Review: Queens of Themiscyra

Queens of Themiscyra by Hannah M. Lynn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My biggest complaint about this one is that it was roughly 200 pages too long.

BUT.

Switching between the e-book and the paperback, I realised the paperback has roughly an extra 100 pages?! Which is wild. I can only assume it's an earlier draft, though to be honest it's a neater read.

So I guess e-book is the way to go? It's definitely more concise and I do remember thinking often reading it that I really appreciated the way it didn't linger or drag things out for too long.

Whereas the paperback lingers, so if you prefer the deeper details, go for the print version.

PLOT: It's death to any man who sets foot on the lands of Themiscyra, yet when a boat of them turns up one day it'll change the future for the Amazon warriors who reside there. Queen Hippolyte and her sister, Penthesilea, in particular will find themselves on paths they could never have fathomed.

I picked this one up as both a fan of mythology and of Wonder Woman (who of course hails from Themiscyra). Fans of the latter will be mostly disappointed, but fans of the former will get plenty of bang for their buck.

The main focus here is on Queen Hippolyte, and she's not quite the powerhouse from the WW comics that we know and love. In fact, she's my other main complaint. She's supposed to be the leader of this super powerful race of warriors, known for their lack of tolerance for the BS of men. She's supposed to be fearsome and wise and strong. So when her actions began to contradict all of those traits, it infuriated me.

I spent so much of this book frustrated by Hippolyte and her behaviour. I wanted her to see the very obvious red flags. But as I read on and thought more and more about her behaviour in situations, I was reminded of the very real issues of domestic violence in our own world. My compassion towards women in these situations transferred to this character for me, and I found a little more understanding. I didn't like it - it was tough to read - but I understood her actions a little better in this light.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed how Penthesilea lived up to the Amazon name. She's exactly the ferocious sort of character I wanted to read about, so I really enjoyed her story. Mostly.

I do really feel there were too many events covered in this story. I think the last little bit was unnecessary and dragged on for too long, and it just felt like the ending kind of tapered out into nothing. I wanted a strong finish but I guess it's just not that kind of story.

Mythology fans will love all the references, but may also be let down by the absence of endings for other characters that play a role. This is very much focused on the Queens of the title, and no other resolutions are to be found.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this one but did struggle emotionally with some of the content. I loved the mythology, but also was disappointed that some parts seemed unfinished. The paperback seemed too long, but the e-book was wonderfully streamlined.

I'll still go ahead and recommend this one, particularly for the feminist angle. This is a book full of strong women, and that's never a bad thing. I also think this will be a win with fans of mythology retellings.

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