventures, and take the time to make the world a better place. I can't suddenly become like her but I sure can try one step at a time.

overall

I highly recommend Girl, Goddess, Queen. I absolutely loved the book and the characters. I loved that it called out patriarchy and broke the "ideal image" of a man and a woman. I loved that it was entertaining and funny despite all of the deep topics it talks about. I loved that it made me want to be better.

If you're looking for a great story, pick this up. I also recommend this for young adults because it has all the right things that young adults should read and it doesn't have any explicit scenes on page.

chat with me!

What's your favourite kind of retelling? What story could you see written in a thousand different ways and never get bored? Is there any specific Greek myth retelling that you love?