Greek Myth Retellings on my TBR

Hi everyone! I was going through my shelves and my kindle recently looking for a book to read and I realized that I have a TON of books that are either retellings/reimaginings or use the Greek gods as inspiration for the story, and I thought it would be perfect to share with you the ones that I’ve read or that I’m interested in! Plus, Greek retellings seem to be really popular right now with all the new releases coming out, specifically Hades & Persephone retellings.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

This is a retelling of the myth of the Minotaur, but told through the eyes of Ariadne, Princess of Crete. Ariadne is most known for betraying her father, King Minos by helping Theseus to kill the Minotaur. Her reasons for helping him and the impacts of her decisions are explored and the women take center stage in this amazing debut novel. I read and loved this one and how Ariadne grew as a character. I’ve never read the original story this is based off of, but while reading I did a lot of googling and it seemed to me that it was faithful to the original while giving us a new perspective.

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Neon Gods by Katee Robert

Neon Gods is a new release that’s getting a lot of hype lately, and it’s high up on my TBR. This book is a new series by romance author Katee Robert, and is an urban fantasy retelling of Hades and Persephone. Persephone wants to get her doctorate and leave the city of Olympus, but her mother has plans for her to marry Zeus, who has left a string of dead wives behind him. She flees and ends up making a deal with Hades to get away from Zeus, but starts to wonder if she can leave him behind. Katee Robert writes books with a lot of ~spice~ so I’m actually really excited to read this one.

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The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

This one is a little different from the others on this list, because it’s actually a thriller that combines Greek mythology with psychological suspense. Taking place at Cambridge University, Edward Fosca is the Greek Tragedy professor who is well loved by the students, especially a secret society called The Maidens. But when members of the group start to show up dead, a therapist becomes convinced Fosca is guilty of the murders. This sounds so interesting and I haven’t read anything from this author yet although I know people loved The Silent Patient, so I would really like to read this soon as well.

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A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair

This is another one that is making the rounds lately, and seems to be fairly similar in premise to Neon Gods. A Touch of Darkness is another Hades and Persephone story as an urban fantasy, this time with Persephone wanting to disguise herself as a mortal journalist to hide the fact that her powers don’t work the way they should. She ends up having an encounter with Hades in his gambling empire and makes a deal to create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever. This is another ~spicy~ series, and the third book recently came out so there a few books that you can binge read!

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A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

A Thousand Ships is another retelling that puts the women front and center, this time retelling the story of the Trojan War. As with most of the books on this list, I don’t remember or know specifics about each of myth, and so my knowledge of the Trojan War comes from other retellings. This one just sounds interesting with multiple female perspectives, both mortals and goddesses that focus on the consequences of the fall of Troy and what lead up to the war. This one seems to be a little more slow paced than the others according to StoryGraph which isn’t usually my thing, but I’ll still give it a shot!

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Circe by Madeline Miller

Again, Circe examines the legend of Circe, the witch that Odysseus encountered on his journey. Circe is banished by Zeus to an island where she hones her magic and finds herself pitted against a vengeful god. In the end, Circe must choose between the gods and the mortals she loves. I’ve head mixed things about this one as compared to Madeline Miller’s other famous Greek retelling (next on the list!), but I want to know where I stand with this one and so it’s on my TBR!

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The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

What kind of Greek myth retelling list would this be without one of the currently most popular retellings? As you may have guessed from the title, this is a retelling of the legend of Achilles, as told through his companion Patroclus. In this retelling, the bond they have grows deeper, turning into love. It’s been a long time since I read this book back in 2017, but according to my very short review, I liked the relationship between the two but wished that Achilles didn’t take Patroclus for granted so much.

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Lore by Alexandra Bracken

Another urban fantasy, this one follows Lore Perseous, a girl who is part of the Agon. Every seven years, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals and are hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines. Lore however doesn’t want to be part of the cycle anymore after her family is murdered by a rival bloodline and so she turns her back on everything. When the next Agon comes around, Lore finds herself in an unexpected alliance with Athena, who is one of the last of the original gods but is severely wounded. I’m very curious about this one, and I read a sampler a while back that really intrigued me.

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What are some Greek retellings on your TBR? I’d love to chat!