Patel’s sophomore novel details another Hindu retelling. This time up is Ganga and Shiva. Much like the title, the novel’s flow mirrors a river with its ebb and flow and meandering nature.

Having read Kaikeyi last month and really enjoying it, I was excited to read her latest book. Unfortunately, I can’t say I loved it nearly as much as Kaikeyi. I found myself enjoying Ganga’s parts and wanting more when she wasn’t directly involved in the plot. I know the author took liberties from the original text to even have Ganga be apart of much of the text, I couldn’t help but miss the star character.

I did enjoy the duality of the Gods and the examination of human vices and times of redemption. The ending was good. Overall I liked it but just didn’t love it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I would like to thank Redhook and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Infanticide, ableism, gambling, mistreatment of women

This is a refreshing change from the usual Greek and Roman mythologies that are saturating the market, as this book focuses on Indian mythology. I really enjoyed the family bond of the goddess Ganga and her mortal son Devavrata. The book also focuses on love and duty, and how far we're willing to go in order to achieve both.

My one major issue, however, is the high number of characters that the book introduces near the middle of the story. I had a difficult time trying to keep up with all the gods and the two warring sides. However, the book makes it easier to focus on the characters and their roles the further you go in, and I believe that the book will definitely clear up this issue if you reread it.

Would I recommend this book? I definitely would, especially if you are interested in Indian Hindu mythology. I wouldn't be surprised if this book makes it into a monthly subscription box, as it's that good!

Absolutely magical! I was not familiar with this story going in. I was captivated though!! There are a lot of names and history to keep up with. But thr way it is written keeps you engrossed and emotionally attached to the characters. I do feel like it got a bit bogged down about half way through. It took a bit longer to read than books this size normally do for me. But that didn't take from my overall enjoyment of the book. Just caused me to sit with it longer!

This book took me on a rollercoaster of emotions, stirring up a blend of love and frustration. I likefly would not have finished this book if it weren't an arc. However, it's important to acknowledge that the writing itself is solid; the author skillfully delved into the gritty realities and darkness of the historical era they portrayed. The scenes were vivid and immersive, painting a picture that was both beautiful and haunting. Despite occasional glimpses of hope, they often felt overshadowed by the overwhelming themes of greed and moral decay. At times, I found myself wishing for divine intervention to shake things up and cleanse the narrative of its corruption. As I reflect on whether I'd recommend this book to others, I find myself leaning towards a tentative yes. But, I'd advise approaching it with an awareness of its historical context and the understanding that some elements are unchangeable, no matter how much we may wish otherwise.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit books for an eARC!

This was not a quick read for me with it being my introduction to Indian mythology on written form. I have not read the epic, The Mahabharata, so I can’t review about how it is as a retelling, BUT I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway!

Ganga herself was my favorite aspect of the book. How she changes to what is in front of her, how she wrestles with her two halves, and her inner voice really made this book for me. I enjoyed how the story was told with its disjointed timelines and I feel it helped in the telling of these complicated storylines and relationships.

There are a LOT of names, so if you aren’t familiar with the original story or Indian mythology in general like me, I’d recommend utilizing those family trees!

Some parts were hard to read, so definitely check those CWs.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit books for an eARC!

When I was younger I never imagined that an author would ever attempt retelling Hindu mythology, let alone explore goddesses. As a child, I learned that Ganga was the goddess of the purest waters but was also cursed. But why was Ganga cursed? In her novel, 'The Goddess of the River' Patel pulls from the Mahabharata as source material but pursues it with a new point of view.

I know the material might feel daunting for readers, but Vaishnavi deftly navigates Hindu mythology and presents it with a fresh take. For so long, these stories have been presented through a patriarchal lens with a lack of female agency. Vaishnavi breathes new life and humanizes Ganga while also sharing a heartbreaking story of motherhood and duty.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Redhook Books for providing an ARC!

★★★★★ - 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel
༘Spoiler free ༘
⭐️4.875/5
Fantasy, Mythological Retelling, Historical Fiction
Dual POV
➳ Goddess turned Mortal
➳ Curses
➳ Duty
➳ Sacrifice
➳ Justice
➳ Vows
➳ Honour
➳ Prophecy

✨ “All must act in the face of injustice.“ ✨
Vaishnavi Patel’s evocative and lush prose flows together with thought provoking philosophical themes to reimagine and retell the story of the goddess Ganga. From the first paragraph you are swept away into a world that makes you question human nature, greed and what the true meaning of duty is. This novel is one for my sad philosophy friends, guaranteed to bring you to tears.

📚📚📚
In her vivid and poignant reinterpretation of the Goddess Ganga's tale, Vaishnavi Patel introduces us to Ganga, the river deity and nurturing mother of mischievous godlings who roam her shores. Cursed to mortal form for defending these godlings against a wrathful sage, Ganga's only path to freedom is through birthing them in human guise. When the cunning King Shantanu chances upon Ganga, he's captivated by her beauty and wit, leading to her coronation as queen. Over the years, Ganga ruthlessly breaks her own heart to liberate herself and the godlings from their curse. However, suspicion clouds Shantanu's mind, and when the final godling is reborn and Ganga is released from her curse, her son is snatched away by Shantanu. Forced to watch her son, Devavrata, grow from afar, Ganga's love is tested as Devavrata, bearing the godlings' curse, vows never to claim his father's throne, setting off a tragic chain of events. Can Ganga's power and love shield her child from inevitable pain?

❧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*❦*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧❧
<b>Fantasy Scoring</b>
Worldbuilding ➷ ✅ 5/5
Foreshadowing ➷ ✅ 4.5/5
Plot ➷ ✅ 5/5
Relationships ➷ ✅ 5/5

Thank you to Vaishnavi Patel, Redhook, Hachette Book Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to provide my honest opinion on the ARC of this book.

Thank you for the eARC NetGalley, Orbit books US, Redhook. All opinions provided are my own.

This is the first book I have read from Vaishnavi Patel and the first exposure to the story of Mahabharata. As someone who has had no experience with the original epic, Vaishnavi did a wonderful job of weaving the retelling into a beautiful new story. I could not put the book down; each time I thought about taking a break, the anticipation of the next section of Ganga’s life kept me going.

Goddess of the River is the reimagining of the story of Mahabharata, an epic that revolves around Bhishma, the son of the river goddess Ganga, and the conflicts of ancient India. Goddess of the River follows the journey of Ganga as she leaves the Heavens and the consequences of interacting with the mortal realm. The two main points of views are Ganga and her son Bhishma. The ripple effects of Ganga’s actions can be seen through Bhishma’s point of view. The actions of the divine and the consequences of men is one of the focus points of the story. For every action taken, good or evil, there is some kind of consequence to the characters.

I think one of my favorite parts of the story is how Ganga never stops acting like a goddess. Even when she is cursed to a mortal body, she still thinks of herself as a goddess. Being a mortal is temporary and every action she takes is working her way to breaking the curse. She doesn’t really try to blend in with civilization, which does cause her some trouble down the road. While she doesn’t struggle with mortality, she does struggle with her behavior as a goddess. It was fun watching her journey from a raging goddess, hating being trapped and separated from her heavenly family, to someone who accepts the nature of mortals and finds her place among them.

While I did enjoy the story, it did not take long for me to get lost with all the characters introduced. Even now I can only really remember four or five in the sea of characters. I also lost track of who was related to who. The eARC did not come with the family tree and I didn’t see the Goodreads one in time; if I was reread with a physical copy later, I’m sure the availability to reference the characters would make keeping track easier.

Overall, Goddess of the River borders on 4.5 stars for me. It might be bumped up to a 5 once I have the family tree in my hand.

PS: Screw Shiva and his actions. I wanted to drown him in the river multiple times. Without his interference there would be no story but his arrogance made me want to scream. I get he is supposed to be a foil of some kind to Ganga but I hated him even at the end of the story.

Make sure you have your tissues ready! This mythological retelling had me in tears more than once with its moving story and meaningful character relationships. I now want to read her other work so I can escape into this world again.

4 ⭐️

This story is so magically and beautifully written! The characters and the relationships were written so well. This overall was a beautiful tragic tale that I think everyone should read, I absolutely loved it!

This is a retelling of Ganga, Goddess of the River, but I was previously unfamiliar with this story so it was all new for me! I enjoyed it quite a bit and recommend for anyone interested in Greek and Fairytale retellings, as it lives up to the genre very well. I am now very interested in checking out more of Patel's work, as she is a beautiful storyteller. Recommend!

This is one of the most beautifully sad stories I have ever read. Vaishnavi touches on so many deep topics and I cried for Ganga, for Bhishma, for their world. She shows the painful truth of war and the wrong choices of the individual. There are no heros in this story, but there are many lessons to be gained from it. I love Vaishnavi’s style of writing, especially in Goddess of the River, because the story itself feels like a river. It is winding, sometimes chaotic, sometimes peaceful, but always beautiful.

Goddess of the River has same beautiful and vivid imagery that is present in Kaikeyi so if you are a sucker for ambiance I would add this to your TBR. I think I had an easier time getting into Goddess of the River in comparison to Kaikeyi but I liked both stories. I wouldn't say that I devoured this book but I enjoyed it everytime I picked it up. That can be a positive trait in a book depending on the type of reader you are. I found it reasonably easy to get back into the story even if I hadn't read it for a few days. Overall I'd give it a solid 4! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I went in to this so excited after reading KayKeyi, but ended up so disappointed. The story line in this one was much harder to follow and I did not relate to/feel attached to the main character at all. The book felt like it jumped around a lot and I was having to go back and figure out when characters changed names and who half the characters were. Maybe this is all because I was just not as familiar with this legend as the last book, but even then I felt there was minimal context here.

I have never read the epic Mahabharat however, watching the Mahabharat retelling on VHS became a family affair when I was a child. That’s one of the reasons that I thoroughly enjoyed Patel’s retelling of Ganga’s story. So much so that I began re-watching the 1988 series while reading the book. In doing so, I realized how very little I knew of Ganga’s story. It was also wonderful for me to be able to see the way that Patel transformed the classic tale into this beautiful reimagining that focused on her curse.

One of the critiques I have read is that it was challenging to follow all of the characters. I know the final copy will include a family tree which will be very useful! I’m glad I read this on my kindle and was able to search within it when I was unsure who someone was.

It’s also important to recognize that this story focuses only on two characters in an *epic*. I read online that it is 100,000 couplets long and has over 2,000 characters. Of course, not all the characters are focal to the storyline, it is important to consider this when reading Goddess of the River - there are lots of questions left without answers, and characters not fully explained because this is the story of the Goddess and her son, Bhishma, and their grapplings with Dharma.

I appreciated that there was such a focus on Dharma and the “right way of living”. Oh I have so much to say about this. But I’ll leave it at that with a few quotes that stuck with me:

“ Only you can know yourself. But one day, you will hold the answer, and I promise you will be happier then.”

“Dharma is much more than keeping your promises.”

“‘Do a persons wishes matter?’ Karina asked. ‘Or is it their actions on which they should be judged?’”

“ there were no good choices in this world, only the weight of those choices.”

I enjoyed this book so much, and while I really loved the author's first book, Kaikeyi, I think this book actually far surpassed it in both writing and plot.

This is a reimagining of the story of Ganga, goddess of the river, and it is also her son's story. The beginning of the book, which explains how Ganga comes to have a human form, and how she comes to bear a human child, was remarkably moving and beautiful (and I do recommend reading the author's note about the content, as I can see it being potentially traumatizing for some, though it is handled with extreme care).

Then the story expands to a larger focus on the world and politics, while still weaving in Ganga's story, and larger themes about the long-term consequences of our choices, as well as the true meaning of honor and its value. This book left me deep in thought, and yet it never feels dull. In fact, it's rushing over so much ground, that I could easily have imagined it as a much longer book (or even a series about all of these events).

Of course, for many readers, including myself, the source material may feel a bit less familiar than perhaps a story from Greek mythology, but it is so worth the effort of simply paying attention to the narrative and where it takes you. I didn't find that I needed to have this background to enjoy the story, though I'm sure that for those with more extensive knowledge of the material, it does add a layer of enjoyment.

Overall, I cannot say enough good things about Patel's voice, which is perfectly suited for this type of story, and the great writing she's doing. This is a moving story about family and choices and what a life is worth, and in a time when I feel overwhelmed by some of the mediocrity of fantasy stories that only focus on romance, I am so satisfied with such a rich story.

"Don't you miss the heavens?" I asked him suddenly. "Of course...but when I was in the heavens, I missed you."

Thanks to Netgalley and Orbit for an early E-galley of this book!

This is easily one of my top reads for the year so far, and is the first book in a long time that had me looking forward to a re-read before even finishing. I am not familiar with the Mahabharata, and did not know what to expect from a retelling. I appreciate how Goddess of the River has characters facing the results of their actions (or lack thereof), and acknowledging the differences between their intentions and the consequences. This was thoughtful read, and I look forward to revisiting this book again in the future. Yes, I have a special edition on order already. Thank you to NetGalley for this arc.

I read Kaikeyi last year and was a huge fan, so I was really excited to get an ARC of Patel's new novel! The characters in this book were really interesting. Ganga was really strong and complex, which I enjoyed. I do wish we had seen more of her personality, though - it would have been nice to see more of her wild and playful side instead of the stoic figure that she is throughout the story. Bhishma was the same way - I liked this character and the complexity of his motivations and actions.
The story was really good, too. The first and last third were especially enjoyable, but the middle section was more difficult to get through. The introduction of Bhishma also introduced the main events of the Mahabharata, of which I had no prior knowledge. I do think that a glossary or dramatis personae would be really helpful in a book like this, where there is a complex cast of characters and plot. I was constantly pausing throughout the middle of the book to research the different characters and their roles in the original story. Later on, there are some explanations as to who the rest of the cast is (for those who haven't read/researched the Mahabharata), which was helpful in the last part of the book. Also, I felt that most of the war and its events were told through Bhishma's perspective, not Ganga's. While Ganga had a huge influence on a lot of the events in the story, we don't see much of the war through her eyes until the last 30% of the book, where all the action takes place.
The summary didn't really mention the fact that 70% of this book is about the buildup to the battle of Kurukshetra. I am a huge fan of political fantasy, so this was enjoyable for the most part. Readers who prefer less strategizing and more action might not enjoy this aspect as much, though.
The last portion of this book was fantastic, especially the final battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas - so much so that I am planning to read the Mahabharata once I get my hands on a copy!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. While the plot was a little difficult at some points, I think that the main story and the new perspective on the war was really well-done. The setting was gorgeous, and Patel's research and love for her subject really shine through in her writing. I can't wait to read whatever she writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Publishing for the digital ARC!

The author of Kaikeyi brings us another compelling retelling of Indian mythology with Goddess of the River. I absolutely loved Kaikeyi, and I loved visiting the river Ganga in India, so I was very excited for this book.

It is the story of Ganga, a goddess who gets trapped into the form of a river by Shiva, and Bhishma, the human son that she comes to birth. Bhishma is born into the royal family of a kingdom near the banks of the river, and much of the rest of the story follows his endeavors to serve his kingdom in the best way that he can, and Ganga's efforts to guide him.

This is a book that explores themes of duty, loyalty, ethics, what is "right," and whether that varies based on perspective. For me, the book was a little too much about Bhishma's world and not enough about Ganga. I found her far more interesting than Bhishma, whose character felt flat to me, and for whom I honestly had difficulty caring.

Patel is a skilled writer and the plot was engaging. I liked how it took me out of my daily life and put me in a completely different world. However, I felt the book could have been a bit shorter and still have had the same effect at the end.

Overall, I preferred Kaikeyi, but that may very well be my personal preferences speaking (I love a good feminist book and a strong female MC). I will definitely read Patel's next book and I recommend this one to people who tend to enjoy retellings.

Thank you for the advanced galley of this book!

Author and Title: Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel

Summary: Ganga, the exuberant goddess of the river, is entrusted with caring for the playful godlings who frolic along her shores. However, their antics incur the wrath of a sage, leading to a curse that turns Ganga into human form until she fulfills its obligations.
Unfamiliar with human existence, Ganga marries King Shantanu and is determined to break free from the mortal curse and return to her former life. When Ganga is finally released from the curse, it causes her to leave her infant son behind.
Her son, Prince Devavrata, unwittingly inherits the burden of Ganga's curse. When the prince renounces his claim to the throne, a series of events culminate in a devastating war. Ganga and Devavrata are repeatedly drawn together as the years pass, demonstrating the unbreakable bond between a mother and her son.

I was so excited to read this book. The writing is beautiful and emotional. Ganga, the river goddess, is taken from the heavens and forced to be on earth. She struggles with humans and their destruction of each other and nature. The story gripped me on the first page. Her character completely transforms from the beginning to the end of the story, with so much heartache in between. It was a commentary on people's behavior and even the differences between the sexes in societal norms. Ganga's ruthlessness becomes her kindness in the end. This character will make you feel like you're on an emotional rollercoaster.

The story's pacing was consistent, and I wanted the story to continue after it ended. It resonates with me because it examines how women bear the responsibility of caring for humankind but don't have the same care given to them. Ganga's point of view created a critical lens on humanity.

If you loved Circe, then you need to read this book. It did not disappoint. Please check trigger warnings before reading.

This is my honest review based on an ARC copy of the ebook from Netgalley and Redhook Books. Thank you for the opportunity.