Great Goddesses Life Lessons from Myths and Monsters

“Every love does not have to be made of desire. Some loves are kept for the people who stand by you through everything. Some soulmates are sisters not lovers. Some loves are for those who give you hope. And some for the strength, for wisdom, for dreams.” “Why be a half-finished poem in some forgotten poet’s story, when one can be an odyssey in and of herself, part magic, part villain, part Goddess, part lover.”

4.5*

Great Goddesses has cemented Nikita Gill as my favorite poet, usurping T.S. Eliot, who has held that pride of place since I was in high school. While I didn’t love it quite as much as Fierce Fairytales, Great Goddesses was still an incredibly solid collection. It took the classic tales of the Greek gods and goddesses and manages to both reaffirm them and turn them on their head. Here, Gill gives stories we already know depth and new life, while also pondering what these deities would be up to today, if present in our world. We see goddesses finally coming into their own, if in far different ways than they ever envisioned, while certain gods are now facing repercussions for their actions. Great Goddesses is fiercely, unapologetically feminist without vilifying every male character or setting each female on a pedestal. It’s beautifully balanced and beautifully rendered, in every way.

Outside of the content, I’d like to take a moment to simply praise Gill for the quality of form in her work. Every piece in this collection, be it poetry or prose, is perfectly clear and easy to follow. Her writing is profound, and yet it’s never ethereal. There’s something very grounded about her voice. It’s this voice and its constancy that has compelled me to crown Gill my favorite poet. I’m astonished that her writing about the inner and supposed lives of beings from ancient myth can be so much easier to follow that someone else’s poetry about nature. There’s a clear story to everything she produces and, though not imbued with any kind of rigid meter as it is written in free verse, there’s a natural rhythm to each piece that draws you steadily along. I’ve never come across another poet whose work is quite such a joy to read.

I always appreciate an updating or reimagining to stories already well known, though I tend to be weirdly protective of Greek myth as I have loved it so fervently since I was a child. But Greek reimaginings done well always find a special place in my heart, which is exactly where Great Goddesses now resides, alongside more prosaic works like Olympus Texas and Circe. I especially enjoyed Gill’s “Where are they now?” take on many of these deities. The one involving Hera was particularly touching, as she learned from her past and dedicated her present to helping those who had survived the very abuse she once punished them for enduring.

If you’re a fantasy lover who is looking to dip your toes into poetry, look no further than Nikita Gill for your introduction. Whether you choose Great Goddesses or Fierce Fairytales (my favorite) or another that I’ve yet to read, I believe that her poetic style and her choice of topic will make a wonderful first impression. I’m already looking forward to revisiting both collections I’ve read thus far, as well as digging further into her work. Gill’s voice is lovely, and she always have something to say. I hope my ears and heart and mind will always be open enough to listen.

Hades and Persephone 🥺

“I will take her to the library, and introduce her to every librarian because they are where Athena lives now.” I chose this for @book_roast’s #magicalreadathon (and paired it with her other book of poems, Fierce Fairytales, another really great read!) this one really stuck out to me between the pair of books, which is why I am doing it first. I am a huge lover of greek myths so I had a good basic understanding of the tales themselves. It was very empowering to see some new interpretations of the stories, all told from the female perspective. Considering that all of the OG myth-tellers were male (Homer, Hesoid, Ovid, Virgil, Herodotus…) this book brings a breath of fresh air to the readings. I really enjoyed the short versions of these myths retold, and I loved how the book was structured―the poems were organized like the gods’ genealogy tree, which I thought was really cohesive and gave a good sense of chronology. featuring hand-drawn illustrations by the author. If you like myths and feminism, you will like this book.

despite knowing almost nothing about greek mythology, i found this incredibly enjoyable! i liked the author’s writing style and enjoyed the way the book is structured ++ the illustrations are GORGEOUS!

ARC given by NetGalley for Honest Review 3.5 Stars! Great Goddesses is an inspiring collection of poems as told through the eyes of ancient greek goddesses. Nikita Gill creates a dialogue between the reader and the goddesses by speaking about hardships, heartache, and perseverance. You will also find some "Mortal Interludes" in which the author herself speaks on the subjects. The book is (somewhat confusingly) split up into sections via different deities and while the meaning of it seems intentional, I found that sometimes certain pieces didn't fit in the specified section. The goddesses are shown in a few different ways, for example we see them as ancient beings and then later interacting in modern day society. For the casual poetry reader this may be something a little too niche, but for the ancient greece lover this is a blessing in a book! Overall the book is a wonderful collection of feminist poetry and prose and I enjoyed my read!

3.5 stars.

I liked it since I love Greek mythology and feminism, but the writing style was not for me. Still, the lessons from this book are alright and I picjes up some new and interesting info for myself. Not a masterpiece, but I'm glad I pickes it up.

This was a really insightful and modern retelling of stories that I love, I would definitely recommend to people who love Greek mythology with a feminist twist.

3.25 I'm sad I didn't love this as much as I wanted to. I loved Fearless Fairytales and Wild Embers so much. I definitely did love the portion of this that talked about Hades & Persephone, but I'm biased as I love those two.

3.5 stars. There were poems in here that gave me goosebumps but there also ones that were lost to me. However, I did find myself growing more into the book the further I read and the more I understood about the Gods, so maybe this is one for a re-read!

“it is easier to be hated than to face not being loved. easier to be angry than accept sadness”

Loved it. RTC

So much empowerment in a little book. And this combined with Greek Mythology, one of my favorite history topics. Perfection!

I loved Gill's "Your Soul Is A River", so when I got the chance to review her latest work, I was ecstatic! Great Goddesses is centred around Feminism, womanhood, and the strength within all females that reflect the lives of each goddess mentioned in each poem. The book is absolutely beautiful in so many ways, with its words and messages, though I was not too blown away by it because I could not quite connect with the story and the goddesses mentioned. Perhaps it was due to my lack of Greek Mythology knowledge that created this strained connection? It didn't matter too much to me though - I could still enjoy the stories. However, one thing I could not get used to was the fact that the book did not completely read like a poetry novel. There were several verses that were grouped together to sort of mimic a short story (or an anecdote, if you will). This had a huge effect on my reading experience, and I personally felt that they dragged on so much and made it difficult to read. There is absolutely nothing wrong with longer-than-usual poetry verses. It was just personally a little hard for me to keep up with the length, given the sort of enigmatic writing (if that makes sense?!). I thought the words the author used were beautiful and fitting, but the flow of her tone and words felt very unconventional as you would only expect this equivocal type of writing in short verses. This is just a personal opinion of mine. I don't tend to reach our for poetry novels, so this could just be something that I'm not used to. I am a major fan of Gill's gentle, yet thoughtful writing, but the short-story-esque parts of the book were just a chore to get through.. nonetheless, I appreciated the intricacy of how the lives of each Greek Goddess were explored to reflect the likes of humanity, roles of women in society, and the concept of change. It was a very interesting approach that delivered very powerful messages. Despite some problems I had with the structure of the book, I enjoyed a good handful of the poems in the book. If you are a fan of Greek Mythology with a feminist twist, this is the book for you! A massive thank you to Penguin Australia for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review!