Crown of Cinders

Crown of Cinders by Emily R. King. 47North

Althea has just learned she and her sisters are not mortals but daughters of Cronus and goddesses at the end of the first book in the series, ” Wings of Fury”. As this book opens, plans are being made to aid Zeus and their siblings in taking down their father. Althea, or Hera, her true name, must journey to seek out two more brothers, and this will eventually find her traveling through the underworld and will require great strength from her. Finally, she will use all her power and ability in order to make sure she and her siblings and allies succeed in bringing down Cronus.

Essentially this is a retelling of the story of Cronus being removed from power but from the perspective of Hera. It’s very much a feminist retelling and it takes a fair amount of liberty with the stories from Greek mythology. It’s truly an interesting retelling and tries to balance some of the mostly patriarchal stories with possible alternatives that don’t wipe out all the roles of women. It took me some time to finish this, mostly because I needed to go back and read the first book. I must admit I didn’t quite catch on to the fact this was a retelling of Greek myth until well into the first book. Despite not being a big fan of retellings, I did enjoy this for the most part. It seems to be the story behind the story in the end and it comes out well.

Overall, I’m giving this 3.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and 47North for giving me this advanced reader copy. I have provided this review voluntarily.