This book focuses on the legends of Aphrodite. The story follows Aphrodite from just before Hephaestus’ banishment to Sicily to the trial of —. There were many more stories that could have been included, but I think these gave you a good insight into who Aphrodite was as a goddess. She was one of the few Olympians that did not come from Cronus or Zeus.[2] She had a power that could transcend the gods. Saint is writer of closed-door sex scenes. Given the sensuality of the main character, I feel it would have fit the narrative perfectly but to each their own.

The narrative structure of the book is disjointed; the relationship between Ares and Aphrodite is the only real thru-line connecting the stories together. This does, however, reflect the mythological tales the book is based on. Aphrodite’s life was not written in biographical form, it was pieced together from a bunch of disjointed stories from around the Hellenistic (and pre-Hellenistic) world.

I enjoyed the brief appearance of mortals in the story. You don’t get a solid fix on the dates in the mortal world but several from mythology are named. My favorite was Adonis. She meets him, hooks up with him, then -bam- he dies; it’s like maybe two pages. It is kind of funny how quick his appearance was but it really puts mortal lives in perspective of the goddess’s.

I loved the embellishments Saint added to the original myths, adding emotional depth and modern sensibilities to stories that are usually hard for a modern audience to fully comprehend. I was fascinated by her interpretation of how the gods were prayed and sacrificed to. How each had their home, Aphrodite’s being Cyprus.

One thing that made me giggle though. It was nothing to do with the writing, just the workings of my own brain. She frequently turned into a dove to fly distances but all my brain would imagine was a pigeon.[3] Aphrodite, goddess of love, as a pigeon. It was a funny image. The same went for her chariot pulled by doves.[4]

The theme of love and humanity was central to this story. I loved Aphrodite’s conversations with Ares about how War would not mean as much without love. War needs love. How true that is.