Aphrodite's Trees

by inge scheynen

When the Athenian aristocrat Peteos unwittingly upsets supreme goddess Hera, her revenge is as ingenious as ruthless. The worlds of gods and men collide in this sweeping historical fantasy novel, set in ancient Athens and Sparta. Meet Perikles and Sokrates, Artemis and Aphrodite, Philemon and Baukis, and embark for an epic adventure in antiquity.

Genres: Mythology, Greek Mythology, Historical Fiction

367 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 22, 2024

About the author

Belgian historian and author, who won the readers award twice for her children's books. She's now following her lifelong passion and is writing about ancient Greece.
Check out her website www.missesmyths.com!

Reviews

[Becca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was entertaining. For the most part, I enjoyed how the author portrayed the Athenian and Spartan culture as well as the attempt to showcase progression with women’s right.

The reasons why I gave it 2 stars and not five is due to the discomfort I had with the romances.
The fact that the 4 main mortal couples starts with the female being a child (legit either toddler or pre-teen age) and the male love interest is much older (20-30 y/old) adult at the time of meeting and the male expressing emotional and sexual desire in the beginning of knowing each other - it was disgusting to me.
2 of the 4 couples start with the girl being a slave and the man being a master.
I understand the time period and that this is fiction - I personally just don’t enjoy romance that revolves around slave/master and underage/grooming especially with the last couple. That is absolutely disgusting 🤢
Also every single romance has the same story of the girl almost being raped and the guy fights the attacker(s).

P.S. make sure to pay attention b/c some of the characters are so similar that I mixed them up and had to go back to figure out who is who. Like Sinon and Sinnis, Hippotes and Hippomenes, and etc.
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NOTE: There are some parts that would be considered confusing without some prior knowledge of Greek gods, culture, and history.

One pet peeve I have with current books is that the author dumbs it down to where they point blank spell everything out instead of trusting the reader to have reading comprehension skills. This author does not do this - she does a good job at articling what is going on to where the reader can follow along and figure out what has happened in the past to time jumps without having to be spoon fed.

[Teresa Schirmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Aphrodite’s Trees, especially because I learned so much about the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece. The book beautifully illustrates how deeply human they are. Unlike the gods of many other religions, the Greek gods do not remain distant observers of the world; instead, they actively interfere in human affairs. What makes them particularly fascinating is that they are not purely divine themselves —they are driven by their emotions, desires, anger, and jealousies. This aspect is captured wonderfully in the book.

I also loved that the female goddesses take center stage and that their motivations are portrayed in such a compelling way. Their human-like nature is especially evident in how they interact with the protagonist—sometimes guiding her, but at other times losing interest and turning their attention elsewhere. Baukis is not “the chosen one” in the typical sense; different goddesses take an interest in her fate at different times.

I do have two minor criticisms. First, despite the strong female characters, there are still quite a few instances where men end up rescuing women from various situations. While this might reflect the historical setting, it stood out to me. Second, towards the end, the protagonist somewhat fades into the background as the story shifts focus to later generations. I found this a bit disappointing because I really enjoyed following Baukis’ journey, and losing that focus made the ending feel slightly rushed.

That being said, it was an incredibly engaging read. The writing was immersive, and I was eager to see how everything would unfold. A solid four out of five stars!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable. Been on a Greek mythology retelling kick so every book recommended to me is like this. None have topped Circe still (!) but I liked this quite a bit. A little hard to follow but interesting for sure.

[Rita Langers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed it very much! Great storytelling!

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A greek mythology based story that doesn't have a horrific depressing ending? A pleasant surprise!