I really enjoyed this book based of an Indian epic the story was engaging and it left me wanting to know more about Indian culture in general. My only issue was I listened to the audiobook overall it was really great but with so many characters with complex names it caused me to get a little confused at times. This especially was felt around part three where we started adding in a lot of new characters. I really enjoyed this authors last book and this one was no different, I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

Goddess of the River is a retelling of Ganga, goddess of the Ganges river, from the Mahabharata. I love retellings of myths, particularly from cultures that I'm not as familiar with. I read the Mahabharta in high school but didn't remember a lot about Ganga. I also got to early review Kaikeyi by the same author and LOVED it, so I was super excited for this one!

I enjoyed this one! Again, I like the author's style with writing and I'm interested in stories like these. I think the author does a good job with telling a story that spans many years in a way that makes sense. I thought that Ganga was a compelling character. The plot didn't hit quite as much as Kaikeyi did for me, but I still liked it.

HUGE TW for multiple depictions of infant death. I'm not particularly sensitive to this topic and I was still quite bothered. The author provides a very helpful trigger warning at the beginning of the book for those scenes. She also provided the page numbers to skip the chapters entirely, which I thought was great. I wasn't expecting this to be present in this book and it was jarring to me. I really appreciated the warning. If you are AT ALL sensitive to child death, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND just skipping those passages. This was present in the original myth so I totally get including it, and I liked that the cultural context was explained at the beginning of the book. However, like the retellings of Medea that I've read, it's still difficult for me to engage with and I think affected my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, I recommend this book if you're a fan of mythological retellings like me! Make sure you read the author's note for trigger warnings. Thank you to RedHook books and NetGalley for the eARC of this book, my thoughts are my own!

“Goddess of the River” by Vaishnavi Patel offers a captivating reimagining of Ganga, the joyful goddess of the river, and her mortal son Devavrata, set against a richly woven tapestry of mythology. Having loved Patel’s “Kaikeyi,” I had high hopes for this novel, and while it has many strong points, it ultimately fell short of my expectations.

“Goddess of the River” lacks the depth that made “Kaikeyi” so exceptional. While the main storyline is engaging, the large supporting cast feels underdeveloped, which dampens the emotional impact and makes it challenging to connect with secondary characters.

Despite this, fans of mythological retellings may still find much to appreciate in Patel’s lyrical storytelling and the heartfelt themes she weaves. “Goddess of the River” may not reach the heights of “Kaikeyi,” but it’s a beautifully written tale worth exploring.

This book was more internal and deep than KAIKEYI but no less enjoyable. I loved the flawed characters taken from perfect mythological characters and the spin Vaishnavi creates.

Finally finished this one! Just like with Kaikeyi, Goddess of the River is very beautifully written. And as referenced in the author's note at the end, it does an excellent job of condensing a massive epic tale into a 400 page novel. With that said, there were times that I got a bit disoriented with all the different characters and side stories. This novel is wonderfully done but fleshing some of these stories out a bit further would've helped distinguish the characters a bit more, even if it meant sacrificing brevity. Overall, while I LOVED Kaikeyi, this was still a very strong novel, even if it didn't quite reach the level of Kaikeyi. Still highly recommend.
**I received a digital ARC of Goddess of the River (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.**

I love a book that can immerse me in a culture, time and place I am unfamiliar with. Patel does just that in such a beautiful accessible way. This was a great follow up to Kaikeyi, that I would recommend to those that love Madeline Miller.

I LOVE a mythology retelling and I'm so happy that the publishing world is moving away from just Greek mythology. I'm not familiar with Hindu mythology so I didn't have any preconceived notions going into this book but I liked it a lot! Patel's writing is beautiful and captivating.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I have not read much about this mythology before, so interesting to learn more from a different culture.

An epic stand alone mythogy retelling. Patel delivers a brilliant and thoughtful imagining of Hindu mythology.. Dark and intense, intriguing characters. Insightful and impactful. Fans of Madaleine Miller will enjoy Goddess of the River

This was a unique and great retelling of Mahabharata. The story was filled with beautiful language and robust characters, especially the first half. In the second half the pacing felt a bit slow and the story got bogged down. Overall an interesting read.

"Do you know how a river forms?...
I came because they prayed for me, all those years ago, and I was young and naive. I heard their prayers when I was but a tributary of the cosmic ocean, deep and endless. ... I did not know then that when humans pray for nature, they pray for something to control."

Goddess of the River is Ganga's story of her time on Earth as a river, and as a human. The premise of the book is to provide a feminist retelling of Ganga's story, her time living out a curse as she struggles with the rules and regulations set on humans and on women.

A strong pillar for this book would be the character building, of not just Ganga, but also her son Bhishma. The introspection of these characters into their own motives and follies would have been powerful if the book followed it's premise and focused on only their story. Instead, the book tries to give a synopsis of the whole Mahabharatha, and as given in the author's note, Ganga is inserted into various scenes from the original texts that she wasn't present in, and multiple people immediately stop whatever they're doing to have a chat about philosophy with her. This unfocused and broad synopsis undermined the book for me and detracted from my enjoyment of the character arcs.

Thanks to NetGalley, Redhook publishing, and the author Vaishnavi Patel for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🌟🌟1/2
[3/4 star for the premise and the whole book; 3/4 star for the character development; Half a star for the writing; 1/4 star for the story arc; 1/4 star for the world-building - 2 1/2 star in total, rounded up to 3 stars.]

A beautiful sprawling retelling of Hindu mythology, Patel does not miss. I really admire her ability to take these stories from the Maharabatha and retell them in such compelling ways to a modern audience. That being said I had some gripes with the constant need for “strong women” in feminist retellings.

What I liked most about this book was learning some of the Indian culture. I had never heard of this story before. It was nice to also get a story that was about familial bonds instead of just romance how it is now a days. I liked the discovery of being human and adapting. But not so much the politics involved. I also am not familiar with the original text so I felt confused.

I love it. I thought it's going to be similar in tone with Kaikeyi, but it's different. For me, the story in Goddess of the River flew more effortlessly, more calming tone but still managed to highlight the women empowerment ideas intended by the author. I love Gangga and her thoughts since the very beginning. I love how the story written in a neat chronological order from the curse to the war at the end. Gangga has made a lot of difficult choices, a morally grey entity at it's finest. Talking about morally grey, now I think about it all of the characters/ divine beings are morally grey. This book is not only well written but also well researched. It's there on the pages and I love how it managed to be atmospheric.

I'm quite familiar with Mahabharata story, pandava brothers, the God/Goddess and this book is a fresh reading because it gave new perspectives and dove deeper into the characters' thoughts and consideration. Mother-sons relationship goes strong and complicated. The ending definitely bittersweet.

Please be aware of the trigger warning (infant deaths, explicit war scenes, attempted SA)

Thankyou so much Orbit and netgalley for the arc in exchange of honest review.

If you're into epic mythology story, Indian myth, the story of God/Goddess, Kingdom dispute, and warfare, GIVE THIS BOOK A GO.

This was an interesting book that I think I would benefit from reading again. I loved the focus on familial relationships and focusing on Ganga as a mother, goddess/river, and woman and how those different aspects of her identity pulled her in different directions and informed her decisions in the story. I connected most strongly with the beginning of the book, which just follows her, and it took me a bit longer to become invested in Bhishma's story. This is a book I had to take notes while reading (annotating a family tree!) and I didn't mind that, but fair warning if you're hoping for a simple read, this isn't the place. I actually really liked how leaning into complexity let the book tackle religious and social issues with nuance and let some questions hang in the air without clear answers. I'd never encountered the Mahabharata before and this book made me interested in seeking it out; I'm curious how folks with more familiarity with the inspiration would find this book. As someone who grew up obsessed with the Iliad, it's so interesting the way these two ancient epics echo each other, even in the small portion of the Mahabharata explored here, looking at themes of piety, family, duty, and morality during war through their differing cultural contexts. The similarities and differences are just so neat and I definitely want to learn more, which I think is a very good sign with a mythological retelling.

In summary: the story drags a bit in the third quarter, but if approached with an expectation of complexity (and a checking of content warnings), it's an intricate and interesting story of morality, womanhood, and the duties of family within a slice of a larger epic.

A really lovely book that filled the Madeline Miller shaped hole in my heart. A touching perspective on motherhood with lush writing and a well built world that reimagines this fairytale.

Retelling of Ganga the River Goddess

Goddess of the River reimagines the story of Ganga, the river goddess, who is cursed to live a mortal life and give birth to the human forms of other spirits before returning to her divine state. The novel delves into Ganga's journey as she navigates her mortal existence, her interactions with other deities, and her relationships with her mortal son and other characters.

Strengths of the book include its beautifully crafted prose, strong character development, and the seamless integration of mythological elements with modern storytelling. However, some readers may find the pacing slow at times due to the detailed exploration of themes and character backstories. Overall, Goddess of the River is a powerful and evocative novel that offers a fresh perspective on a classic tale, making it a worthy addition to the genre of mythological retellings.

A Hindu retelling focusing on the complexities of generational trauma and mother son/relationships.

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel is one of my favorite books of all time. Goddess of the River, simply, just isn’t for me.

The writing, in true Patel style, is gorgeous. It’s sweeping and immersive. It simultaneously feels like you’re listening to someone tell you a story without taking you out of the events. Ganga’s chapters are especially intimate.

However, I’m just not as interested in this as I thought I would be. I’m simply not meant to read stories where the objectively bad actions of mothers are explained and justified. That is not my ministry. I will say, I do appreciate Patel’s approach to this. This is a story that will reasonate with and intrigue SO MANY readers. I’m just not one of them.

Also, because of Patel’s choice to jump around in time, there was a lot of (in my opinion, unnecessary) confusion. There were times where I did not understand which characters I was reading, where we were in the plot, and where we were even going. I found Bhisma’s chapters particularly hard to follow. I spent most of the book feeling like I was missing context (mostly because I was- it simply hadn’t been revealed yet).

This isn’t a bad book by any means. It just wasn’t for me.

I always enjoy reading myth based fantasy from different cultures and this was no different! This was my first book from Vaishnavi Patel and I'm looking forward to reading more from her. I did enjoy the writing style and that the original myth didn't feel overly explained throughout the story. The only downside to me was that I was a bit disconnected from the characters, I never grew attached to anyone. But overall, I continued to be interested in the plot and was curious to see where things went, considering I'm not super familiar with the story of Ganga.