“Wearing the Lion” is a Hercules retelling that tells his story both from his own point of view and from Hera’s as she works to destroy him. This was a fascinating angle to take, and one I was very eager to read, despite my lukewarm feelings of Wiswell’s debut novel (“Someone You Can Build a Nest In”). Heracles is a pretty terrible guy in his personal life when you read Greek mythology, but Wiswell paints him very sympathetically as a dedicated family man, a reluctant hero, and a devout follower of “Auntie Hera.” Hera, meanwhile, in the literature always punishes the partners with whom Zeus cheats on her and the children of those unions, and she certainly starts out that way in this story. But along the way she starts to wonder: why am I doing this? An interesting retelling to be sure, but I still prefer Jennifer Saint’s “Hera” for retellings of this particular subject matter. Wiswell’s whimsical prose seems unsuited to the heavy subject matter and does not quite nail the ironic humor that Natalie Haynes has mastered in her retellings of myth. I would only recommend this if you already really, really like Heracles for some reason and have a lot of time to kill.

this started out lighthearted and weird and then it made me cry.

wearing the lion a uniquely irreverent reimagining of the most famous hero in greek mythology and the goddess who wants absolutely nothing to do with him, thank you very much.

the best way i can describe wearing the lion is disney’s hercules meets the hymn to dionysus by natasha pulley, but with significantly more foul language. it isn’t a madeline miller-type retelling and it isn’t trying to be—the language is anachronistic and often crude rather than lyrical, but somehow it works here. wiswell isn’t retelling the story of heracles and hera so much as rewriting it. he subverts the gory myth we know into a story about complicated, messy families and grief and loneliness, and humanizes gods, mortals, and monsters alike in the process.

someone remind me to pick up someone you can build a nest in sooner rather than later! normally i prefer more “traditional” greek mythology retellings, so it took me more than a few chapters to adjust to wiswell’s writing style, but i ended up really enjoying wearing the lion and this gentler heracles and more nuanced hera. i didn’t expect it to pack the emotional punch it did towards the end but i would recommend tissues if you cry easily.

Wearing the Lion is simply a wonderful, deeply felt, unique take on the Heracles myth. The audiobook is fantastic—it really brought the book to life, especially Christian Black’s performance of Heracles. I really felt a lot reading this, and even though I’m not usually one for a tragic story, I had trouble putting this down—so I was relieved to be rewarded with a perfect ending. It’s an excellent queering of a classic story, as this Heracles inverts his hero’s journey to build empathy, sympathy, and love instead of anger and war. I loved the monstrous found family, even though it was painful following Heracles at times—I absolutely cried (a lot) at several parts. There were some things I wanted that I don’t think it could give me with its framework (like family therapy for the dead), but I was so moved by this version of the myth. And I know there’s a lot about Zeus being a dipshit, but this Zeus *really* was one.
I could read John Wiswell’s adaptations of classic myths any day—I hope there are more to come!

There is nothing like Wiswell”s book. Just completely original and fun and delightful. He has a fan for life in me, complete auto buy.

This book follows the story of Heracles paralleled with the perspective of Hera.

After reading Someone you Can Build a Nest In and absolutely falling in love with it, I was honoured to receive an eARC of John Wiswell’s newest work. While I still had a good time reading it I sadly didn’t connect to it as much as i would have hoped.

The first part of this book felt reminiscent of the tv show Kaos (which I love) due to the humour and levity that it brought to these iconic Greek myths, while not shying away from the darker elements. Then came a rather stark tonal shift that put a solemn blanket on the rest of the book. And for me it lost its humour and unique tone somewhat.

I am a found family girl through and through and yet I sadly can’t say that I felt attached to these characters. While all the monsters we meet along the way are distinct and charming, I surprisingly didn’t get emotionally invested in their relationships. This is not the book’s fault but rather simply the way this one turned out for me.
I did like the complexity of Hera and the way morality gets examined in this book. I also love Granny, a true icon.


Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an EARC of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️- released 6/17/25

I loved John Wiswell’s first novel sooo much and I really wanted to love this one just as much, and I did not love it quite as much. The concept was interesting, gods coming into humanity and accountability through found family, all things I normally love. The comedic writing just did not work for me here and the middle part really dragged. I think others may enjoy this a lot, it just did not work as well for me. I really loved the ending and the book finished off super strong. I also still love John Wiswell and will definitely be picking up his next book. Has anyone else read?

Thank you to @netgalley and @dawbooks for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review

#books #bookreviewer #bookrecs #bookrecommendations #newrelease #advancedreadercopy

In this retelling of Heracles, narrated by both the hero himself and the goddess who so despises him, when Heracles goes to kill the Nemean lion, he can't bring himself to do any more violence and instead adopts the lion. This cycle continues, with Heracles solving his problems without violence and amassing what could be a small army of allies who would love to storm Olympus for vengeance for him and his sons. Meanwhile, Hera schemes and plots, as do the other Olympians, in an increasingly complicated plan that keeps shifting.
I really enjoyed this one. It felt like the anti Greek tragedy, where so much happens because no one can break the cycle of violence. In the original Heracles, even, his fate is unpleasant due to the revenge of someone who wronged him. Not so in this retelling. The cycle is broken. It's an often silly and irreverent book, but I do think the depiction of the five-dimensional chess all the gods are playing with each other feels really accurate. I also like Megaera in this book; she's not the most major character, but she has a lot of agency. I also like family-man Heracles, who's a bit fat because his godly strength makes it hard to put on muscle, and who is for sure bi. The monster family was adorable. Also, not to give spoilers, but Hera's character growth was really interesting to watch. Her little retinue was also quite good. So in conclusion, great retelling of Heracles.

An exemplary adaptation that inserts modern liberal political ideals in an organic and believable way. The alternating narrative is brilliantly balanced, and the deity characters feel hyper human rather than alien. Every characters' motivations are clear and understandable, and though they often make mistakes, there are no villains; just people willing to change and evolve into better versions of themselves (and maybe one or two who aren’t).

Love the voice but the stakes peter out in the middle. It's a fun book, but I personally needed a bit more tension. But will be looking forward to Wiswell's other novels

Wearing the Lion is a humorous yet tender-hearted retelling of the Heracles myth that stands out in a market oversaturated with Greek myth retellings. But while there was a lot to love in this refreshing, modernized take on a well-known myth, the book lost too much momentum in the middle of the story for me to feel fully invested in an otherwise standout retelling.

I knew I was in for a fun time when the e-ARC blurb included the words “Hera’s dipshit husband, Zeus” (unfortunately, the blurb on the final copy no longer includes the word “dipshit”), and the book definitely did not disappoint in humor. Both POV characters Hera and Heracles have incredible narrative voices—it’s irreverent, sometimes profane, and surprisingly tender in emotional moments. Wiswell does an impressive job with balancing the narrative tone, making sure that the book was humorous while also becoming emotional and more authentic when the story demanded it. I normally don’t read books for humor or absurdity, but Wiswell ensured most jokes and bits never felt forced or overused. This book is more quirk than absurdity or hilarity, which definitely meshed well with my reading preferences and broadened its appeal to a mainstream audience rather than those who gravitate towards straight humor. The only joke that lost its humor and began to edge into annoying territory was the sheer amount of times Hera calls Zeus her “dipshit husband” instead of by his name or just “my husband” or “the king,” but thankfully it was gradually phased out as Hera began to grow and emotionally mature.

The mythological retelling element was impressively innovative and refreshing! As someone who studied Greek culture and mythology in undergrad, I’m normally pretty cautious when it comes to retellings because 1) they’re completely overdone in recent years 2) they lack originality/innovation while preserving the culturally-relative essence of the original myth. Wearing the Lion was genuinely refreshing by taking the framework of the Heracles myth (and not just the Twelve Labors!!) and using it to explore deeper themes, like the role of family, trauma, and healing in both ancient and contemporary contexts. It was awesome to see an author who does not attempt to “modernize” or “update” a myth (those often come across as inauthentic or lazy/uninspired) and instead uses the story to investigate issues relevant to a modern audience. The characters were impressively original, even the animals and beasts that become Heracles’ new family—I mean, how could I not love an adorable lion named Purrseus??

Unfortunately, the mythological framework is also this book’s biggest shortcoming. The nature of the Twelve Labors made the narrative a bit too repetitive for my liking and conveyed the themes in a much more heavy-handed manner than I would have liked. The first two or three labors are fun reinterpretations, but they quickly lose their originality when it becomes clear every other labor will be handled in the same manner: Heracles gets assigned something deadly and violent, refuses to perpetuate the cycle of violence, and instead befriends/therapizes the misunderstood creature(s) instead. The constant repetition caused the middle of the book to drag and the message about refusing the cycle of violence and/or healing from trauma edge into sermonizing. I want to emphasize that these are incredibly important and timely conversations to have and I appreciated the creative way in which Wiswell chose to address these topics, but the repetition and lack of subtlety by the 60%-ish mark caused my attention to dip. Additionally, while I appreciated that the book was equally narrated by Hera and Heracles to add more nuance to the themes, I unfortunately could never fully get into Hera’s story. Perhaps the nature of the original myth makes it hard to reframe the story into equal parts Hera and Heracles, but Hera’s subplots felt even more repetitive and heavy-handed than Heracles’. While I did feel empathy for her, I grew tired of her constant flip-flopping between anger and guilt with little character growth until the end.

Wearing the Lion is a unique and refreshing addition to the glut of Greek mythological retellings published in the past several years. Despite the dark nature of the Labors and their violent implications, Wiswell impressively subverts them in a cozy yet tender-hearted narrative that encourages timely conversations about violence, family, and trauma. While the repetitious plot prevented me from getting fully invested in the characters, it was still a fun and enjoyable read.

3.5/5 stars, rounded up to 4!
Thank you to DAW for the e-ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell

I fell in love with John Wiswell’s writing when I read his story “Open House on Haunted Hill”, which blew me away. Last year, I was thrilled when I got an eARC of his first novel.
I adored Someone to Build a Nest In and was eagerly anticipating his next book. I was over the moon when DAW and NetGalley gave me an e ARC of Wearing the Lion in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the story of Heracles and Hera and their relationship. As a lapsed classicist who loves mythology, this seemed like the perfect book for me. And it was! This was the best, most human, and kindest version of Heracles I have ever seen; likewise, Hera and the other deities are at the most relatable.

This book kept surprising me. As someone with a passing familiarity with the 12 Labors of Hercules, the nontraditional ways this Heracles solves the problem of how to deal with the Nemean Lion and the Lernean Hydra were surprising and ultimately delightful. The murder of his children hit hard, and I would’ve appreciated a content warning, but all in all this is a sad, warm, loving book.

As I said about his previous novel,everyone who loves monsters should go buy this book. It was that good.

I admire John Wiswell for having the courage to try this. And the book was well written. But it wasn’t for me, and I gave up halfway through.

No spoilers in this review that aren’t on the back of the book, which is Greek myth anyway.

The idea of a pacifist retelling of the Twelve Labors of Heracles is a good one. Heracles needs to bring the hide of the Nemean Lion to King Eurystheus? Well, nowhere does it say that Heracles can’t bring the rest of the Nemean Lion along with the hide, sooooo….

That part was good. It was fun and it was funny.

The problem, and why I give Wiswell the guts for tackling this in the first place, is *why* Heracles undertook the Twelve Labors in the first place. Wiswell stuck to the mythology here: Hera had sent a Fury to drive Heracles mad, and in his madness he slew his children. The Twelve Labors were his atonement for that.

Obviously there’s a tonal clash between that and a fairly lighthearted take on the Labors. That was a problem.

The much bigger problem here is Hera.

In this telling, Heracles, ironically, is a devoted worshipper of Hera. The book alternates between Heracles’ internal monologue, which is almost entirely epistolary in the form of prayers to his chosen goddess, “Auntie Hera.” The other chapters are Hera’s.

Hera could, if spun right, have been a very sympathetic character. The first line of the book mentioning “my dipshit husband” made me laugh out loud. She’s more or less the epitome of the Woman Wronged, with Zeus out impregnating half the Hellenic world all the time. But, as in Greek myth, Hera can be furious at her husband all she wants but she can’t *do* anything to him; he’s the immortal lord of the Olympians. So rather than rage impotently, her anger gets channeled towards the most prominent reminder of Zeus’ infidelity: his son Heracles.

But like literally every child ever born, Heracles is completely innocent of the circumstances of his conception. The fact that he is sincerely devoted to Hera (who hates his devotions) makes it worse. And then when Hera, goddess of home and family, *kills his children* (even though it wasn’t her intention) … that’s a swan dive right over the moral event horizon.

Maybe it could have been salvaged, if Hera set out to atone in some way. Instead, for the rest of her chapters (which is literally every alternate chapter) we get Hera mostly squirming mentally and trying not to think about what she did.

Hence the DNF. Hera was too big a presence and too thoroughly unsympathetic a character.

Wearing the Lion was my first book from John Wiswell and undoubtedly won't be my last. This story is a raw masterpiece of a Greek myth retelling that will leave you breathless. I am stunned by how beautiful the story was, and how perfectly it balanced moments of laughter, tenderness, and deepest despair.

This is overall a sweet tale of found family, but the tone shifts at some point when a great tragedy strikes, and Heracles is sent on a quest for truth. The premise is unique - what if Heracles decided there was too much hurt in the world already, and instead of killing legendary beasts as he follows the trials assigned to him, they simply became friends, and ultimately family? Be prepared to go deep with this one. There is no surface-level storytelling here, as each character is explored to their deepest core and gets plenty of time on page as they develop their relationships. The alternating POV also works wonderfully and gives the Olympian gods a chance to tell their side of the story, for better or worse.

I can't recommend this book enough. If you're a fan of Greek myth retellings like Stephen Fry's series, and emotional tales of found family, this is the book for you.

✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.

I adored Wearing the Lion! Besides that I love John Wiswell writing and unique voice, the premise intrigued me a lot. Who doesn't want a menagerie of mythological creatures? Especially when you've lost your family, animals know how to bring you comfort. You'll find others who know what you've been through. Heracles makes a different choice in this book, and it leads to an interesting outcome. I really like the emotional journey he goes on, aside from making new friends. Hera is my favourite though. She's fiesty, Queen of Olympus, but she has her human side (even though she denies it's human).

It's a really interesting take on the Heracles stories, one where a different choice leads to very different outcome. I appreciate retellings like this, especially from a mastercrafted like John Wiswell. His presentation of the story, although not unique, feels unique because it's so immersed in the characters voices. I'd recommend this to anyone who like Greek Mythology and historical fiction.

This is an interesting take on a mythology retelling. It's full of modernisms, for one, and while I found it amusing it also kept me from really taking much of it seriously - and if I have to read "dipshit husband" one more time I might just commit an atrocity. It is, for sure, a new approach to writing a retelling (though not the first of its kind of course) but the tone rarely fits the story for me personally. I do think it's a case of a book not fitting the reader though.
I didn't really care for Wiswell's portrayal of pretty much any god or mythological creature but I especially didn't enjoy the way he turns Hera into an entirely sympathetic figure who regrets every wrong she's ever done and is more or less changed for the better by a man, and said man, Heracles, is a goody two-shoes perfect hero who has never done any wrong whatsover. He doesn't even kill monsters because the monsters in this book are family. And this could be fun - I love reimaginings of mythological creatures - but it also makes him really boring in the end. All he has is perfection and grief, there is no edge to him not even in his worst moments. He's just a big ol' sweetheart and in the context of this story it turns him into a rather dull protagonist.
There are good messages and themes in here but I often felt like the Heracles myth was a mere backdrop for what the author wanted to say. Still, it's a fun little romp and it's well-written enough, though the prose is pretty simplistic and the emotional moments didn't manage to hit at all for me. It's a different kind of retelling, I give it that.
2,5 stars, rounding up to 3 for the Nemean lion because he's cute.

Wearing the Lion was a solid and enjoyable read, especially for someone newer to Greek mythology retellings. It puts a softer, more emotional spin on the Heracles myth, which was a nice change of pace. One thing I think John Wiswell did really well was adding layers to characters that often get flattened in traditional myth—giving them emotional depth and nuance you don’t usually see. Not my favorite in the genre, but definitely worth the read.

I love a good Greek Mythology retelling but this book wasn't it. It had a really strong start where this book is the Movie Hercules but what if Hera was the villain instead of Hades. But then the story quickly devolved into fight monster, then monster becomes friend. Which it keeps going like that for a good chunk of the book. I get that Heracles is suppose to be a Himbo dealing with grief but being so completely in denial that it was Hera that he doesn't realize till well over half way through the book was frustrating.

I get found family is at the core of this novel but the execution was lacking. Also I don't like that Megara essentially abandons Heracles to his nephew. Unfortunately this book fell flat. Interesting concept, poor execution.

It's such a wonderful, warm-hearted, healing story - one not to miss for the fans of Greek mythology and like, recovering your faith in humanity. John WIswell did it again: Shenshenshen's story was a great debut, and I am so happy to see the author take on different story types and bring the best of their worldview along. Heartily recommend.

Real Rating: 4.5* of five

"Mythology" might be one of the English language's biggest mistakes or disservices or just downright screw-ups of all time. It has a lot of competition, to be sure...you'll have your own ideas about that, I don't need to elaborate...but walling off the best possible way to understand human nature's thorniest problems behind this etymological fence:
mythology(n.)
early 15c., "exposition of myths, the investigation and interpretation of myths," from Late Latin mythologia, from Greek mythologia "legendary lore, a telling of mythic legends; a legend, story, tale," from mythos "myth" (a word of unknown origin; see myth) + -logia (see -logy "study"). Meaning "a body or system of myths" is recorded by 1781. (etymonline)

...is wasteful, even dangerous. Thank goodness we're embracing retellings, modernizations, again. And even more praises be sung to the Divine that John Wiswell joined the chorus.

What Author Wiswell excels at in this story is upending your expectations...seems to be a trope in this case, go read my review of Someone to Build a Nest In, 2024 Nebula Award-winner AND Best First-Novel Locus Award winner that it is...of what love, grief, trust, and faith mean, require, and offer to you. Hera and Herakles, the Fury, the monsters, all get bound in unquestioned roles, then get jailbroken by Author Wiswell's perspective shift. It's a great way to de-mythologize a violent and triumphalist myth, putting it into a twenty-first centurian's comfort zone while making its subtexts very sharp. That contrast between the meaning we've learned to associate with the multiple millennia of unacknowledged retellings of Heracles' story and what Author Wiswell does with it is *chef's kiss* piquant.

Introducing a goddess to the idea of accountability is permaybehaps the most satisfying part of Author Wiswell's reimaging of the tale. That a being who was, until now, entirely untouched by any sense that her actions having consequences in others' lives was in any way a cause for her own emotional involvement is so in keeping with this #MeToo moment. It's also in sharp contrast...I'd even say rebuke...to the rising tide of publicly-flaunted bigotry and intolerance. Hera never faces up to the devastation her setting of the Furies on Herakles for something simply not his (Zeus's infidelity that resulted in his birth) doing caused in the original. Of course not! Divine beings aren't subject to rules like mere mortals are, say the myths of a culture that contended their royals are divine.

The entire story revolves around that most current of cultural concerns, accountability. Herakles facing up to his murderous rampage's consequences, then his puruit of revenge's limitations; Hera to her misuse of power and her misplaced anger; "Granny" the Fury's, well...existence; all in the end are changed in some very relatable, and pretty satisfying, ways. How that happens with Hera and Herakles as equally unreliable narrators is predictably sort-of stop-and-start in effect on the pacing. It becomes a bit more choppy than I as a reader prefer. My one other complaint, more of a whine actually, is that including all twelve canonical Labors made the read slower than was optimal for a humorous tale. Brevity is the soul of wit became a maxim instead of a truism because its self-evidence is actionable.

So the missing half-star is explained. The four-and-a-half remaining are slathered in the cream-cheese-and-pecan frosting of contentment. The happiness I felt at Herakles loving the Nemean Lion...the way every act of violence (after the inciting act) results in Hera, and Heracles, figuring out their wounds and their capacity to endure and even recover from them...the sly, quiet side-eye humor...I was badly in need of them all.

Dunno about y'all, but fiction that transmutes an ancient tale of violence and rage and hate into one of healing and chuckles feels damn close to miraculously soothing in my 2025 world.

Author Wiswell, thank you. I needed this story at this moment and you made it so good to read I couldn't stop.

I worked on this title HOWEVER my review is totally unbiased. I can say without a doubt that this is one of the best books of the year. John is such a talented author who manages to capture the humanity of even the most fearsome of gods and goddesses.