actual rating: 3.5 stars

i think my main takeaway after finishing this book is - i can appreciate the message it was trying to convey, it just didn't grip me as much as i would have liked.

i really enjoyed the narration style, getting alternating chapters from heracles and from hera, and i also really enjoyed the narrative voice each POV had (especially hera - i found myself chuckling quite a lot while reading from her perspective).

this book is definitely a lot cozier than most of the mythology retellings i've either read or are on my radar, but john wiswell still discusses some heavier topics (the loss of a child, taking responsibility for your actions, for example).

I was lucky enough to be granted an arc through NetGalley for Wearing the Lion. The first line made me laugh out loud on the train on my commute just start off perfect chefs kiss.

This book is hilarious until it isn't.

This line brings it back: "That gray-eyed know-it-all is behind me again, watching like she wants to write my memoirs when this is over."

I finished part one and thought, wow! I don’t know the story of Hera and Heracles/Alcides. But I trust the author. Heracles unending devotion to someone who despises him and his ignorance of it is so compelling.

The book is hilarious until it isn’t. After that Wiswell rips our heart out of our chest and trounces on it time and again. Lines like "What does our goodness matter to our victims?" just got me. Over and over.

Hera's inability to admit what she did carries the book. This is the root of the "bad communication trope" and it is done so well because we see her unwillingness to admit the truth, even to herself. Even as she comes so close And we think, yes, she's going to make this right. She doesn't. And we see how someone makes things worse by a failure to communicate.

Heracles, meanwhile, goes through it and finds a family. The ending isn't a big joyous thing. It is small, and hopeful.

I admittedly had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started "Wearing the Lion" - but it's a Greek mythology reimagining that I'd bet no one else has encountered before.

Told in alternating perspectives between Hera, Queen of the Gods and wife of Zeus, and Heracles, the offspring of Zeus and one of his many dalliances. In his reimagining however, Wiswell infuses a level of humor, vitriol, and complexity that has yet to be written in any of these characters; Hera is a (rightfully) angry and bitter wife, fed up with her "dipshit husband" and his lack of responsibility and accountability. When Heracles is born and named in honor of her, she commits to treat him as the furthest thing from her... while he has nothing for reverence for her, frequently praying to and offering sacrifices to her, and calling her "Auntie Hera".

The comedy (and cursing) is a much-needed contrast to the well-known Labours of Heracles, when Heracles attempts to absolve his guilt. In each of the following trials, Heracles success is completely transformed - instead of killing or slaying the mythological creature, Heracles transforms them into companions and supporters of his journey - each with their own character and backstory to add to his journey. It is albeit a very generous reimagining, but one that paints our protagonist in a completely different light and addresses the deeper grief and loss he carries. Hera also has her own journey and development as she also comes to terms with her reality and the responsibility she bears.

While I thought the concept of this novel unique, I struggled to get past the first few Trials as they become quite similar and repetitive over time, and the pacing stalled in the middle of the novel. Nonetheless a unique read for those who are looking for a different kind of Greek mythology reimagining!

Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for this ARC.

Man, after reading Someone You Can Build a Nest In, I was looking forward to some more out there novels along those veins, and Wearing the Lion does not disappointed. John Wiswell has such a way of building a unique world with a twist that just keeps the reader invested. I, however, was more excited by the description of Heracles befriending all the monsters he was meant to slay in a re-imagining of Heracle's twelve labors.

Heracles has always fascinated me in some way, but I have to admit I didn't know too much about his labors before beginning. Wiswell helps the reader by laying out a list of the twelve labors before getting into the meat of the story. But the best part of Wearing the Lion isn't the labors, but rather Hera herself. Hera is such a queen of sass that I swear she's my new role model. Originally I was annoyed with some of the modern English swears being used in the text, but there's nothing more satisfying than Hera calling Zeus her dipshit husband. To sum up Wearing the Lion, this story is primarily focused on Hera being undeniably pissed at her husband and unfortunately taking it out on one of his brood.

Amazingly, Wiswell adds layers upon layers of personality to our gods and goddesses. For anyone who knows the classics, the Olympians are meant to embody humans but are greatly ruled by their flaws. In Wearing the Lion, the flaws are still there but the Olympians are fleshed out in a satisfactory way, excepting Zeus because he's missing for the majority of the story. But this isn't about Zeus, it's about Hera and the trauma she inflicts on Heracles.

I really appreciate that Wiswell goes deep into the trauma of Heracles murdering his sons. This unforgivable sin has Heracles questioning his purpose in life, as his family falls apart due to the violence. Heracles is so torn by this act that any time he faces a monster, he can only see the trauma inflicted on them, and in turn ends up creating his own family of murderous monsters that are loveable in their own way. Heracles does not forgive himself that easily, but takes it upon himself to discover the answers.

On the other hand, Hera herself starts questioning her own actions and how they have hurt the ones she loves. Although Hera has her own family, borne by blood and... whatever Zeus was doing-- she takes the time to reflect on what her actions have done to those around her. There's a lot of growth for Hera and I absolutely loved how Wiswell explored the damage infidelity has done to Hera. Hera is typically depicted as a stone-cold bitch--and she is still in Wearing the Lion-- but she is a product of what her husband has done to her. Anyone would go crazy if you were betrayed by your partner time and time again.

All in all, give Wearing the Lion a try. I don't think there's any mythological retelling that will hold a candle to what Wiswell has done. Wiswell didn't really change the narrative per se, but rather give it a depth that's often overlooked.

WEARING THE LION is such a difficult book to review! I will say, that after reading Someone You Can Build a Nest In last year, I was super excited to read more from John Wiswell and – although this book is a very different animal – it’s pretty much cemented him as an autobuy author.
On the face of it, WEARING THE LION is a retelling of the Hercules/Heracles story – driven to madness by vengeful goddess Hera, he murders his wife and children and sets out on twelve legendary ‘labours’ to restore his honour etc. In WEARING THE LION, Heracles (and to a lesser extent his wife) are undertaking the labours to instead find out who drove him to his actions.
The labours themselves are flipped on their heads. For example, instead of slaying the Nymerian lion, this Heracles befriends it. Thus, the meat of WEARING THE LION becomes more about themes than plot particularly. Remorse, grief, and healing; toxic masculinity; denial; and perception of self and by others.
Both Heracles and Hera feel like fully fleshed out characters, Hera in particular was a joy to read about: a deeply flawed and complex female character like we rarely see.
The writing itself was my one gripe, an alternating POV in an almost epistolary style (although I can see the reasoning from a writing-craft perspective) and a very modern vernacular (Zeus is Hera’s “dipshit husband” a lot) which just didn’t quite work for me.
Overall, I really bold and ambitious second novel, that just confirms that Wiswell is an author to watch for reader looking for SFF that does something different.

A fun twist on the story of Heracles and his labors! Love to see the Greek mythos through a new lens. It's also nice to have a Greek myth that isn't incredibly unfair to women!

Wearing the Lion is a re-imagining of the Twelve Labors of Hercules with some found-family focused family drama mixed in. In this, Hercules (also known as Alcides) is a cheerful, surprisingly gentle guy who considers Hera his "aunty" and prays to her and gives her offerings. Our Cinnamon Roll is completely unaware that Hera hates his guts, despite her various attempts to kill him. (He does not realize they are murder attempts--he is just utterly clueless about it. He is just a strong, sweet guy who has nothing but good thoughts for his "Papa Zeus" and "Aunty Hera.")
The situation comes to a head when Hera forces a "retired" (and full of trauma) fury to attack Hercules. This results in the tragic death of his sons. (Which manages to horrify Hera.) When he comes out of the fog of fury-inspired madness he is driven to find answers. In the course of his search for the god who sent the fury, he's manipulated to go after the Nemean Lion. Things do not go as planned. Instead, Hercules makes friends with the Lion.
The pattern of making friends with monsters, (or mentally ill dudes who think they're monsters) continues, while he continues his search for answers. Hercules travels are broken up by encounters and references to Imposter-Hercs who are all attempting to accomplish the Labors. (He manages to befriend and rescue the Hind of Cyreneia from one of them.) His path to finding out the truth is convoluted and sprinkled with misdirection and and confusion. (And no one knowing he's Hercules because he is the Tony Hawk of the sons of Zeus.)
I really enjoyed this book, though it was in places a tough read. The lead up to the revelation was agonizing, even though I knew who it was. The author does a great job of making you sympathize with both Hera and Hercules. Hera is under a lot of stress in that her husband does not respect her (or anyone really), and Hercules is just a guy who wants to defend his home and his family. (Albeit a guy with super-strength.)
John Wiswell delves a bit into the underlying dysfunctions of the Olympians as "family," to great effect. He uses a combination of humor and sympathy, from gently mocking Apollo for stealing "domains," to sympathizing with a fury with PTSD from millennia of war and destroying lives and minds at the behest of the titans and the gods. This is a warm but also tragic novel about found family and finally getting away from a toxic situation that you know won't get better.
This book review was based on a galley received from NetGalley.

I want to preface this review with the fact that I love that we're still interpreting these myths thousands of years later. Like the ancient Greeks, we take these stories and change them based on our view of the world and what we wish to relay.

That being said, this book is an interesting thought experiment, but it wasn't for me. This novel follows Heracles, a son of Zeus, who spends his life trying to do exactly what his name suggests: give glory to his "aunty" Hera. Hera, on the other hand, resents Heracles as a product of her husbands infidelity.

Like in the original myth, she pushes him to murder his children, setting off a chain of events. Rather than slaying the beasts as he is tasked with for his labors, Heracles cannot bear to do anymore harm. Instead, he befriends them.

This is definitely a story that focuses heavily on redemption and personal growth, but it just didn't do much for me. I found it kind of trivial in places (i.e. naming the nemian lion "purrrseus"). I can definitely respect the point the author makes with this novel, but it just wasn't for me.

Wearing the Lion is an imaginative and emotionally layered novel. At its core, it explores identity, transformation, and the blurry lines between the human and the surreal.

Wiswell’s prose is vivid and poetic, with a dreamlike quality that gives the story a rich, immersive texture. The worldbuilding feels unique and purposeful, and the characters—particularly the protagonist—are compelling in their vulnerability and complexity.

That said, the novel doesn’t always stick the landing. The plot can feel meandering in places, and some of the more abstract or symbolic moments slow the pacing. Readers who prefer a more grounded or linear story may find these parts a bit challenging to follow.

Overall, Wearing the Lion is a bold and thoughtful read, full of ambition and emotional resonance. It’s not a book for everyone, but for readers who enjoy layered, genre-blurring stories with heart, it’s worth the journey.

Do you think Monster Hunter is unnecessarily violent because those beautiful creatures were just trying to live their lives? 

Are you a cat person who's willing to expand the definition of cat to something large and possibly dangerous?

Do you root for Hera because her husband is just *the worst* and constantly tell people what a ho Zeus is?

Then oh boy, have I got a book for you.

In Wearing the Lion, John Wiswell combines the wholesome, fairytale-style sensibility from SYCBANI with a deep knowledge of Greek myths and, of course, monsters. This Heracles has noodly limbs and a paunch belly, because Daddy Zeus is always doing the work for him, and as he goes through the tragic story we all know and love, we see a Heracles who tries to balance empathy with avenging the harm that was done to his family.

Hera, fueled by her frustration with her "dipshit husband," is out to make Heracles' life more difficult, but don't worry, she also learns some things along the way as she sees the effects of her actions on her own family.

The plot moves quickly through the steps we know and love, but takes time to reflect on other ways that we can look at those happenings and the ways in which Heracles might have more in common with the monsters than with his human family. Wiswell takes us through an emotional journey as we see the strain of grief on a marriage and the formation of a found family that helps Heracles cope with the distance from Megara and his own grief.

In a world of Greek myth retellings that often feel too similar, reading a truly empathic story chock full of informed references to the original material was a refreshing delight. The fragmented narrative for part of a novel drawing on Greek poetry as source material was honestly perfection.

I will be eagerly awaiting John Wiswell's new release while obsessing over one of my new favorite myth retellings.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for gifting me an early copy of this book!

I ADORED someone you could build a nest in, and this one was just as amazing. two awesome POVs, some very fun plotlines, and gorgeous themes. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. Overall, this book was okay. I think it started out amazingly strong and had a ton of potential. My first thoughts were that Hera, who I knew very little about, was a strong, sassy FMC. However, her actions quickly made me pedal back how much I liked her. I know that was a major plot point - mild reveal, she shows remorse for her behavior - but there were so many missed opportunities for her to simply talk to Heracles. This may have been intentional because the author was saving it for the conclusion, but it felt like Heracles is going on all these epic quests almost as a filler until Hera was ready for the resolution. I also felt a lot of sub-plots were introduced and not satisfactorily resolved.

That said, this story was fun and I did not dislike it. I enjoyed the dual perspectives. I thought Heracles was very lovable without being too unrealistic (at least for a demigod). I appreciated the nuggets of lore peppered in with some of the other major players of Olympus and legendary creatures. The witty tone really made this stand out for me, but a few smart-aleck phrases were thrown out a little too much (lost count of how many times Hera calls Zeus "my dipshit husband" and says Athena is "supposed to be the smart goddess"). Overall if you like found family and/or mythological interpretations, I'd still recommend this one, but I probably won't reread it.

I deeply, deeply disliked this book. The weird modern references, the constant profanity, the awkward attempts to turn the macho Hercules story on its head, and the confusing plot. I didn’t like any of the characters and found the ending just unsatisfying. I love mythology and mythological retellings, but this one failed me on all fronts.

I've never read a mythology retelling like this and I'd bet you haven't either.

This is the Hercules myth told from dual POVs of Hera and Heracles/Alcides, but both of them surprisingly human in their narrations and emotions. Hera is cutting and a bit prickly, but incredibly loyal, and Heracles is the most dad to ever dad. The back-and-forth POVs keep the book moving at a quick pace and are a really nice juxtaposition to one another. I typically prefer third person POV over first person but the first person narration here lent itself to some fantastic beats, be them funny or emotional. Which leads me to my next point . . .

I adored Someone You Can Build a Nest In; it was fun and surprising and especially surprisingly tender. So I was prepared for a unique story here, I was prepared for tenderness, and I thought I was prepared for humour but an opening line like "Good news, Heaven,” announces my dipshit husband. “I’ve made a new king of the mortals.” really knocks you off your feet a bit.

If you don't like a goddess narrating like that, um, this book will really not be for you.

Look, we all likely have a passing idea about the Hercules myth, at the very least. This story isn't going to be super original in its concept. Where it gets originality is in its characters. Hera's prickliness and snark and her emotional turmoil. And Heracles, well, I don't know how better to describe his character than he wants to FIND a FAMILY, on multiple levels. This is the found family story I didn't know I needed and by that I mean, what if Hercules didn't fight monsters but instead made a family out of them? (Just writing that makes me so very happy.)

I have such a fondness for this book, and I think that's in big part because it's obvious that John Wiswell also has such fondness for this book. I don't see how an author could write this and not have fun with it, but the story shows care and so much heart, and you can't help but smile. (Hera's verbal takedowns of other Olympians may also be the cause of a few smiles, let's be real.)

John Wiswell has such a talent for cozy, warm writing - I've probably overused the word "tender" when I describe his stories but I honestly cannot think of a more applicable word - and I'm so glad he's using that talent to tell these creative and just fun stories.

Thank you to the publisher, DAW, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

I have to be honest and say I didn't actually finish this book in the end. While I initially enjoyed the choices of the author and how the whole storyline was set up, after a while it began to grate on me and I kept putting it down and picking it up a few days later. It's very rare for me to wish a novel was a novella (I'm more likely to feel the other way) but this was one of those books where it just felt like the premise wasn't quite substantial enough to support a novel.

In short, it's the story of Hercules told from two perspectives: his own and that of Hera, the multiply-cheated on wife of Zeus (who's also Hercules' father, if you weren't aware). Other reviews have said it well - this book didn't really know what it wanted to be. Was it a cozy fantasy (think the Disney movie of the same name, to some extent) or a character study of Hera in particular (since I think Hercules is much less fleshed-out in comparison). For me, as the book went on, the jokes got a bit old and I didn't care enough to finish it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.

Wow wow wow. Even if you think you know the story of “Hercules”, brace yourself for the version you’ve never heard and had no idea you yearned to experience. Join himbo Heracles as he searches for answers to heartbreaking questions and undergoes legendary trials with his found family, all while being thwarted by a grimacing and powerful Hera on Olympos.

This book has set the standard by which all books I will be reading this year are going to be compared, and it is a huge undertaking for my future reads I fear. I am astonished by how this author has in equal measure made a legendary story extremely accessible, yet simultaneously delivered the whole breadth of human emotion. But these are evoked not only from Heracles but from the folly and regrets of the cast of gods themselves! As someone who historically has struggled to find any relatability with the capriciousness of the Greek pantheon, I have absolutely had my opinions flipped into a 180 for the positive - and it’s because their stories were told in the most human way. I literally laughed out loud curled up on the couch, and an hour later bawled at the kitchen counter. This tour of godly legends through the eyes of an innocent’s grief was gut-wrenching and beautiful. The finicky tantrums of gods followed by anxiety and guilt was so humanizing, in a way I’ve never seen achieved in a Greek myth retelling. This is a book I will be recommending to everyone I know, and will be out on June 17, 2025. HUGE thank you to John Wiswell and DAW publishers for allowing me to receive an advanced reader copy!

Reviewed April 2025:
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

Some good things to start off with. I think that the character of Hera really had a great transformation within the book. This is one of the only books that I saw very caring side and a compassionate side to her. While she did have some anger and jealousy, rightfully so, this book showed how much love she had in her, how she took her job as a Goddess of family and birthing so seriously, and how she realized what she did was so devastatingly wrong. She was able to make a mistake and then learn from that. I appreciate it in a way that shows less Divinity and more human.

I enjoyed how Hercules was portrayed. More of a lover, a kind-hearted soul, and someone with deep reverence. I think that this is a total shift from how his story is told within mythology. And I enjoyed this retelling, it made him more relatable.

Now the use of dish!t to refer to her husband was overkill. The first few times okay I get it it was nice to see emotion but after that it was just too repetitive and it took you out of the story to only focus on that.

And I wasn't as pulled into the story as I was his first book. While this was interesting it just felt like it went longer than it should have. It did not keep my attention as much as his first novel. I enjoyed it but I had to take breaks from it because it was a lot to read it all the way through.

I kind of wish if there was more about Hera than there was about anything else. I want to see more from her character to see how much she will grow and become her own person after the events of this book are completed. So I think that I was drawn into that and I was looking for more of that even though that wasn't the focus of the book.

Overall not a bad read. And I did enjoy a lot of it!

John Wiswall feels like he’s trying to get on the writing staff of Netflix’s show, Kaos.

I feel like the cover kinda fools you.

“At the foot of the bed, down on his knees, is my son. Ares, the God of War, the scourge of battlefields, crouches between Aphrodite’s thighs, face buried in there, giving peace a chance.”

If you thought Stephen Fry was snarky or flippant in his retellings, Wiswall is like, hold my wine.

I thought I would gobble up a mythology satire, but a few things held me back from wanting to finish it.

1. Dipshit - 48 mentions. As a kick off sentence, it was hilarious. But 47 more times, it lost its luster.

2. Making Heracles an I’m-Just-Ken-like character feels funny in theory, but his story is tragic and for some reason, when those sad notes played out, the humor hit the wrong notes.

3. Pacing - I would have embraced the 12 Labors differently. Instead of 5 acts, made them clearer short stories. The internal dialogue felt repetitive because of it.

I’m sure there will be people that love this book, so if Hera or Heracles are MVP’s in your mythology worlds, I would still recommend this.

DNF

TY @netgalley for this ARC

Maybe my expectations were too high after "Someone You Can Build a Nest In", which I loved, but I was mildly disappointed by this Hercules retelling. The characters felt a little flat for me, and some of the jokes were repetitive. It did have some very funny lines, including one of the most memorable first lines I've ever read. But I was hoping for more.

Recently I read John Wiswell’s debut novel Someone You Can Build A Nest In. I really liked the atypical romance story and found myself vibing a lot with Wiswell’s humor throughout the story.

If I just “liked” his first novel, I was enraptured by his new book, Wearing the Lion, an inspired take on the ancient Greek tale of Heracles and his Twelve Labors. I was captivated by the reimagining of the classic mythology, laughing throughout at Wiswell’s humor, while at the same time being reduced to tears by the tragedy (and ultimate character redemption) that unfolds with each page.

So…strap in…in honor of Heracles 12 Labors and the 12 Olympic Gods of Greece, the rambling remainder of this review will be contained in 12 points (slight spoilers ahead for the retelling of a 2,500 year old story)….

1. OK…let’s talk Disney, or just American sensibilities. I teach history to junior high and high school students and have done more than my share of Ancient Greece and the Pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. One thing that absolutely drives me nuts (and I tell my students every year) is the American obsession with binary choices. Coke or Pepsi. Black or White. Republican or Democrat. Star Trek or Star Wars. Those binary choices have negatively impacted retellings of Greek mythology. Inevitably, we get movies like Disney’s Hercules (the Roman name of our hero, even though the story is almost completely Greek). In the Disney version, Zeus and Hera are happily married and Hercules is their son. The villain of the movie is Hades, all to set up the concept of Hercules = Good and Hades = Bad. In reality, the Greek Pantheon was a convoluted mess that isn’t easily defined by a binary protagonist/antagonist relationship. In Wiswell’s Wearing the Lion, the author really showcases the crazy dynamic of Mount Olympus, showing the machinations of more than just Zeus and Hades. In fact, Hades is barely even mentioned in the entire book. Instead we get a fantastic group of side characters…and I just fell in love with…

2. Boar. Well, I did at least. A Boar…man…or perhaps a man who believes himself to be a Boar. When we first meet Boar, his heartbreaking story and how he’s portrayed brought me to tears. His part of the story goes to show how Heracles thinks about the situations he’s put into and at times makes you wonder about…

3. Heracles the Himbo? Disney’s version puts our hero on center-stage without a ton of book smarts. In the movie Meg pokes fun at it constantly, but the heroic qualities (and Herc’s looks) seem to offset his mental limitations. In Wiswell’s version, Heracles isn’t portrayed as a “hunk,” even pointing out that his god-given strength is so immense that he can’t work off his gut paunch. And while Wiswell doesn’t make Heracles a Rhodes scholar, he definitely uses inventiveness and wiles to complete his tasks. But throughout most of the novel, he does have a gigantic blindspot when it comes to…

4. Hera. When I read about the 12 Labors in school years ago, I always felt like Hera was somewhat justified. Not that it was Heracles’ fault that Zeus cheated on Hera, but it was more than that. This baby is born…this amazing baby fathered by Zeus. And then on top of it all, they name the freakin’ kid after the jilted mother of the gods. And, especially in Wiswell’s version, that name -- HERA’S GLORY -- leads Heracles to pray to her day after day after day. Was she right in her actions? No…but you can understand it. Which makes for an interesting…

5. Framing device. Wiswell alternates chapters between Hera and Heracles throughout. It creates an interesting look at the story through multiple perspectives, often from victim to perpetrator at the same time. It makes the book fly by quicker, but it feels almost required to slow down when tragedy strikes, but Wiswell wisely plays with the standard…

6. Narrative. In fact, the ancient Greek narrative isn’t a set canon. When you look back at stories like Heracles in Greece or Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia, there are so many possible plots. Many of these tales were oral in nature and just like any story, changes were made when it was told from one group to another. With variety in his back pocket, Wiswell takes a chisel to the typical plot, letting Hera still drive Heracles to the madness that kills his sons, but leaves his wife Megara alive, but altered -- frightened -- traumatized. Meg knows it had to be a Olympian, so she is the impetus that drives Heracles on the required…

7. Twelve Labors. In the original tradition of Heracles’ labors, it seems almost like a checklist -- things that had to be done, regardless of difficulty for his crimes. But in this reimagining, Heracles works through them, not out of an obligation, but with a purpose…retribution. But in his quest for vengeance, he discovers his taste for violence is gone. It makes the Labors less of a chore and more of a quest from one Labor to the next to find answers. Speaking of answers, I’ve just realized…

8. Twelve of anything is a lot. I didn’t really think this list through before I started. Wow. And neither did Hera. Her pain from…

9. Zeus’ infidelity. His careless indifference to his own wife and family starts everything from the get-go. From there, he is a key to the story, but notably absent from most of the main storyline. In fact, Wiswell cleverly wove historical eras and the eventual displacement of Greece as the center of the modern world as the eventual explanation for Zeus’ disappearance. And it helped explain a huge plot hole in the Heracles original story - namely, why would Zeus even allow his wife to torment his favorite demigod son, not once, but on over a dozen separate occasions? Speaking again of those Labors, Heracles decision to avert violence leads to a wonderful…

10. Found family. After killing his sons, Heracles is in a bad place and isn’t looking to replace them…just to avenge them. But in his quest for truth, the Twelve Labors don’t represent subtraction, but Heracles adding to his life by working through his grief. I mentioned Boar (a wonderful character), but he also adds the Nemean Lion (Wiswell is insane for actually letting Heracles name him Purrseus), the Hydra, the Golden Hind, and the Cretan Bull to his crew. Each play a key role in getting him back to a place where he can face his demons and his tormentor. That tormentor again, we just keep coming back to…

11. Hera. Heracles is clearly the focus of this story, but there are two redemption arcs here and Hera goes on her own journey as well. In Wearing the Lion, Wiswell keeps the gods fairly consistent, which makes sense. Athena has her key attributes and keeps to those, same as Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, etc. But that consistent characterization shows how much Hera actually change and evolves over the course of the book. A book which was…

12. Excellent. I said it at the beginning, but I can’t help saying it again. Wiswell wrote a divine book in Wearing the Lion, weaving modern sensibilities into an ancient tale in a Mediterranean setting. When Heracles returned home at the end of his journey, Megara’s embrace had me weeping and I don’t know that I’ll forget how I felt in that moment any time soon. If you enjoy retellings of Greek myths or just great books in general, I think you’ll enjoy Wearing the Lion.

Thank you to DAW for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.