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A review by sarah2438
Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes
3.5
This is exactly 3.5 stars for me, so it's tough to round. There are some essays here that I really enjoyed! My favorites were Hera, Aphrodite, Athene, and the Furies. But the others (Artemis, Demeter, and Hestia) just fell short for me.
In the earlier essays, Haynes makes references to movies to connect the goddesses to pop culture, but with one exception (The Hunger Games), the movies are rather out of date, and it felt like it took longer to explain the context of what she's trying to reference than to make the point she's going for.
In essays about the goddesses where there was less material, it felt like she was trying to fill the word count by discussing stories only tangentially related. In Demeter's essay, for example, it's almost exclusively about the
kidnapping of Persephone, which while absolutely significant to Demeter, does not tell us a whole lot about the goddess herself.
Finally, I thought the male-gaze aspect of this book's purpose was lost a bit. From the introduction, I expected an analysis of how women may have interpreted/perceived these goddesses at the time men were writing the myths. But the only female voice mentioned was Sappho, and only briefly. I understand there's likely a lack of sources on this front, but I think that perhaps means that the mission of the collection should have been adjusted.
On the brighter side, Haynes's writing shines, regardless of the content she covers, and she's clearly very knowledgeable about the topic. I found her tone educated but still relatable. Given that this is an ARC of a book that's already out by now, I can only hope that Haynes was able to include photographs of all the different works of ancient art that she discusses-- I think that would be really beneficial, but that's just a personal preference.
Overall, I've decided to round this down, because while I think this is a very respectable collection of essays, it just didn't hit exactly how I needed it to. But for what it's worth, my Storygraph will have this rated properly at 3.5 stars :)
Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
In the earlier essays, Haynes makes references to movies to connect the goddesses to pop culture, but with one exception (The Hunger Games), the movies are rather out of date, and it felt like it took longer to explain the context of what she's trying to reference than to make the point she's going for.
In essays about the goddesses where there was less material, it felt like she was trying to fill the word count by discussing stories only tangentially related. In Demeter's essay, for example, it's almost exclusively about the
kidnapping of Persephone, which while absolutely significant to Demeter, does not tell us a whole lot about the goddess herself.
Finally, I thought the male-gaze aspect of this book's purpose was lost a bit. From the introduction, I expected an analysis of how women may have interpreted/perceived these goddesses at the time men were writing the myths. But the only female voice mentioned was Sappho, and only briefly. I understand there's likely a lack of sources on this front, but I think that perhaps means that the mission of the collection should have been adjusted.
On the brighter side, Haynes's writing shines, regardless of the content she covers, and she's clearly very knowledgeable about the topic. I found her tone educated but still relatable. Given that this is an ARC of a book that's already out by now, I can only hope that Haynes was able to include photographs of all the different works of ancient art that she discusses-- I think that would be really beneficial, but that's just a personal preference.
Overall, I've decided to round this down, because while I think this is a very respectable collection of essays, it just didn't hit exactly how I needed it to. But for what it's worth, my Storygraph will have this rated properly at 3.5 stars :)
Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review!