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Das Lied des Dionysos
Der junge Krieger Phaidros rettet in Theben ein ausgesetztes Baby, von dem eine ganz eigenartige Faszination ausgeht, vor dem sicheren Tod und bringt es zum Tempel der Artemis, in dem verwaiste Kinder aufgezogen werden. Wer kann schon ahnen, dass mit dem kleinen Jungen unvergleichliches Unheil über ganz Theben, ja über der ganzen Welt aufzieht.
Was hat es mit dem Findlingskind auf sich? Ist es ein Bastard oder vielleicht gar von Zeus gezeugt? Jahre später, Troja ist gefallen und die Soldaten um Phaidros rüsten die Schiffe zur Heimfahrt. Da begegnen sie auf einer Insel einem seltsam schönen Jüngling und nehmen ihn gefangen. Ihm droht nun das Los als, Sklave verkauft zu werden, – was für ein Frevel! Das Kentern des Schiffs ist erst der Beginn einer verheerenden Rache, des gedemütigten Dionysos. Über Theben breitet sich eine nie dagewesene Dürre aus. Aber noch schlimmer: Eine seltsame Macht ergreift Gemüt und Verstand der Menschen, der Wahnsinn geht um. Und doch hängt das Herz von Phaidros an dem Gott, der ihm in vielerlei Gestalt begegnet. Natasha Pulley erzählt so spannend und lebendig von der Antike, als wäre es es gestern gewesen.
Was hat es mit dem Findlingskind auf sich? Ist es ein Bastard oder vielleicht gar von Zeus gezeugt? Jahre später, Troja ist gefallen und die Soldaten um Phaidros rüsten die Schiffe zur Heimfahrt. Da begegnen sie auf einer Insel einem seltsam schönen Jüngling und nehmen ihn gefangen. Ihm droht nun das Los als, Sklave verkauft zu werden, – was für ein Frevel! Das Kentern des Schiffs ist erst der Beginn einer verheerenden Rache, des gedemütigten Dionysos. Über Theben breitet sich eine nie dagewesene Dürre aus. Aber noch schlimmer: Eine seltsame Macht ergreift Gemüt und Verstand der Menschen, der Wahnsinn geht um. Und doch hängt das Herz von Phaidros an dem Gott, der ihm in vielerlei Gestalt begegnet. Natasha Pulley erzählt so spannend und lebendig von der Antike, als wäre es es gestern gewesen.
528 pages, Hardcover
First published March 18, 2025
355 people are currently reading
30905 people want to read
About the author
Natasha Pulley
15 books2,989 followersNatasha Pulley is the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, The Bedlam Stacks, and quite a lot more. An international bestseller, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award, the Locus Awards, and remained on the Sunday Times bestseller list for much of summer 2016. The Bedlam Stacks was longlisted for the Walter Scott Award and shortlisted for the Encore Award.
Natasha has lived in Japan as a Daiwa Scholar, as well as China and Peru. She was a 2016 Gladstone Writer in Residence, and she teaches Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, alongside short courses at the Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education. She has also taught various courses for the Arvon Foundation and is always happy to be contacted about other residential teaching too.
Natasha has lived in Japan as a Daiwa Scholar, as well as China and Peru. She was a 2016 Gladstone Writer in Residence, and she teaches Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, alongside short courses at the Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education. She has also taught various courses for the Arvon Foundation and is always happy to be contacted about other residential teaching too.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 607 reviews
December 1, 2025
marketing this as “for fans of The Song of Achilles and Elektra” is an error - this book isn’t for fans of books about Ancient Greece, it’s for fans of books by Natasha Pulley. it is absolutely CLASSIC n.p. throughout, which for me means 1) there were big chunks where I genuinely didn’t know wtf was going on, and 2) I will reread it in 6 months and give it five stars. her signature voice (which has the most distinctive, comforting Englishness about it) is as strange in 300-odd BC Greece as it was in 60s Russia and on 2500s Mars, but if Ms Pulley wrote a proper historical fiction book that didn’t have any weirdness or incongruous language or things that she has simply made up, I would be disappointed. everyone shelve this as magical realism and we should be fine.
in conclusion: I liked it a lot, I’m not sure if it was actually good or if I just love Natasha Pulley, and That Doesn’t Sound Right But I Don’t Know Enough About Ancient Greece To Dispute It.
ETA: reread it. got it. loved it. called it!
in conclusion: I liked it a lot, I’m not sure if it was actually good or if I just love Natasha Pulley, and That Doesn’t Sound Right But I Don’t Know Enough About Ancient Greece To Dispute It.
ETA: reread it. got it. loved it. called it!
October 25, 2024
Actual rating 4.5 stars.
The Hymn of Dionysus is wild like the cover, strangling you in the ivy that grows through the pages and grips you by the throat. At the same time, the story burns your patience down until the smoke of the fire suffocates you, and you feel like you’re getting mad, just like Phaidros, the main character.
Even if there is some terrible place three thousand years from now where nobody remembers any gods at all, there will still be the sea and love . . .and madness.
While reading, I had no clue what I was going to write in this review. I’m not a huge connoisseur of Greek myths and gods, and once again (I always do while reading Natasha Pulley’s books), I read slowly, full of fear I’d miss something relevant, confused because I didn’t understand what was going on, and in awe of the vivid world Natasha Pulley built.
I wasn’t wearing a helmet, but that didn’t matter. The one on the inside was there, and now, I pulled the visor down.
Even though I did understand the underlying themes from the beginning, it took me almost two-thirds of the book to understand the story itself. I just let the words carry me on their journey through an ancient world, and I waited and waited. Until something finally clicked, and I was internally shouting: You fool! You know this is Natasha Pulley's writing! I couldn’t let go of Phaidros by then, so of course, I read the rest of the story in one sitting.
We aren’t seeing different things, but we are thinking of them differently.
This story is about duty, about honor, about doing what you’ve been told. About suffering so much that it turns people numb and cruel. But what if there’s another world, too? One where you feel like you can breathe again and just let go? With only a bit of suffering and bursts of joy, and maybe a little madness. Natasha Pulley madness, that is …
Thank you so much, Bloomsbury USA and NetGalley, for this amazing ARC. Now, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Natasha Pulley's sequel to Valery K, which she apparently wrote, will be the next book she releases. I already said it before: We need that book!
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The Hymn of Dionysus is wild like the cover, strangling you in the ivy that grows through the pages and grips you by the throat. At the same time, the story burns your patience down until the smoke of the fire suffocates you, and you feel like you’re getting mad, just like Phaidros, the main character.
Even if there is some terrible place three thousand years from now where nobody remembers any gods at all, there will still be the sea and love . . .and madness.
While reading, I had no clue what I was going to write in this review. I’m not a huge connoisseur of Greek myths and gods, and once again (I always do while reading Natasha Pulley’s books), I read slowly, full of fear I’d miss something relevant, confused because I didn’t understand what was going on, and in awe of the vivid world Natasha Pulley built.
I wasn’t wearing a helmet, but that didn’t matter. The one on the inside was there, and now, I pulled the visor down.
Even though I did understand the underlying themes from the beginning, it took me almost two-thirds of the book to understand the story itself. I just let the words carry me on their journey through an ancient world, and I waited and waited. Until something finally clicked, and I was internally shouting: You fool! You know this is Natasha Pulley's writing! I couldn’t let go of Phaidros by then, so of course, I read the rest of the story in one sitting.
We aren’t seeing different things, but we are thinking of them differently.
This story is about duty, about honor, about doing what you’ve been told. About suffering so much that it turns people numb and cruel. But what if there’s another world, too? One where you feel like you can breathe again and just let go? With only a bit of suffering and bursts of joy, and maybe a little madness. Natasha Pulley madness, that is …
Thank you so much, Bloomsbury USA and NetGalley, for this amazing ARC. Now, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Natasha Pulley's sequel to Valery K, which she apparently wrote, will be the next book she releases. I already said it before: We need that book!
Follow me on Instagram
November 4, 2025
Natasha Pulley is an author who has been on my radar for ages and I am glad that this was my first foray into her work cause it was just SO DELIGHTFUL. I think I assumed that the writing craft would be solid (it really was) but I hadn’t anticipated for it to be so full of tongue in cheek humour and to be quite so engaging.
I loved Phaidros as a protagonist, he’s just the right kind of competently incompetent, self loathing idiot that always seems to tickle my fancy. Phaidros’s connection with Dionysus was also SO enjoyable, but honestly I just wanted so much more of their romance. It’s a blessing and a curse that their connection and chemistry together was so enjoyable that I loved it and wanted to gobble up more of it, because it was unfortunately a little bit light on the ground.
I found the intertwining roles of love, duty and family between Phaidros and Helios, Queen Agave and Prince Pentheus to be interesting. I think especially that there has been a lot of ambiguity left in the relationships between Phaidros and Helios and The Queen and what love and duty means in each of these relationships which has been left for reader interpretation. I can imagine this would appeal to some people but I didn’t always love it. I am by no means a ‘spice required’ type reader in my romance books because I froth a good emotional connection, but I found the lack of any sort of physical intimacy between Phaidros and Dionysus meant that I kind of struggled at times to contextualise the nature of that relationship and its meaning to Phaidros (this probably wasn’t helped by aforementioned idiocy though).
I don’t if this is a Pulley special but I feel like I genuinely barely understood what was happening in the last 10% of this book. Everything started becoming very abstract and fanciful which was kind of a bit of a shame cause it felt a bit out of step with the vibes of the rest of the story and I kind struggled to keep track of who was where and doing what and concentrating so much on just understanding that some of the emotional impact of it all just passed me by.
The audiobook narration of this was fantastic and Sid Sagar’s performance of Phaidros added so much charm and vibrancy to this reading experience.
I cant say that this is a particularly historically accurate portrayal of Ancient Greece but the vibes were delightful and it was a great piece of entertaining escapism.
I loved Phaidros as a protagonist, he’s just the right kind of competently incompetent, self loathing idiot that always seems to tickle my fancy. Phaidros’s connection with Dionysus was also SO enjoyable, but honestly I just wanted so much more of their romance. It’s a blessing and a curse that their connection and chemistry together was so enjoyable that I loved it and wanted to gobble up more of it, because it was unfortunately a little bit light on the ground.
I found the intertwining roles of love, duty and family between Phaidros and Helios, Queen Agave and Prince Pentheus to be interesting. I think especially that there has been a lot of ambiguity left in the relationships between Phaidros and Helios and The Queen and what love and duty means in each of these relationships which has been left for reader interpretation. I can imagine this would appeal to some people but I didn’t always love it. I am by no means a ‘spice required’ type reader in my romance books because I froth a good emotional connection, but I found the lack of any sort of physical intimacy between Phaidros and Dionysus meant that I kind of struggled at times to contextualise the nature of that relationship and its meaning to Phaidros (this probably wasn’t helped by aforementioned idiocy though).
I don’t if this is a Pulley special but I feel like I genuinely barely understood what was happening in the last 10% of this book. Everything started becoming very abstract and fanciful which was kind of a bit of a shame cause it felt a bit out of step with the vibes of the rest of the story and I kind struggled to keep track of who was where and doing what and concentrating so much on just understanding that some of the emotional impact of it all just passed me by.
The audiobook narration of this was fantastic and Sid Sagar’s performance of Phaidros added so much charm and vibrancy to this reading experience.
I cant say that this is a particularly historically accurate portrayal of Ancient Greece but the vibes were delightful and it was a great piece of entertaining escapism.
August 6, 2025
This confirms Natasha Pulley's place in my list of absolute favourite authors. How does she do it? Each of her books so far have a similar basic premise but every one is presented in a totally different way.
The Hymn to Dionysus is a reimagining of the story of Dionysus, Greek God of ecstasy and madness, revelry and ruin. The main character is a young man called Phaedros, an officer in the Greek Legion, and one of the best book characters you could ever want to meet. The main thread of the story is the relationship between Phaedros and Dionysus which is perfectly told, but there is so much more as well.
I know a book has been good when I finish it and still want more. I have to take it back to the library now but I plan to stop at the bookshop on the way and buy myself a a copy. This one deserves a prominent place on my shelves.
The Hymn to Dionysus is a reimagining of the story of Dionysus, Greek God of ecstasy and madness, revelry and ruin. The main character is a young man called Phaedros, an officer in the Greek Legion, and one of the best book characters you could ever want to meet. The main thread of the story is the relationship between Phaedros and Dionysus which is perfectly told, but there is so much more as well.
I know a book has been good when I finish it and still want more. I have to take it back to the library now but I plan to stop at the bookshop on the way and buy myself a a copy. This one deserves a prominent place on my shelves.
March 27, 2025
Thank you, Natasha Pulley, I say, falling to my knees. You are redeemed. Please write 500 more books. I will buy all of them except for those two I didn't like. This is more of a 4 star read in terms of quality, but I will give it 5 stars because I am blinded by the joy of liking Natasha Pulley's new book.
Since I went into this book informed by my opinions of all of her previous books, this review will also be in relation to her other books.
At this point in her career, Pulley has an established formula, even as she's moved away from her earlier magical realism and branched into new genres. Although this is a return to a more historical setting after The Mars House, The Hymn to Dionysus shakes up this formula more so than any of her other books:
She switched up her usual archetypes for the protagonist and the male lead. Instead of the usual skittish, absurdly nice, but sort of useless protagonist, Phaidros is-well, he's still skittish, but along with the skittering he also punches people really hard, and he's kind of mean, and he is very much not useless, which is to say he has a spine. He also swears a lot. I think meeting him when he's four does much to endear the reader to his character. You already like him by the time he's a dumbass adult. He's like Kite from The Kingdoms, complete with the scar, except he talks a lot more.
Dionysus is still the mysterious and elusive male lead of all of Pulley's books, but now he's the absurdly nice one. He's best comparable to Pulley's OG, Keita Mori from The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, especially with his magic, but he's even nicer than Mori. Unfortunately, of all the characters, he felt the weakest to me. In the beginning you come to learn the outline of his character, but I never really felt as if I knew him very well beyond a surface level. He's just...nice. And he wants to help people. And he likes Phaidros who is very dumb. I don't know. I think the knowledge that he's literally Dionysus made him feel too distant and the space was never closed enough. He's also just not there enough. He's only there just enough for the plot and for Phaidros to stare at him. Maybe also because he just seemed so obvious from the start that there was never much more that seemed discoverable about him.
For those worried about Pulley's treatment of women, your fears have unfortunately been proven correct. She does not switch up this element in the formula. Queen Agave is a recycled Agatha from The Kingdoms except with a son she's nasty about instead of a brother. I mean she was also kind of nasty to her brother. When he was alive.
In a setting and story where an age gap (the biggest age gap) would make total sense, Pulley pulled the rug on us and made Phaidros and Dionysus only a couple years apart. Besides the god thing. Phaidros is (was) married to a guy ten years older than him, but he's a widow now. Speaking of Helios, I thought he was much more than ten years older than Phaidros. He's only fifteen in the opening scene, but he seemed like fifty or something. I believed that Phaidros was four in the opening scene because Phaidros told us he was four and also he did babylike things. I think he was slightly more physically strong than a small four-year-old reasonably would be but whatever. Let's call it magic.
In regards to the magic, it really doesn't make sense. That didn't bother me much, though, since I have a great suspension of disbelief, especially for stories where the magic is supposed to feel strange and incomprehensible. So I liked it.
Also, there are children, because of course there are, by the formula, though it's also somewhat different. We start with the characters as babies. Later there are...the slaves........
We still have to like Phaidros though so it's okay, he's nice to his slaves! It's not his fault they don't run away even though they're terrified of him. They're just being unreasonable! Except they're not because....
Anyway.
I like the romance. It feels natural. It would be better if I knew Dionysus better.
The best part of this book, apart from the style, is the plot. I think it's the most intriguing plot of any Natasha Pulley book. Some of her books are quite predictable, but I was absolutely bamboozled by the plot twists in this one. The plot is a little bit slow in the middle where not that much happens and you kind of forget what's supposed to be going on, but around 2/3 of the way through, the plot really kicks in. And then it gets very good.
This book has a very clear message, which I suppose makes sense given the narrative style it is trying to emulate. At some points the lines were so unsubtle it was a bit cheesy. When Dionysus talks sometimes he's just saying the message of the book, which makes sense but also it's sort of cheesy to read.
I don't really like the prologue, but the rest of the book and the way it's narrated is fine. Some people really don't like first-person narration, but I don't mind it even when there's no real reason for it. There is a very good reason for the first-person narration and it serves the plot well. It also makes this one of Pulley's funniest books. Phaidros' conversations with Apophis were joys to read.
I like it slightly less than my favorite Pulley books, but that still means I love it a lot more than most other books. I will probably reread this at some point and love it even more. The five stars is generous but I will allow the generosity because I am happy.
___
Pre-read:
oh my god what Natasha Pulley please redeem yourself I can't take another Half Life of Valery K or Mars House please
Since I went into this book informed by my opinions of all of her previous books, this review will also be in relation to her other books.
At this point in her career, Pulley has an established formula, even as she's moved away from her earlier magical realism and branched into new genres. Although this is a return to a more historical setting after The Mars House, The Hymn to Dionysus shakes up this formula more so than any of her other books:
She switched up her usual archetypes for the protagonist and the male lead. Instead of the usual skittish, absurdly nice, but sort of useless protagonist, Phaidros is-well, he's still skittish, but along with the skittering he also punches people really hard, and he's kind of mean, and he is very much not useless, which is to say he has a spine. He also swears a lot. I think meeting him when he's four does much to endear the reader to his character. You already like him by the time he's a dumbass adult. He's like Kite from The Kingdoms, complete with the scar, except he talks a lot more.
Dionysus is still the mysterious and elusive male lead of all of Pulley's books, but now he's the absurdly nice one. He's best comparable to Pulley's OG, Keita Mori from The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, especially with his magic, but he's even nicer than Mori. Unfortunately, of all the characters, he felt the weakest to me. In the beginning you come to learn the outline of his character, but I never really felt as if I knew him very well beyond a surface level. He's just...nice. And he wants to help people. And he likes Phaidros who is very dumb. I don't know. I think the knowledge that he's literally Dionysus made him feel too distant and the space was never closed enough. He's also just not there enough. He's only there just enough for the plot and for Phaidros to stare at him. Maybe also because he just seemed so obvious from the start that there was never much more that seemed discoverable about him.
For those worried about Pulley's treatment of women, your fears have unfortunately been proven correct. She does not switch up this element in the formula. Queen Agave is a recycled Agatha from The Kingdoms except with a son she's nasty about instead of a brother. I mean she was also kind of nasty to her brother. When he was alive.
In a setting and story where an age gap (the biggest age gap) would make total sense, Pulley pulled the rug on us and made Phaidros and Dionysus only a couple years apart. Besides the god thing. Phaidros is (was) married to a guy ten years older than him, but he's a widow now. Speaking of Helios, I thought he was much more than ten years older than Phaidros. He's only fifteen in the opening scene, but he seemed like fifty or something. I believed that Phaidros was four in the opening scene because Phaidros told us he was four and also he did babylike things. I think he was slightly more physically strong than a small four-year-old reasonably would be but whatever. Let's call it magic.
In regards to the magic, it really doesn't make sense. That didn't bother me much, though, since I have a great suspension of disbelief, especially for stories where the magic is supposed to feel strange and incomprehensible. So I liked it.
Also, there are children, because of course there are, by the formula, though it's also somewhat different. We start with the characters as babies. Later there are...the slaves........
We still have to like Phaidros though so it's okay, he's nice to his slaves! It's not his fault they don't run away even though they're terrified of him. They're just being unreasonable! Except they're not because....
Anyway.
I like the romance. It feels natural. It would be better if I knew Dionysus better.
The best part of this book, apart from the style, is the plot. I think it's the most intriguing plot of any Natasha Pulley book. Some of her books are quite predictable, but I was absolutely bamboozled by the plot twists in this one. The plot is a little bit slow in the middle where not that much happens and you kind of forget what's supposed to be going on, but around 2/3 of the way through, the plot really kicks in. And then it gets very good.
This book has a very clear message, which I suppose makes sense given the narrative style it is trying to emulate. At some points the lines were so unsubtle it was a bit cheesy. When Dionysus talks sometimes he's just saying the message of the book, which makes sense but also it's sort of cheesy to read.
I don't really like the prologue, but the rest of the book and the way it's narrated is fine. Some people really don't like first-person narration, but I don't mind it even when there's no real reason for it. There is a very good reason for the first-person narration and it serves the plot well. It also makes this one of Pulley's funniest books. Phaidros' conversations with Apophis were joys to read.
I like it slightly less than my favorite Pulley books, but that still means I love it a lot more than most other books. I will probably reread this at some point and love it even more. The five stars is generous but I will allow the generosity because I am happy.
___
Pre-read:
oh my god what Natasha Pulley please redeem yourself I can't take another Half Life of Valery K or Mars House please
June 5, 2025
In the current tsunami of Greek mythology retellings, it can be hard to weed out the good ones from the bad ones. I’ve had my share of both over the last few years but let me tell you one thing: this is how it’s done. Natasha Pulley is an incredibly talented writer who knows how to make a story layered, personal and immersive. Sure, this is a retelling of a well-known myth, but she didn’t treat it like a paint-by-number project. She brings her readers directly in Phaidros’ mind and heart, so that we may see how he lived his life as a knight of Thebes, and how this life became intertwined with that of a young and unusual god.
I’m having a hard time finding a way to adequately summarize this book and why it’s so wonderful. When the story begins, Phaidros is the ward of Helios, the Theban queen’s brother, and that relationship will be a crucial influence on him, and is explored with great sensitivity. His life will take him to Troy, where he will wage war but also face devastating loss, and eventually make his way back home, but on his journey, he will meet a strange young man who will turn the ship he is held prisoner on into a tree and change the course of his life forever, especially when a wave of inexplicable madness falls upon his city.
This story is about duty and honor, but also about the nature of divinity, identity, madness, trauma and healing. It sounds like a lot, but Pulley is a very clever writer, and not a word in this book is useless, every tiny element serves the bigger purpose, making this book a rich tapestry that is great fun to explore.
Because it’s Pulley holding the pen, the plot is wonderfully labyrinthian (if you’ve read the book, you get the joke) and kept me on my toes until the last page. She maintains the ability she has displayed with “The Watchmaker of Filigree Street” of blurring the line between historical fiction and magical realism, and the setting lends itself perfectly to this talent: the Greeks famously saw magic and divine beings all over their daily lives, and she captures that idea beautifully. I think her characters sometimes feel a bit under-developed but they get more fleshed out as the book goes along, so I didn’t bother subtracting a star for that – though I wish we had more time to get to know Dionysus and Agave, who we really only know through Phaidros’ eyes – which may simply be the result of a first-person narration.
Speaking of which, one of the elements I really loved with this novel is that through Phaidros’ narration, we really get a feeling of the daily life in Thebes: his voice is conversational, often sarcastic and he swears a lot (I love him!), you know, the way normal people talk? No offense to the magnificent prose of “The Song of Achilles”, but I doubt conversations were this flowery and poetic all the time in ancient Greece; Patroclus and Achilles must have taken the piss out of each other at least once or twice. I especially enjoyed Phaidros’ interaction with the Egyptian ambassador, who’s poor opinion of the Greeks made me chuckle.
I currently lack the energy for my review to do the book justice, but if you enjoy classical mythology retellings, run to the nearest bookstore and get a copy of this gem, you will not be disappointed!
A huge thank you to Goodreads for sending me this gorgeous book as a giveaway, I was so thrilled to receive it and read it.
I’m having a hard time finding a way to adequately summarize this book and why it’s so wonderful. When the story begins, Phaidros is the ward of Helios, the Theban queen’s brother, and that relationship will be a crucial influence on him, and is explored with great sensitivity. His life will take him to Troy, where he will wage war but also face devastating loss, and eventually make his way back home, but on his journey, he will meet a strange young man who will turn the ship he is held prisoner on into a tree and change the course of his life forever, especially when a wave of inexplicable madness falls upon his city.
This story is about duty and honor, but also about the nature of divinity, identity, madness, trauma and healing. It sounds like a lot, but Pulley is a very clever writer, and not a word in this book is useless, every tiny element serves the bigger purpose, making this book a rich tapestry that is great fun to explore.
Because it’s Pulley holding the pen, the plot is wonderfully labyrinthian (if you’ve read the book, you get the joke) and kept me on my toes until the last page. She maintains the ability she has displayed with “The Watchmaker of Filigree Street” of blurring the line between historical fiction and magical realism, and the setting lends itself perfectly to this talent: the Greeks famously saw magic and divine beings all over their daily lives, and she captures that idea beautifully. I think her characters sometimes feel a bit under-developed but they get more fleshed out as the book goes along, so I didn’t bother subtracting a star for that – though I wish we had more time to get to know Dionysus and Agave, who we really only know through Phaidros’ eyes – which may simply be the result of a first-person narration.
Speaking of which, one of the elements I really loved with this novel is that through Phaidros’ narration, we really get a feeling of the daily life in Thebes: his voice is conversational, often sarcastic and he swears a lot (I love him!), you know, the way normal people talk? No offense to the magnificent prose of “The Song of Achilles”, but I doubt conversations were this flowery and poetic all the time in ancient Greece; Patroclus and Achilles must have taken the piss out of each other at least once or twice. I especially enjoyed Phaidros’ interaction with the Egyptian ambassador, who’s poor opinion of the Greeks made me chuckle.
I currently lack the energy for my review to do the book justice, but if you enjoy classical mythology retellings, run to the nearest bookstore and get a copy of this gem, you will not be disappointed!
A huge thank you to Goodreads for sending me this gorgeous book as a giveaway, I was so thrilled to receive it and read it.
March 21, 2025
featuring all of natasha pulley’s greatest hits: an unusual animal companion; someone conceptualizing the number three; a main character who doesn’t believe he is lovable; the word “filigree”; aphorisms that seem quippy yet fundamentally change your view of the world; a passing comment disparaging the concept of chivalry; main characters who have, ya know, killed some (or a lot of) people; a polyglot seeing the world through the lens of language; an earth shattering love story; and a deep-seated sense, afterward, that you’re better for having read it
this is a story that wrings the damp out of your soul and hangs it up in the sun. it’s a lesson in compassion and care—both as to others and oneself. it’s pharmakeia.
this is a story that wrings the damp out of your soul and hangs it up in the sun. it’s a lesson in compassion and care—both as to others and oneself. it’s pharmakeia.
March 11, 2025
The synopsis of this book felt like it was absolutely written for me. I’m a Classics graduate (I actually taught Classics, Latin and Ancient Greek for a while!) who wrote her dissertation on the evidence to support a mysterious cult to Demeter and who read and loved Greek tragedies in their original languages. The Bacchae, which this is based around, was always one of my favourites after reading it at “Greek camp” (an intensive 3 week Ancient Greek summer school).
We are introduced to Phaidros as a young knight who rescues a baby from a burning palace and then is commanded to leave him at a temple. For the majority of the book, he is a "Sown" commander, training new young recruits in Thebes, a city now ravaged by drought and famine, while a strange madness overtakes the knights. Meanwhile, he is guided by the witch Dionysus to help find the crown Prince, Pentheus, who has shirked his duty.
Rather than mythology, which is what many are expecting from this novel, for me it felt exactly like a crossover between a Greek tragedy and an epic Greek poem. Because I know The Bacchae, it felt a bit like I was reading with spoilers as I knew what was coming - I’m not sure how well known Dionysus and Pentheus’ backstory is. But this didn’t hinder my enjoyment of it at all.
It was cleverly written with fun little insights where the author breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience who are reading this in the future - it’s almost like a little nod to us to say: “Hey, isn’t it funny that they’re referring to something that you now know is true!” These were some of the highlights of the book for me as it had the feel of a real Greek tragedy where the characters would occasionally make little moves like this, letting the audience in on a secret, a nudge nudge, wink wink, sort of thing. Fans of Greek tragedy will love the nods to its classic storytelling techniques.
For example:
“And after all our world is gone and there’s no trace of us or marvels or Pylos and nobody knows if the war in Troy even happened, there it’ll be, and priests thousands of years from now are going to have huge gatherings about whether or not their ideas about us are supported by fourteen oxen and three barrels of apples to Poseidon!”
I enjoyed the use of words like deinos and xenia which threw me right back into the days of learning about these concepts at school - things that I had forgotten but were so integral to these cultures and storylines. It was nice to see them well explained and the importance placed on them to explain the motivations behind the storyline.
Some of the culture and themes are so different to ours that it’s hard to understand the motivations, but I loved how it threw you into a world that was similar but also so far removed that it feels alien. It’s a good eye opening experience to know that, even in the modern world, our culture can be so different from others.
I know some reviewers are not all that hyped up about this book being sold to fans of Madeline Miller, and I can see why the similarities have been pointed out by publishers but not understood by fans. I do think it is a very different style altogether, just like mythology and Greek tragedy would be. But personally, as a big Greek tragedy fan, this appeals to me even more than mythology based books.
And I know reviews have also said that it’s disjointed between the real world and the magical - tipping into magic realism - but that’s exactly what a Greek tragedy/epic poem/myth is. The writing is immersive, oppressive, and brilliantly evocative.
Her writing in this book has been described by others as modern and British, however I disagree. Pulley’s writing feels distinctly Ancient Greek, with its asides, satire, and rich world-building. As I've mentioned, the little asides to the audience, but also there are some fun, sometimes satirical, digs at the Athenians which the audience is meant to enjoy, and little passages which take the reader away from the main story for a moment or two to describe a situation as being alike to another situation - this had the epic Greek poem feel about it rather than a tragedy (or even comedy - with the digs at the Athenians!) play.
The setting in a drought and famine ravaged Thebes was oppressive and very well written - you could feel the desperation through the page. In addition to that, the characters themselves were well built - Phaidros is ravaged by guilt, he is a flawed character, but the relationship between him and Dionysus, how it grows and changes, is brilliant.
While I loved this, the book felt a little too long - at 60%, it felt like I’d been reading it forever, but that’s when it really got gripping and you felt like you got the meat of the story! There was a chunk of the book in the middle that seemed to drag on, where Phaidros and the story just kind of seemed to be meandering somewhat aimlessly. There were of course important parts in this for adding to characters’ personalities or storylines, little hidden references here and there, and these need to be interspersed with, for want of a better word, filler so that you’re not bombarded with important detail after important detail, but like I said, it felt a little longer than necessary. However, the writing was excellent enough and the world so fascinating that it didn’t make me even consider stopping reading it.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an advance copy of this book.
We are introduced to Phaidros as a young knight who rescues a baby from a burning palace and then is commanded to leave him at a temple. For the majority of the book, he is a "Sown" commander, training new young recruits in Thebes, a city now ravaged by drought and famine, while a strange madness overtakes the knights. Meanwhile, he is guided by the witch Dionysus to help find the crown Prince, Pentheus, who has shirked his duty.
Rather than mythology, which is what many are expecting from this novel, for me it felt exactly like a crossover between a Greek tragedy and an epic Greek poem. Because I know The Bacchae, it felt a bit like I was reading with spoilers as I knew what was coming - I’m not sure how well known Dionysus and Pentheus’ backstory is. But this didn’t hinder my enjoyment of it at all.
It was cleverly written with fun little insights where the author breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience who are reading this in the future - it’s almost like a little nod to us to say: “Hey, isn’t it funny that they’re referring to something that you now know is true!” These were some of the highlights of the book for me as it had the feel of a real Greek tragedy where the characters would occasionally make little moves like this, letting the audience in on a secret, a nudge nudge, wink wink, sort of thing. Fans of Greek tragedy will love the nods to its classic storytelling techniques.
For example:
“And after all our world is gone and there’s no trace of us or marvels or Pylos and nobody knows if the war in Troy even happened, there it’ll be, and priests thousands of years from now are going to have huge gatherings about whether or not their ideas about us are supported by fourteen oxen and three barrels of apples to Poseidon!”
I enjoyed the use of words like deinos and xenia which threw me right back into the days of learning about these concepts at school - things that I had forgotten but were so integral to these cultures and storylines. It was nice to see them well explained and the importance placed on them to explain the motivations behind the storyline.
Some of the culture and themes are so different to ours that it’s hard to understand the motivations, but I loved how it threw you into a world that was similar but also so far removed that it feels alien. It’s a good eye opening experience to know that, even in the modern world, our culture can be so different from others.
I know some reviewers are not all that hyped up about this book being sold to fans of Madeline Miller, and I can see why the similarities have been pointed out by publishers but not understood by fans. I do think it is a very different style altogether, just like mythology and Greek tragedy would be. But personally, as a big Greek tragedy fan, this appeals to me even more than mythology based books.
And I know reviews have also said that it’s disjointed between the real world and the magical - tipping into magic realism - but that’s exactly what a Greek tragedy/epic poem/myth is. The writing is immersive, oppressive, and brilliantly evocative.
Her writing in this book has been described by others as modern and British, however I disagree. Pulley’s writing feels distinctly Ancient Greek, with its asides, satire, and rich world-building. As I've mentioned, the little asides to the audience, but also there are some fun, sometimes satirical, digs at the Athenians which the audience is meant to enjoy, and little passages which take the reader away from the main story for a moment or two to describe a situation as being alike to another situation - this had the epic Greek poem feel about it rather than a tragedy (or even comedy - with the digs at the Athenians!) play.
The setting in a drought and famine ravaged Thebes was oppressive and very well written - you could feel the desperation through the page. In addition to that, the characters themselves were well built - Phaidros is ravaged by guilt, he is a flawed character, but the relationship between him and Dionysus, how it grows and changes, is brilliant.
While I loved this, the book felt a little too long - at 60%, it felt like I’d been reading it forever, but that’s when it really got gripping and you felt like you got the meat of the story! There was a chunk of the book in the middle that seemed to drag on, where Phaidros and the story just kind of seemed to be meandering somewhat aimlessly. There were of course important parts in this for adding to characters’ personalities or storylines, little hidden references here and there, and these need to be interspersed with, for want of a better word, filler so that you’re not bombarded with important detail after important detail, but like I said, it felt a little longer than necessary. However, the writing was excellent enough and the world so fascinating that it didn’t make me even consider stopping reading it.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an advance copy of this book.
April 12, 2025
Glorious as Natasha Pulley’s books always are.
April 2, 2025
firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!
i truly enjoy retellings of mythology, and despite the overabundance of stories in this genre, i will always read the latest retelling. i was overjoyed to see that pulley wrote a retelling of dionysus, as that is one god i truly never see retellings of.
while this is a retelling of dionysus, we do not focus solely on the god, which rather disappointed me. the entire story is in the pov of phaidros, the child soldier who saves dionysus as a baby, and then continuously “bumps” into the god throughout his life.
i really would have preferred a true retelling of the chaos god, but alas this was a fine start.
i truly enjoy retellings of mythology, and despite the overabundance of stories in this genre, i will always read the latest retelling. i was overjoyed to see that pulley wrote a retelling of dionysus, as that is one god i truly never see retellings of.
while this is a retelling of dionysus, we do not focus solely on the god, which rather disappointed me. the entire story is in the pov of phaidros, the child soldier who saves dionysus as a baby, and then continuously “bumps” into the god throughout his life.
i really would have preferred a true retelling of the chaos god, but alas this was a fine start.
March 21, 2025
Natasha, why do you hate women? Why do you keep writing about it over and over again? I'm not accusing, I'm genuinely trying to understand here.
Let's backtrack a little to see what I mean.
Natasha Pulley got famous 10 years ago with a novel about a clockmaker. It has lots of plot bits and cool magic, but the emotional conflict of it is this:
A tired, plain, rule-abiding government official mets a strange and magic man (clockmaker), who is in love with him. Their relationship causes him to question values of duty, order and sacrifice that have dominated his whole life, but he is too scared to break free of convention, and he cannot trust the motives of the mystery man, even as he longs for magic and rebellion. He also meets a woman, a scientist, someone who very much believes in logic and order and the systems of the society they both live in, even though she has broken herself against them her whole life, becoming a ruthless machine. The woman decides to marry the man, not out of love, but because his loyalty and devotion will be useful to her (and becomes the primary antagonist of the story). He first accepts because he is trapped in his own duty/sacrifice chains. However, her ruthlessness and coldness are her downfall and she ultimately sabotages the relationship and causes her own doom. The two men then have a happy end together.
So that's Natasha Pulley in 2015. Now, let's look at the emotional conflict of this 2025 novel: A tired, rule-abiding knight meets a mysterious god, who is in love with him. He also serves a queen who is ruthless and logical and efficient, because she has broken herself over and over again to succeed within the system. She decides to marry the knight, not out of love but because he will make a useful king. He accepts, but she ultimately sabotages the relationship and it leads to her downfall. The two men then have a happy end together.
It really is the clearest example I've seen in a long life of a writer who is kind of writing the same novel over and over again. She did write other novels in between who don't follow the pattern as exactly, but in every novel she has written where there is a female character at all, that character's role is Avatar of science/logic/ruthlessness and/or primary antagonist to the main romance and to the happiness of the other two main characters. But why?? And why is it never the case that the woman is deserving of happiness or redemption? It's not the case that these are flat characters, we are in fact shown their inner lives pretty well. But over and over again, they are doomed to fail and that depresses the fuck out of me. Not because I don't like Natasha Pulley, but because I love and adore every single other aspect of her writing. But I cannot get over myself noticing this. The style of this is superb, she has cool ideas about Dionysius as a god and his function, it contains nerdy linguistics bits that I love, and its sweeping and romantic and grand. I read it in one evening and I had a good time with it. But I just felt really bad for the queen and I wish for a book that breaks this pattern, because she has so much imagination as an author but it feels like she is trapping herself and her characters into this repeating circle. Please break free!
Let's backtrack a little to see what I mean.
Natasha Pulley got famous 10 years ago with a novel about a clockmaker. It has lots of plot bits and cool magic, but the emotional conflict of it is this:
A tired, plain, rule-abiding government official mets a strange and magic man (clockmaker), who is in love with him. Their relationship causes him to question values of duty, order and sacrifice that have dominated his whole life, but he is too scared to break free of convention, and he cannot trust the motives of the mystery man, even as he longs for magic and rebellion. He also meets a woman, a scientist, someone who very much believes in logic and order and the systems of the society they both live in, even though she has broken herself against them her whole life, becoming a ruthless machine. The woman decides to marry the man, not out of love, but because his loyalty and devotion will be useful to her (and becomes the primary antagonist of the story). He first accepts because he is trapped in his own duty/sacrifice chains. However, her ruthlessness and coldness are her downfall and she ultimately sabotages the relationship and causes her own doom. The two men then have a happy end together.
So that's Natasha Pulley in 2015. Now, let's look at the emotional conflict of this 2025 novel: A tired, rule-abiding knight meets a mysterious god, who is in love with him. He also serves a queen who is ruthless and logical and efficient, because she has broken herself over and over again to succeed within the system. She decides to marry the knight, not out of love but because he will make a useful king. He accepts, but she ultimately sabotages the relationship and it leads to her downfall. The two men then have a happy end together.
It really is the clearest example I've seen in a long life of a writer who is kind of writing the same novel over and over again. She did write other novels in between who don't follow the pattern as exactly, but in every novel she has written where there is a female character at all, that character's role is Avatar of science/logic/ruthlessness and/or primary antagonist to the main romance and to the happiness of the other two main characters. But why?? And why is it never the case that the woman is deserving of happiness or redemption? It's not the case that these are flat characters, we are in fact shown their inner lives pretty well. But over and over again, they are doomed to fail and that depresses the fuck out of me. Not because I don't like Natasha Pulley, but because I love and adore every single other aspect of her writing. But I cannot get over myself noticing this. The style of this is superb, she has cool ideas about Dionysius as a god and his function, it contains nerdy linguistics bits that I love, and its sweeping and romantic and grand. I read it in one evening and I had a good time with it. But I just felt really bad for the queen and I wish for a book that breaks this pattern, because she has so much imagination as an author but it feels like she is trapping herself and her characters into this repeating circle. Please break free!
March 14, 2025
What an absolute joy of a book.
Phaidros is a Sown Knight, whose commander is Helios. One night at the Palace in Thebes Helios leaves the 4 year old Phaidros alone during a frightening thunderstorm. As he watches Phaidros sees a woman leave a baby in the open. Phaidros takes the baby before it gets hurt and ever after he seems to be encountering and saving the blue eyed boy who has strange and wonderful powers.
An adult Phaidros finds himself back at the Palace during an emergency - drought has hit Thebes and he is tasked with getting the Queen's son, Pentheus, ready to be sent to Egypt in return for grain supplies before the population starves. But Pentheus does not want to go so Phaidros calls upon the boy he knew (who he now believes to be a God) to save the city.
But as even stranger things begin to occur Phaidros does not know who to trust. Or even where his loyalties should lie - with the Queen or with the man he saved as a baby.
This book is funny and clever and I absolutely loved it. From the bizarre game of Surprise Badger to the way he speaks to a royal Prince, it's clear that Phaidros is an unusual being. The dialogue is brilliant, the story (as it unfolds) is wonderfully engaging. I've not encountered such loveable characters like Phaidros, Helios and Dionysus in a very long time.
A Greek myth story with a difference. Brilliant. Read it. I now need to read more Natasha Pulley.
Thankyou very much to Netgalley and Orion Publishing for the advance review copy. Very much enjoyed and appreciated.
Phaidros is a Sown Knight, whose commander is Helios. One night at the Palace in Thebes Helios leaves the 4 year old Phaidros alone during a frightening thunderstorm. As he watches Phaidros sees a woman leave a baby in the open. Phaidros takes the baby before it gets hurt and ever after he seems to be encountering and saving the blue eyed boy who has strange and wonderful powers.
An adult Phaidros finds himself back at the Palace during an emergency - drought has hit Thebes and he is tasked with getting the Queen's son, Pentheus, ready to be sent to Egypt in return for grain supplies before the population starves. But Pentheus does not want to go so Phaidros calls upon the boy he knew (who he now believes to be a God) to save the city.
But as even stranger things begin to occur Phaidros does not know who to trust. Or even where his loyalties should lie - with the Queen or with the man he saved as a baby.
This book is funny and clever and I absolutely loved it. From the bizarre game of Surprise Badger to the way he speaks to a royal Prince, it's clear that Phaidros is an unusual being. The dialogue is brilliant, the story (as it unfolds) is wonderfully engaging. I've not encountered such loveable characters like Phaidros, Helios and Dionysus in a very long time.
A Greek myth story with a difference. Brilliant. Read it. I now need to read more Natasha Pulley.
Thankyou very much to Netgalley and Orion Publishing for the advance review copy. Very much enjoyed and appreciated.
March 11, 2025
pigs like me will eat this up and beg for more but that doesn’t mean it isn’t slop
my netgalley review:
I'm buying what Natasha Pulley's selling, but I don't know if I'm getting an especially good deal anymore. The Hymn to Dionysus is a worthwhile read by a lot of standards, including those of contemporary literary-romance, but in comparison to this writer's other offerings it's fairly middle-of-the-road. I'm one of the few who actually liked The Mars House, a novel I enjoyed more than this one, in part because that central romance felt compelling and solidly built to me -- there was chemistry, tension, attraction of a very muted kind. Those who objected politically to that novel are probably not going to have a much better time with this one -- cute and disposable slave side characters! They/them Tiresias! Revisionist ducking of power dynamics in ancient Greek pederasty and same-sex erotics! -- and, for my money, the central romance here is flimsier too. The whole structure of this novel felt a little slapdash, and I often had the sensation that I was seeing through what was going on on the scenic level to the skeleton of Pulley's outline underneath, which rarely varies from novel to novel. I'm disappointed! Maybe Pulley's style is just too cute to take on the serious imaginative and scholarly lift that true historical fiction requires -- and maybe she doesn't mind that, but I think I do.
arc provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review
my netgalley review:
I'm buying what Natasha Pulley's selling, but I don't know if I'm getting an especially good deal anymore. The Hymn to Dionysus is a worthwhile read by a lot of standards, including those of contemporary literary-romance, but in comparison to this writer's other offerings it's fairly middle-of-the-road. I'm one of the few who actually liked The Mars House, a novel I enjoyed more than this one, in part because that central romance felt compelling and solidly built to me -- there was chemistry, tension, attraction of a very muted kind. Those who objected politically to that novel are probably not going to have a much better time with this one -- cute and disposable slave side characters! They/them Tiresias! Revisionist ducking of power dynamics in ancient Greek pederasty and same-sex erotics! -- and, for my money, the central romance here is flimsier too. The whole structure of this novel felt a little slapdash, and I often had the sensation that I was seeing through what was going on on the scenic level to the skeleton of Pulley's outline underneath, which rarely varies from novel to novel. I'm disappointed! Maybe Pulley's style is just too cute to take on the serious imaginative and scholarly lift that true historical fiction requires -- and maybe she doesn't mind that, but I think I do.
arc provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review
October 7, 2025
🍇Review: The only valid Greek myth retelling
The Ancient Greeks believed that engaging with story or song about their gods, the Theoi, was a worshipful activity. Plays like The Bacchae or The Oresteia were put on in the honor of the gods. This book came out during the Anthesteria festival in honor of Dionysus, and whether that was intentional or not on the part of the author/publisher, it tickled me immensely and added to the experience for me.
The reason WHY I hate most Greek myth retellings is that the author writes like they hate the Theoi or does some downright disrespectful things with their stories. I didn't find that here. Dionysus is one of the only divine figures that shows up, but the occasional references to Apollo, Aphrodite, Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, and others were done with love and respect. More of this please in my myth retellings, I'm begging you. Too many authors forget these Gods and Heroes were...you know...actually figures of worship??? And still are in religions like Wicca and folk polytheism. As a pagan myself, its an instant turn off to see the gods disrespected. I was so very happy to see them treated with love here and an understanding of their cultural importance.
The book itself is a VERY loose but reverently beautiful reimagining of many of the different myths of Dionysus: his birth, the pirates being turned into dolphins, Ariadne and her maze, The Bacchae, and even some hints at his worldly origins. You certainly wouldn't pass an exam on the myths and hymns from reading this book, but as someone who's read them and translated them for my own personal use...yea I was into it.
Reviewing it just as it is, divorced entirely from religious opinions or about the treatment of divinity in literature, this is a solid fantasy story with romantic elements without being a "Romantasy." It was also really refreshing that this story centers around the relationships between men. For every dime a dozen mediocre straight romance doing the numbers on Booktok, we have to beg for scraps for a halfway decent LGBT romance. This is actually a really GOOD romance story about what comes after someone you love is gone and how to fill in the "Nothing" as Phaidros calls it that losing a lover leaves behind. It's really sad and bittersweet and relatable.
I really like this book and I want Natasha Pulley to write more of these please. Give me 10 of these and stop writing spicy Hades and Persephone retellings Booktok, you're literally missing the point of the myth.
Who knows this book might be the end of my haterism towards myth retellings? Its just that nice.
🍇☆ Fun Factor 4/5 (it started to drag towards the end)
🍇☆ Writing Style 5/5 (the reverence for the Gods was SO refreshing I was eating this up)
🍇☆ Characters 5/5
🍇☆ Plot 4/5
🍇☆ Setting 5/5
🍇☆ Feels 2/5
🍇☆ Spiciness 1/5 (for a book about Dionysus, it's extremely chaste)
🍇☆ Gore 2/5 (Injury talk, mostly)
🍇If this were a movie it'd be rated: PG-13 for mild sexual situations, crude humor, fantasy violence, murders, magical weirdness
🍇☆FOR FANS OF: Greek mythology, but obviously Dionysus in particular
🍇Ultimate verdict: ☆☆☆☆/5
🍇☆☆☆Best Character Award goes to:☆☆☆ Phaidros is one of the most realistic depictions of PTSD and grief I've ever read in fantasy. I loved him.
🍇One of my top 5 reads for March 2025!!:
The Ancient Greeks believed that engaging with story or song about their gods, the Theoi, was a worshipful activity. Plays like The Bacchae or The Oresteia were put on in the honor of the gods. This book came out during the Anthesteria festival in honor of Dionysus, and whether that was intentional or not on the part of the author/publisher, it tickled me immensely and added to the experience for me.
The reason WHY I hate most Greek myth retellings is that the author writes like they hate the Theoi or does some downright disrespectful things with their stories. I didn't find that here. Dionysus is one of the only divine figures that shows up, but the occasional references to Apollo, Aphrodite, Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, and others were done with love and respect. More of this please in my myth retellings, I'm begging you. Too many authors forget these Gods and Heroes were...you know...actually figures of worship??? And still are in religions like Wicca and folk polytheism. As a pagan myself, its an instant turn off to see the gods disrespected. I was so very happy to see them treated with love here and an understanding of their cultural importance.
The book itself is a VERY loose but reverently beautiful reimagining of many of the different myths of Dionysus: his birth, the pirates being turned into dolphins, Ariadne and her maze, The Bacchae, and even some hints at his worldly origins. You certainly wouldn't pass an exam on the myths and hymns from reading this book, but as someone who's read them and translated them for my own personal use...yea I was into it.
Reviewing it just as it is, divorced entirely from religious opinions or about the treatment of divinity in literature, this is a solid fantasy story with romantic elements without being a "Romantasy." It was also really refreshing that this story centers around the relationships between men. For every dime a dozen mediocre straight romance doing the numbers on Booktok, we have to beg for scraps for a halfway decent LGBT romance. This is actually a really GOOD romance story about what comes after someone you love is gone and how to fill in the "Nothing" as Phaidros calls it that losing a lover leaves behind. It's really sad and bittersweet and relatable.
I really like this book and I want Natasha Pulley to write more of these please. Give me 10 of these and stop writing spicy Hades and Persephone retellings Booktok, you're literally missing the point of the myth.
Who knows this book might be the end of my haterism towards myth retellings? Its just that nice.
🍇☆ Fun Factor 4/5 (it started to drag towards the end)
🍇☆ Writing Style 5/5 (the reverence for the Gods was SO refreshing I was eating this up)
🍇☆ Characters 5/5
🍇☆ Plot 4/5
🍇☆ Setting 5/5
🍇☆ Feels 2/5
🍇☆ Spiciness 1/5 (for a book about Dionysus, it's extremely chaste)
🍇☆ Gore 2/5 (Injury talk, mostly)
🍇If this were a movie it'd be rated: PG-13 for mild sexual situations, crude humor, fantasy violence, murders, magical weirdness
🍇☆FOR FANS OF: Greek mythology, but obviously Dionysus in particular
🍇Ultimate verdict: ☆☆☆☆/5
🍇☆☆☆Best Character Award goes to:☆☆☆ Phaidros is one of the most realistic depictions of PTSD and grief I've ever read in fantasy. I loved him.
🍇One of my top 5 reads for March 2025!!:
March 23, 2025
listen i love natasha's cooking and she's got the chops but this novel is a rather middling experience at best, unless you can sustain yourself off vibes and ivy only which i couldn't.
a special shoutout to the lemon tree that refused to give any lemons. a true comrade.
a special shoutout to the lemon tree that refused to give any lemons. a true comrade.
April 23, 2025
Natasha Pulley, I don't know if we can be friends again after this one. (RTC)
____________________
I'm afraid this is going to be a very long review. In all honesty, I should start by saying that I probably wasn't the right audience for this book: I am very serious about the Ancient World and I am extremely serious about Ancient Greece. I tried my best to shut up certain parts of my brain but the lack of research and detail was honestly the least of my problems.
I found it difficult, from the very start, to follow the story and the setting. If I read a book about a Bronze Age warrior from Thebes, I expect it to at least feel like I'm reading about a Bronze Age warrior from Thebes. Okay, it's loosely based on the Dionysian myths and I'm fine with that, but the "world building" is still a mess, randomly taking elements from archaic, classical and hellenistic Greece and putting them together for reasons that are still mostly unclear to me. Not to mention that the protagonist, Phaidros, speaks like a random British dude all. the. time. I just... I can't!! There's no way I'm gonna have to read things like "thank fuck", or "discombobulating" or "taking the piss" without losing my mind a little bit.
The worst part, though, was the writing. I don't know what happened with this one, but GOD it dragged. I love Pulley's books. I always have a wonderful time with her stories, because there's something so very poetic about her prose, an atmospheric quality to it that makes the stories and the characters so very dear to me. In this case, though, the prose was difficult to follow, half the time I didn't know what was going on either because nothing was actually going on for pages or because the writing made it impossible to keep up. The dialogues were flat, the descriptions either too convoluted or non-existent. The few references we got to historical facts and curiosities mostly read like a rant to talk about what the author liked and disliked about the subject.
I still can't understand most of the choices that were made here.
Was it necessary to mention every other Greek myth just to trivialize them and make them so... dull? Odysseus is just some dude they're telling stories about, who's finally come home to his palace and slaughtered all the Suitors and lived happily ever after with his family, but that's stupid and unrealistic because there's no happily ever after in life and fathers do not come back home to save you. Okay?? Why did Persephone eat the pomegranade, she sounds so silly! And that idiot Orpheus, why did he look back when he rescued Eurydices from Hades?? It's so easy to leave the Underworld without turning back!!
I feel like we've missed several points, but... fine. Everything that's interesting about Greek mythology from a historical and an anthropological point of view is made absolutely useless and anachronistic and I HATE IT.
Why is everyone named after a God or a prominent myth figure??? That's so random??
Why are the Persians DANDY???
What's with the CONSTANT Athenian slander?? Why did the protagonist throw a turnip at a philosopher's head and called him names, unprovoked?
Why was there so little detail? At various points the characters are said to be drinking Brandy but the moment they're served food it is only mentioned as a "tray of beautiful things the kitchen had sent." We know what people ate in Ancient Geece!! We can be a little more specific than that!! Having some context-related details actually helps to dive into the story!
And, finally, why does everything always have to do with clockwork???
In the end, everything felt so random I didn't even found it in myself to care about Dionysus and Phaidros as love interests. I was so bored and confused the whole time. I love retellings, when they take from the myths and build a new, coherent, interesting story that can speak to me in a meaningful way. That's really not what I got from this book.
I won't say much about the Queen, cause that's a whole other topic and a recurring issue in Pulley's books. She read like every other female character she's ever written. Which isn't good and, at this point, very concerning.
I should probably end this rant of a review on a positive note. So I'll say that I really enjoyed the chapter about the origins of the myth and I really liked the parts that discussed the concept of the Mask, because it's something I love in general and I thought it was very well done here.
I'm a little sorry that this was such a big miss for me, but it's okay, I can't expect to love every book written by one of my favorite authors.
____________________
I'm afraid this is going to be a very long review. In all honesty, I should start by saying that I probably wasn't the right audience for this book: I am very serious about the Ancient World and I am extremely serious about Ancient Greece. I tried my best to shut up certain parts of my brain but the lack of research and detail was honestly the least of my problems.
I found it difficult, from the very start, to follow the story and the setting. If I read a book about a Bronze Age warrior from Thebes, I expect it to at least feel like I'm reading about a Bronze Age warrior from Thebes. Okay, it's loosely based on the Dionysian myths and I'm fine with that, but the "world building" is still a mess, randomly taking elements from archaic, classical and hellenistic Greece and putting them together for reasons that are still mostly unclear to me. Not to mention that the protagonist, Phaidros, speaks like a random British dude all. the. time. I just... I can't!! There's no way I'm gonna have to read things like "thank fuck", or "discombobulating" or "taking the piss" without losing my mind a little bit.
The worst part, though, was the writing. I don't know what happened with this one, but GOD it dragged. I love Pulley's books. I always have a wonderful time with her stories, because there's something so very poetic about her prose, an atmospheric quality to it that makes the stories and the characters so very dear to me. In this case, though, the prose was difficult to follow, half the time I didn't know what was going on either because nothing was actually going on for pages or because the writing made it impossible to keep up. The dialogues were flat, the descriptions either too convoluted or non-existent. The few references we got to historical facts and curiosities mostly read like a rant to talk about what the author liked and disliked about the subject.
I still can't understand most of the choices that were made here.
Was it necessary to mention every other Greek myth just to trivialize them and make them so... dull? Odysseus is just some dude they're telling stories about, who's finally come home to his palace and slaughtered all the Suitors and lived happily ever after with his family, but that's stupid and unrealistic because there's no happily ever after in life and fathers do not come back home to save you. Okay?? Why did Persephone eat the pomegranade, she sounds so silly! And that idiot Orpheus, why did he look back when he rescued Eurydices from Hades?? It's so easy to leave the Underworld without turning back!!
I feel like we've missed several points, but... fine. Everything that's interesting about Greek mythology from a historical and an anthropological point of view is made absolutely useless and anachronistic and I HATE IT.
Why is everyone named after a God or a prominent myth figure??? That's so random??
Why are the Persians DANDY???
What's with the CONSTANT Athenian slander?? Why did the protagonist throw a turnip at a philosopher's head and called him names, unprovoked?
Why was there so little detail? At various points the characters are said to be drinking Brandy but the moment they're served food it is only mentioned as a "tray of beautiful things the kitchen had sent." We know what people ate in Ancient Geece!! We can be a little more specific than that!! Having some context-related details actually helps to dive into the story!
And, finally, why does everything always have to do with clockwork???
In the end, everything felt so random I didn't even found it in myself to care about Dionysus and Phaidros as love interests. I was so bored and confused the whole time. I love retellings, when they take from the myths and build a new, coherent, interesting story that can speak to me in a meaningful way. That's really not what I got from this book.
I won't say much about the Queen, cause that's a whole other topic and a recurring issue in Pulley's books. She read like every other female character she's ever written. Which isn't good and, at this point, very concerning.
I should probably end this rant of a review on a positive note. So I'll say that I really enjoyed the chapter about the origins of the myth and I really liked the parts that discussed the concept of the Mask, because it's something I love in general and I thought it was very well done here.
I'm a little sorry that this was such a big miss for me, but it's okay, I can't expect to love every book written by one of my favorite authors.
September 26, 2025
No one is more surprised than myself that I actually liked this one. The first 100 pages were painful, and I didn't see where the story was going. However, once Dionysus shows up, things become interesting. I will say, some bits were bizarre, though not alienating. I very much liked the ending.
Taking off a star for the boring beginning and the Britishism which show up no matter if book is set on Mars or Ancient Greece.
Taking off a star for the boring beginning and the Britishism which show up no matter if book is set on Mars or Ancient Greece.
October 13, 2025
Surprisingly (?) funny. I had a great time with this one even if my brain can't handle audiobooks and it took me over a month to finish it.
Elements that must be in every Natasha Pulley book:
- great writing
- time fuckery
- the MC marries/is married to a woman though he's in love with another man
- that woman is the villain
- accidental child acquisition
- a strange pet
- confusion on the part of the reader in the last 25%
Tick tick tick, all of these apply lol
I do really need for Pulley to not always make the only female character the villain though. That'd be nice.
Elements that must be in every Natasha Pulley book:
- great writing
- time fuckery
- the MC marries/is married to a woman though he's in love with another man
- that woman is the villain
- accidental child acquisition
- a strange pet
- confusion on the part of the reader in the last 25%
Tick tick tick, all of these apply lol
I do really need for Pulley to not always make the only female character the villain though. That'd be nice.
March 2, 2025
The Hymn to Dionysus was literally an I-can't-fall-asleep-until-I-finish-it book for me. I was so tired yesterday, could barely keep my eyes open, was looking for some solid, uninterrupted sleep, but I figured I'd just read another chapter of Pulley's The Hymn to Dionysus first.
Ha!
It was 1:30a.m. when I finished the book.
This book is a bit of a chimera: parts of it are very Pulley-esque; other parts feel like new ground. Part of that new ground feeling comes from its time setting in ancient Greece. It's also exploring questions of faith and of god-identity, if that makes any sense. Who is a god? How do we know? And it explores positionality, what we might call the impact of nurture. What are the benefits and losses of fitting rigidly into one's own culture? What does it take to free one from that culture and what risks accompany that move toward an unknown?
Pulley has packed so much into this novel. At 416 pages it's long-ish, but not looooooong, but it is fullllllllllllllll. There were at least three moments during the course of The Hymn to Dionysus when I thought "well, that's it. The story ends here. We've reached resolution. Why are there all these pages left?" But no. This was a Russian doll sort of a story with with something nested within something else which in turn is nested within yet another thing and, oh, surprise!, yet one more nest. This isn't a complaint. It was delightful, like watching a magician pull rabbit after rabbit after rabbit after—you get the idea—rabbit from her hat.
I'll be reading this title again soon, probably over the summer. I want to spend some more time rustling about in those nests. There's so much there, I can't have begun to see it all.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
Ha!
It was 1:30a.m. when I finished the book.
This book is a bit of a chimera: parts of it are very Pulley-esque; other parts feel like new ground. Part of that new ground feeling comes from its time setting in ancient Greece. It's also exploring questions of faith and of god-identity, if that makes any sense. Who is a god? How do we know? And it explores positionality, what we might call the impact of nurture. What are the benefits and losses of fitting rigidly into one's own culture? What does it take to free one from that culture and what risks accompany that move toward an unknown?
Pulley has packed so much into this novel. At 416 pages it's long-ish, but not looooooong, but it is fullllllllllllllll. There were at least three moments during the course of The Hymn to Dionysus when I thought "well, that's it. The story ends here. We've reached resolution. Why are there all these pages left?" But no. This was a Russian doll sort of a story with with something nested within something else which in turn is nested within yet another thing and, oh, surprise!, yet one more nest. This isn't a complaint. It was delightful, like watching a magician pull rabbit after rabbit after rabbit after—you get the idea—rabbit from her hat.
I'll be reading this title again soon, probably over the summer. I want to spend some more time rustling about in those nests. There's so much there, I can't have begun to see it all.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
May 11, 2025
So, Natasha Pulley does not do subtle. Cryptic she does, but not subtle so she makes sure she repeats the cryptic so you get it.
It is a Natasha Pulley book y'all, you know what it is going to go like (you probably don't, but I will try to summarize and edit this later, with a bunch of things I want to whine about). For once I am sure about the rating, it's a 3 star not because it is average all through, but because it is very good at some things and very bad at others.
I will edit this when I got more time to actually talk about things and details and all the mindfuckery of mixing up so much that does not fit together (a thousand years all compressed, the modern mindset and oh so ancient themes, that concept of godhood...).
Incidentally and I will argue this with all vehemence, it is much too long. Twice as long as it nedeed to be.
It is a Natasha Pulley book y'all, you know what it is going to go like (you probably don't, but I will try to summarize and edit this later, with a bunch of things I want to whine about). For once I am sure about the rating, it's a 3 star not because it is average all through, but because it is very good at some things and very bad at others.
I will edit this when I got more time to actually talk about things and details and all the mindfuckery of mixing up so much that does not fit together (a thousand years all compressed, the modern mindset and oh so ancient themes, that concept of godhood...).
Incidentally and I will argue this with all vehemence, it is much too long. Twice as long as it nedeed to be.
September 1, 2025
Audiobook (16 hours) narrated by Sid Sagar
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Excellent narration and audio
I really liked this book. It was a bit slow in spots, but overall a really nice retelling of Dionysus.
Three stars is a good book for me. Didn't love it. It didn't make me cry, but yes, I would recommend it, especially to mythology fans who would appreciate the significance of all of the little Easter eggs in the story.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Excellent narration and audio
I really liked this book. It was a bit slow in spots, but overall a really nice retelling of Dionysus.
Three stars is a good book for me. Didn't love it. It didn't make me cry, but yes, I would recommend it, especially to mythology fans who would appreciate the significance of all of the little Easter eggs in the story.
April 5, 2025
Not really sure what I just read, but the story (however maze-like the writing was; I didn’t know what was happening half the time) was beautiful and the ending made me tear up :’)
Read
May 25, 2025Many mixed thoughts about this one, I'll have to sit with it for a bit.
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How I felt when I found out Natasha Pulley is writing a book about Dionysus is how I imagine astronauts felt when they first landed on the moon
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How I felt when I found out Natasha Pulley is writing a book about Dionysus is how I imagine astronauts felt when they first landed on the moon
March 26, 2025
⭐⭐⭐⭐
“He’s like wine. If you describe what he does, he seems awful, but if it’s happening to you, it’s lovely.”
“There speaks an intoxicated man.”
“Yes,” I said greyly.
What happens when humanity loses their humanness and you need a God to remind them?
That's the central question of the book. Within the mechanism of a famine inflicted Thebes, we see the POV of a knight, Phaidros, who fought at Troy and is now just passing his days in the hope that he'd die soon. There is a beauty in the way grief and PTSD was depicted throughout the length of the book, the subtle ways in which a person becomes a machine when forced and what happens when they try to go back to the ordinary.
I didn't know enough about Dionysus before going into this book, just that he had something to do with wine. But he was so much more. As said in the book, he guides the veil between the machine and the human part of men and whenever the balance tips to one side, he returns and brings madness.
The best spring read in my opinion because there is so much ivy growing even in drought, a sense of hallucination and intoxication in the writing and the theme such that even in the burning heat of Thebes, whenever Dionysus appears, you can feel the approach of spring. There were myths within myths sprawled across a wide range of timelines and every time I recognised one, it filled me with joy.
At the heart of it, it's a love story. For me, it was not the one between Dionysus and Phaidros but the one between Helios and Phaidros that broke me. They had me crying into my pillow at 3 in the night.
It was one of the most anticipated releases for me of 2025 and I'm happy to say, it didn't disappoint. I recommend it to every Greek Mythology fan, even the beginners because it is very easy to read and every myth is explained in a modern way.
That's the part I love about history and mythology, you can take a story that may be written thousands of years back and find it's relevance in the modern society. Shows us how the essence of humanity is still the same across space and time.
Also that cover is absolutely gorgeous!!
“He’s like wine. If you describe what he does, he seems awful, but if it’s happening to you, it’s lovely.”
“There speaks an intoxicated man.”
“Yes,” I said greyly.
What happens when humanity loses their humanness and you need a God to remind them?
That's the central question of the book. Within the mechanism of a famine inflicted Thebes, we see the POV of a knight, Phaidros, who fought at Troy and is now just passing his days in the hope that he'd die soon. There is a beauty in the way grief and PTSD was depicted throughout the length of the book, the subtle ways in which a person becomes a machine when forced and what happens when they try to go back to the ordinary.
I didn't know enough about Dionysus before going into this book, just that he had something to do with wine. But he was so much more. As said in the book, he guides the veil between the machine and the human part of men and whenever the balance tips to one side, he returns and brings madness.
The best spring read in my opinion because there is so much ivy growing even in drought, a sense of hallucination and intoxication in the writing and the theme such that even in the burning heat of Thebes, whenever Dionysus appears, you can feel the approach of spring. There were myths within myths sprawled across a wide range of timelines and every time I recognised one, it filled me with joy.
At the heart of it, it's a love story. For me, it was not the one between Dionysus and Phaidros but the one between Helios and Phaidros that broke me. They had me crying into my pillow at 3 in the night.
It was one of the most anticipated releases for me of 2025 and I'm happy to say, it didn't disappoint. I recommend it to every Greek Mythology fan, even the beginners because it is very easy to read and every myth is explained in a modern way.
That's the part I love about history and mythology, you can take a story that may be written thousands of years back and find it's relevance in the modern society. Shows us how the essence of humanity is still the same across space and time.
Also that cover is absolutely gorgeous!!
February 14, 2025
Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury for the ARC of this book!
I really don't know how to rate this one, because the vibes were GREAT, the story idea was WONDERFUL (we don't get enough Dionysus representation!!), but the execution was just not it for me.
One of the first things that bothered me IMMEDIATELY was the use of the names of the Gods for just random people--Helios was the most immediate and confusing example. It was totally unnecessary and weird, and it took awhile to figure out that it wasn't *THE* Helios. Then we have the random time jumps with no real notice. We start the story with the MMC at 4 years old for a chapter or two, then we blink and he's aged up a few years, blink again and repeat. The problem? You don't realize there's been an aging up (or how many years) until the middle or end of the chapter it happens in. What's the purpose of that? No one knows. Especially since the entire 4yo POV could honestly have been cut and I don't think it really would have changed anything.
The vibes were vibing, but I also wish there had been more of a commitment to the vibes--it felt like the author didn't want to fully commit to a world with true magic and rules she needed to stick to, but also didn't want it to be set in a world with NO magic, so it comes and goes when it's convenient in a way that just felt....off to me.
Overall the story was good once you figured out what was going on and adjusted to the writing style, but I think that this author just isn't for me if this is representative of her writing style. I understand the comparisons to Circe and Achilles, but if you LOVED those and think this is going to be similar--stylistically, you're going to be disappointed.
I really don't know how to rate this one, because the vibes were GREAT, the story idea was WONDERFUL (we don't get enough Dionysus representation!!), but the execution was just not it for me.
One of the first things that bothered me IMMEDIATELY was the use of the names of the Gods for just random people--Helios was the most immediate and confusing example. It was totally unnecessary and weird, and it took awhile to figure out that it wasn't *THE* Helios. Then we have the random time jumps with no real notice. We start the story with the MMC at 4 years old for a chapter or two, then we blink and he's aged up a few years, blink again and repeat. The problem? You don't realize there's been an aging up (or how many years) until the middle or end of the chapter it happens in. What's the purpose of that? No one knows. Especially since the entire 4yo POV could honestly have been cut and I don't think it really would have changed anything.
The vibes were vibing, but I also wish there had been more of a commitment to the vibes--it felt like the author didn't want to fully commit to a world with true magic and rules she needed to stick to, but also didn't want it to be set in a world with NO magic, so it comes and goes when it's convenient in a way that just felt....off to me.
Overall the story was good once you figured out what was going on and adjusted to the writing style, but I think that this author just isn't for me if this is representative of her writing style. I understand the comparisons to Circe and Achilles, but if you LOVED those and think this is going to be similar--stylistically, you're going to be disappointed.
April 11, 2025
second natasha pulley dnf in a row i'm truly disappointed!! something about her writing style has really grated on me in her recent books, i think she's tried to lean more into humor in a way that hasn't really landed. i also think i finally understand why it was so important for her to spend time in the places she writes about, both this and mars house have felt much less atmospheric which is usually my favorite thing about her style. she really thrives in the small quiet details and something about that has gotten lost. although this is very loosely historical fiction, i enjoy her books the closer they live to the real thing.
August 13, 2025
As I said for her previous book, this was likely going to be my last book I read/reviewed of hers. I was not satisfied by The Mars House and I thought Half Life had some interesting qualities but did not level up to any of my expectations I had.
This book, I think was better than The Mars House in regard to the plot. I didn't think the writing was as charming as her previous novels but I also think it might be because of how overturned Greek Mythology retellings and inspirations have been done over the last 5 years, it's almost impossible for any novel to feel fresh and new. It does feel like there have been good amount of research in regards to Greek history (which many retellings do fail to do) as well as read up on multiple sources for mythology and stories instead of just The Illiad. Dionysus feels true to his character and the atrocities the other Gods and Goddesses have done are clearly mentioned but Athenians and all others don't question their belief's of the Gods as they are in rage, in heart, in water and storms. Phaidros is a man of war and it's much of what he knows and he feels dedication to his duty to both Helios and the Queen. As the book comes along, there are points where you aren't quite clear on what exactly is happening and it's not like it's scenes where it comes back later for you to understand.
I think Pulley did her best at a book geared towards mythology as I did actually like Dionysus and Phaidros I liked that he was an asshole at times. Typically her main characters are quirky guys who have a tendency to swear like a pirate at times but they all have a soft spot, especially towards their lovers. Phaidros is blunt towards Dionysus and doesn't beat around the bush towards him or anyone else and I think that is the only way that a character for this era of Greece is to be handled. Despite this, I don't think mythology is her go-to. Pulley does great in historical fiction as seen with Watchmaker, Bedlam and Kingdoms; but mythology is a hard one since it's easy to have it feel unnatural since so much research is needed for these kind of novels.
My biggest complaint for Pulley is the way she treats her female characters, in every book previous to this, they either die or get pushed aside. The women are meant to be steps for the (main) male characters to be able to progress in their own personal gains both romantically and plot wise. This novel doesn't follow this track exactly , but the way the main female character is treated towards the end feels like she didn't know how to end her story.
I think if this was your first Natasha Pulley story, you might actually quite like this or find yourself charmed by the world or the characters. Personally, I spent this entire novel feeling unsure of my feelings and couldn't get a grip on if I liked the writing as much as I did previously. I liked this more than The Mars House most certainly but 3 stars also feels too gracious for a novel I felt unsure of, a novel that I did not feel as attached to the main characters (or side) as I did for her first 3/4 (if Lost Future is included) novels. I do think I will be parting with her writing from now onwards and focus on the books of hers I have fell in love with however many years ago.
This book, I think was better than The Mars House in regard to the plot. I didn't think the writing was as charming as her previous novels but I also think it might be because of how overturned Greek Mythology retellings and inspirations have been done over the last 5 years, it's almost impossible for any novel to feel fresh and new. It does feel like there have been good amount of research in regards to Greek history (which many retellings do fail to do) as well as read up on multiple sources for mythology and stories instead of just The Illiad. Dionysus feels true to his character and the atrocities the other Gods and Goddesses have done are clearly mentioned but Athenians and all others don't question their belief's of the Gods as they are in rage, in heart, in water and storms. Phaidros is a man of war and it's much of what he knows and he feels dedication to his duty to both Helios and the Queen. As the book comes along, there are points where you aren't quite clear on what exactly is happening and it's not like it's scenes where it comes back later for you to understand.
I think Pulley did her best at a book geared towards mythology as I did actually like Dionysus and Phaidros I liked that he was an asshole at times. Typically her main characters are quirky guys who have a tendency to swear like a pirate at times but they all have a soft spot, especially towards their lovers. Phaidros is blunt towards Dionysus and doesn't beat around the bush towards him or anyone else and I think that is the only way that a character for this era of Greece is to be handled. Despite this, I don't think mythology is her go-to. Pulley does great in historical fiction as seen with Watchmaker, Bedlam and Kingdoms; but mythology is a hard one since it's easy to have it feel unnatural since so much research is needed for these kind of novels.
My biggest complaint for Pulley is the way she treats her female characters, in every book previous to this, they either die or get pushed aside. The women are meant to be steps for the (main) male characters to be able to progress in their own personal gains both romantically and plot wise. This novel doesn't follow this track exactly , but the way the main female character is treated towards the end feels like she didn't know how to end her story.
I think if this was your first Natasha Pulley story, you might actually quite like this or find yourself charmed by the world or the characters. Personally, I spent this entire novel feeling unsure of my feelings and couldn't get a grip on if I liked the writing as much as I did previously. I liked this more than The Mars House most certainly but 3 stars also feels too gracious for a novel I felt unsure of, a novel that I did not feel as attached to the main characters (or side) as I did for her first 3/4 (if Lost Future is included) novels. I do think I will be parting with her writing from now onwards and focus on the books of hers I have fell in love with however many years ago.
March 18, 2025
A Joyfully Jay review.
5 stars
What an unexpected and beautiful book this was. By turns funny, poignant, and devastating, The Hymn to Dionysus blends mythology and historical fantasy to create the story of a weary, scarred soldier who struggles to exist in a world that no longer welcomes or recognizes him.
Phaidros is such a compelling character, I found myself drawn to him right from the start and his desperate loneliness, stalwart devotion, and acerbic wit made him seem very real.
The book is well-written and has almost a lyrical quality to it. It ebbs and flows naturally and the pacing is strong. There are some odd turns of phrase that may have been intentional on the part of the author, but are occasionally confusing. Yet, for the most part, these moments are rare and the they do not impact either the pacing or the overall plot.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Hymn to Dionysus. The writing was strong and the characters are engaging and beautifully rendered. It’s one of the books you can sink into and lose yourself for awhile. Even if mythology isn’t normally your thing, I encourage you to give this one a try.
Read Sue’s review in its entirety here.
5 stars
What an unexpected and beautiful book this was. By turns funny, poignant, and devastating, The Hymn to Dionysus blends mythology and historical fantasy to create the story of a weary, scarred soldier who struggles to exist in a world that no longer welcomes or recognizes him.
Phaidros is such a compelling character, I found myself drawn to him right from the start and his desperate loneliness, stalwart devotion, and acerbic wit made him seem very real.
The book is well-written and has almost a lyrical quality to it. It ebbs and flows naturally and the pacing is strong. There are some odd turns of phrase that may have been intentional on the part of the author, but are occasionally confusing. Yet, for the most part, these moments are rare and the they do not impact either the pacing or the overall plot.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Hymn to Dionysus. The writing was strong and the characters are engaging and beautifully rendered. It’s one of the books you can sink into and lose yourself for awhile. Even if mythology isn’t normally your thing, I encourage you to give this one a try.
Read Sue’s review in its entirety here.
June 5, 2025
Oh my god Natasha Pulley just say you hate women and want to infantilize and fetishize mlm relationships
You don't have to release one book after another that get progressively worse with every release with the same damn themes ok????
So disappointed with this.. this could have been MY book. I liked the premise I liked the idea of the setting, I was willing to give Pulley another chance but unfortunately she once again didn't deliver 😪
It also didn't help that I got pulled out of the story every time someone talked because of the modern language Pulley uses .. why would a man from the bronze age speak like a modern day english dude from tiktok???
This book put me in one of the worst reading slumps I've ever been in lmaooo I can't do this anymore 😂
You don't have to release one book after another that get progressively worse with every release with the same damn themes ok????
So disappointed with this.. this could have been MY book. I liked the premise I liked the idea of the setting, I was willing to give Pulley another chance but unfortunately she once again didn't deliver 😪
It also didn't help that I got pulled out of the story every time someone talked because of the modern language Pulley uses .. why would a man from the bronze age speak like a modern day english dude from tiktok???
This book put me in one of the worst reading slumps I've ever been in lmaooo I can't do this anymore 😂
May 30, 2025
This was boring, rambly, and borderline incoherent.
The woobification of Natascha Pulley books. I can't believe this was written by the same person who wrote The Bedlam Stacks. This felt like borderline stream-of-consciousness writing, all in the same damn British character voice she uses for every single one of her characters. The few times there was actual action or tension, it was resolved so quickly that it felt like there were no stakes at all.
I don't even know why I did this to myself after The Mars House, but this was the last straw and I'm done with this author lol.
Also: NP dont write a female villain challenge, level imposible
The woobification of Natascha Pulley books. I can't believe this was written by the same person who wrote The Bedlam Stacks. This felt like borderline stream-of-consciousness writing, all in the same damn British character voice she uses for every single one of her characters. The few times there was actual action or tension, it was resolved so quickly that it felt like there were no stakes at all.
I don't even know why I did this to myself after The Mars House, but this was the last straw and I'm done with this author lol.
Also: NP dont write a female villain challenge, level imposible
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