Zoraida Cordova knows what’s what. Her story, “The Gorgon Confessionals,” opens Fit for the Gods by imagining that the gods, immortals, heroes and villains of Greek mythology are regenerating into the modern world, they have their memories, but not necessarily their powers. Through a documentary series, Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy, is examining the story of Medusa and Perseus through a series of interviews. Zeus is a Republican candidate for President. (Vote Hades!).

The stories by two of my favorite authors, Suleikha Snyder and Alyssa Cole dive deeply into the emotional core of their respective myths. In Snyder’s “The Ship of Thea,” a woman dealing with burnout and depression tackles a complicated escape room and discovers the prize is a second chance. Cole’s “Stasis (Bastion in the Spring)” might be my new favorite Hades and Persephone retelling.

The biggest surprise for me was Valerie Valdes’ “Atalanta Hunts the Boar.” I loved the scifi setting and the way Valdes took the names and the dynamics from mythology to tell the story of Atalanta and her (not so) himbo husband taking down a vicious killer. I have Valdes’ Chilling Effect on my kindle, and clearly I need to find time to read it.

One of the things I love about anthologies is getting to try new authors. I really enjoyed WenWen Yang’s “The Words from the Mountain.” I loved that Yang and Maya Deane’s (“No Gods,No Kings”) stories of sacrifice and liberation wrapped up the anthology.

I had to brush up on my mythology for a few of the stories. Knowing the relationships between characters in myth particularly deepened my enjoyment of Valdes and Mia P. Manansala’s (“The Furies Detective Agency”) stories.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Penguin Random House and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book.

There were a lot of authors who I hadn’t read before and others I had read before. Since there were a lot of authors whose writing styles I wasn’t used to, I found it harder to understand what was going on.

There were a few stories that I would enjoy a full-length novel based off those stories. For instance, I wanted to see more from Mia P. Manansala’s “The Furies Detective Agency” and Alyssa Cole’s “Stasis (Bastion in the Spring)” (I would love to read a full-length Alyssa Cole treatment of Hades and Persephone).

Overall, I think an intermediate knowledge of Greco-Roman mythology would help understand where a lot of the retellings are coming from.

Not every story is going to be for you, but every story has something to enjoy, to think about, to treasure. Creativity and intellect and magic run in the veins of this collection, and it may very well be the best short story collection I have ever read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC. This is my honest review.

This is a fascinating and and engaging collection of stories—mythology gender bent and race bent, modernised, contemporary, retellings that reference the original stories but breathe new life into the narratives.

I was pleasantly surprised by his immediate the stories were and how well they worked being transposed to modern settings.

The first story, The Gorgon Confessionals , wasn’t my typical style to read in (via transcripts of a podcast) but I ended up loving it. I also thought it could be expanded into a whole book- the concept and the characters were so interesting and funny.

The Furies Detective Agency was my second favorite story. It had the air of Dick Tracy and the excitement of a good whodunnit, as well. I would love to hear more cases from this agency!

Over all, there were few other stories I really enjoyed, but I think this collection is great because it really has something for everyone. If one story isn’t your style, skip to the next and you might find it’s right up your lane.

I was lucky enough to be gifted an ARC of Fit for the Gods from NetGalley and Penguin Random House. Fit for the Gods is an anthology of famous Greek mythology retellings in styles you have never seen before! These retellings focus on inclusivity, shifting aspects to feature underrepresented communities.

The diversity both within and of these stories is incredible. It was so refreshing to read retellings that were unique and sometimes almost unrecognizable from the traditional version. While the anthology featured many different authors, a cohesion was felt throughout the entire collection to truly make it feel organized thoughtfully.

Some of my favorite stories featured were “Tiresias,” “Pescada,” and “Stasis.” Many of the stories I wished were full novels; they felt rich enough to sustain for hundreds of pages! The short sections of the anthology made it really easy to pick up at any point and get a good story in. If you’re someone who loves mythology, a diverse range of genres, or short stories, this might be the perfect book for you!

I really enjoyed this collection of stories. It was highly enjoyed and I like all the different stories and writers.
I just reviewed Fit for the Gods by Jenn Northington; S. Zainab Williams. #FitfortheGods #NetGalley
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Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Fit for the Gods.

This was a fun one. Each retelling is written by a different person that fluctuate beautifully with each other to make one cohesive book. I was hooked right off the bat by the first chapter written in a script style for a documentary featuring Melpomene, Athena, Perseus, and Medusa. This book was very well thought out.

This is such a cool and fun concept. I really enjoyed these retellings. What a way to bring Greek mythology to a wider audience in an affirming way. Well done!

As someone who’s more familiar with mythological retellings along the lines of “Circe” or Natalie Haynes “A Thousand Ships,” I was impressed by the array of different creative what-ifs and twists taken in this collection of stories. This is definitely a great treat for anyone who is looking for fun new takes, because that’s what you’ll find here in abundance.