I had the hardest time finishing this book because of the constant swearing. This is not the typical Greek myth retelling I was expecting and I wasn’t impressed.

I read greek myth retellings because I love the articulate and graceful language that often accompanies it. The language also often reflects the language of the time period, and this book just did not hit the mark for me.

The constant swearing, the modern language, and the representation of the characters just weren’t what I had hoped for. To be honest, I was skeptical about a Greek myth telling being told by a male author, and I’m not sure if that’s the reason for the seemingly macho bravado that all of these characters seem to possess (which makes them indiscernible from each other), but I suspect that could be a reason why all of the characters feel the need to act like the obnoxious people from WWE.

From what I understand, this is the author's first attempt at a Greek myth retelling and I’m not sure if he purposefully strayed from the norm or if just didn’t do his research. A greek myth retelling is not supposed to read as rough, jagged, and coarse. It’s supposed to be poetic, lyrical, and beautiful.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC for early review.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

What if Hercules never killed the Nemean Lion, but instead adopted it as his best friend? What if he helped monsters in their labours instead of killing them for his? What if... Instead of Zeus's son, Heracles dedicated himself to Hera's Glory?

What an incredible take on the legendary tale of Hercules, the greatest son of Zeus to ever live, the strongest hero of Greece, the toughest demigod to date--- but what if all of that was just exaggeration? What if Hercules was actually just a rather down-to-earth, kind fellow who loves his children, his wife, worships the gods and prays each day, and desires nothing more than peace?

I can't go too much into a synopsis for this book or I'll ruin the whole thing for you--- just go pick it up. Wiswell has this extraordinary talent for irreverent humour mixed perfectly with heartfelt coziness. It's an unbeatable combo that makes you laugh and cry in quick succession, especially when it comes to Heracles, also known as Alcides, and his gaggle of adopted monster family members.

While this is certainly a tragic story, I laughed very hard sometimes, and cried with happiness at others, and felt upset occasionally. Grief, depression, suicide ideation, apathy, and self-harm are very present in this story, please be careful while picking it up, but I promise there is such a kind heart at the middle of this book.

Can I please just say. That I have not laughed so hard. Ever before. As when some of the quotes from Hera in this book hit?

"What the hell, Athena? You fucked a snake?” “They are not a snake.”

“Because if you go to its home region, and you examine the creature very closely, you will find it is a big fucking lion that kills everything.”

"Is Oedipus still alive? He’s easy enough to fuck with . Just tell him he’s related to Heracles and that’ll do it.”

Genuinely some top tier comedy becomes available when you're really not expected Hera, Queen of Olympos, to swear like a sailor.

Overall, I was so pleased and honored to get to review something as unique and cozy as Wearing the Lion early. John, you've earned yourself a dedicated fan.

This book was so compassionate, funny, heartbreaking, kind, and creative. It's not easy to incorporate all of those elements, but the author managed to. I truly enjoyed this! It won't be for everyone - if you aren't familiar with the story of Heracles, or a fan of Greek mythology, you likely will not enjoy this.

Somewhat a retelling of the 12 labours of Hercules (Heracles), but instead of slaying all of the monsters, he ends up befriending them and creating a found family.

This book alternates viewpoints from Hera and Heracles. Hera resents Heracles - him being the result of her "dipshit" husband's infidelity, Hera sees Heracles as the embodiment of Zeus's unfaithfulness and disrespect. She is actively rooting against him, wishing to see him fail and suffer. Heracles (meaning "Hera's Glory"), worships his namesake. His chapters are told as prayers to Hera, thanking her for his beautiful life. I found myself feeling sympathy for and rooting for both of them. The character development in this was we well written - both characters are deeply flawed and emotional beings. They both struggle through their own grief, feeling lost and searching for their purpose. Their individual journeys were so well written. The side characters of Granny, Ate, and Athena were wonderful - the humour brought to the story by Logy, Purrseus, and Boar was amazing. I laughed so hard at some of the dialogue. The humour was well placed and well timed - it didn't interfere with the heavier parts of the story.

I loved this book, the story it paints and the characters introduced. I will absolutely read this again, and keep an eye out for other works by this author!

Wearing the Lion is the second novel by award winning SF/F author John Wiswell. The novel is Wiswell's take on the story of Heracles - better known by his roman name Hercules - told from dual perspectives: the perspective of Heracles himself and the perspective of Hera, queen of the Olympian Gods, who in most stories is Heracles' antagonist who hates him for being born from Zeus' infidelity.

But Wiswell takes the story in a very different way than I've ever seen before. Here, Heracles is an extremely well meaning Himbo (super strong and pretty, but not the brightest) and Hera is a very sympathetic goddess who finds that her anger at his existence is going horribly wrong and finds herself desperate to find someway to undo her mistakes. The story take the established myths of Heracles and reframes and re-adapts them into a story with multiple found family arcs as well as themes of justice, vengeance, forgiveness, and accountability. And it works really really well. Oh and the story retains Wiswell's amazing gift for dialogue, naming, and character beats (some of the reframed Olympic Gods are just....perfect). You'll want to read this one for sure.

More specifics after the jump:

Plot Summary:
When Zeus came back to Mount Olympus and declared that he's made a new "king of the mortals", Hera just knew her disphit husband had fathered yet another illegitimate child. And she fumed about it, especially after her husband exiled her close friend Até (Goddess of Ruin) for messing with Zeus' plan to make that child's twin brother the King of all of he surveys. And so she decides she will destroy that child.

But to her surprise and frustration, that child, Alcides, is devoted to her above all - his Auntie Hera - and even is given the name "Heracles" (Hera's Glory). And he keeps misinterpreting all of her attempts to get him killed as fun challenges. Until in a moment of full on rage she goes on step too far and takes out her rage accidentally on both Heracles' family....and her own.

Now, Heracles is desperate to find the god or goddess who caused his pain....to find out why and to get some form of justice. In doing so, he will be forced to perform some spectacular labors...but will do so in unexpected ways, for Heracles is loathe to cause more harm upon anyone after the pains he himself as suffered. And Hera is desperate to reverse her mistake: to make amends to her own family...and to figure out some way to help heal the person she soon realizes might not be the insult he first appeared. But both Hera and Heracles will soon find themselves running out of time before their inevitable confrontation, which might break them both...

Wearing the Lion has its story told in chapters that alternate between Hera's Point of View and that of Alcides/Heracles, whose chapter title names change depending upon basically what is going on with him in the story. The story essentially takes us from Heracles' birth up through the end of his labors and a little bit beyond, as both Hera and Heracles deal with what's happening at roughly the same time - although time moves a bit faster on Olympus, so there are some kind of amusing time jumps at the beginning. It's a story that begins on a really light note and will make you smile immensely....up until Hera takes an action that drives Heracles to do his most famous tragic act from the ancient myth and causes the death of Heracles' family. And then we wind up with both characters trying to figure out what to do after everything has gone wrong.

And I mean both characters, for Hera isn't here as an antagonist but really as a sympathetic protagonist in a way you usually don't see in most stories dealing with Greek myths. Hera is the goddess of mothers and families, but she herself deals with an extremely disrespectful family situation: Zeus is incredibly unfaithful and often shoves the children of his affairs in Hera's face and not even in a deliberately cruel way: Zeus is just a clueless fool about Hera, his family, and the humans, and constantly stops paying attention to his works within just a short time. And so when he shoves Heracles in Hera's face, Hera can't help but despise Heracles...even if Zeus himself couldn't care less. It's not made any better by Heracles' clueless prayers to her. But Hera is still the goddess of family and genuinely does care about mortals...so when her desperate acts of hatred don't kill Heracles but do kill his family, well it devastates her... And this becomes even more so when the act of doing so causes Hera's closest companions, the goddess of ruin Até and the fury Goddess, to be hurt themselves and unable to be with her. And so we have this character here whose wrongs were done out of a very understandable rage and who finds herself desperate to find some way to make amends: to her own family and to Heracles...but also so desperately scared of having to face Heracles for what she's done.

And then we have Heracles, our adorable himbo. Heracles is probably the most likable Greek Hero you've ever seen: sure he's super strong and able to do miraculous feats, but he attributes all of his success to Hera (like a modern day athlete does to "God") and means it, only wants to do good, and never wants to believe the worst of anyone. And that even means monsters - whether they be Lions, Hydras, or whatever - or even men who come at him with intent to kill him. So he mistakes the snakes Hera puts in his crib as friends she provides for him and refuses to believe that a god could be responsible for actually causing the death of his family. And he loves so much his wife Megara (herself a fun character we don't see enough of) and his children, which makes that betrayal all the more painful. I'm trying not to spoil things here because so much of what happens is so delightful, but along the way in this story Heracles grows up a bit to learn how to deal with the pain with the help of a second found family he forms of the most spectacular form. You'll care so much for this character in the end, such that the final act can be quite a bit painful, but it's all worth it.

I should mention as well that this book does a great job with its other characters as well, not just the two main characters. The found family Heracles builds in the second act is wonderful, with a character named Logi proving a fun highlight, but really the big plus here is Wiswell's take on the Olympic Gods. Other than Zeus - who is the classic philandering asshole who can't keep his focus on things and doesn't understand why others don't respect him - they're all really different takes than what I've seen before. For example, Apollo is an utter asshole super eager to add new things to his godly domains (hence why he's the god of so much) above all else. Moreover, there's Ares, usually the dumb antagonistic god of war, but is instead an utter highlight, as he genuinely acts here not just to cause conflict but in ways he hopes will help his mother Hera ("all veterans love their mothers") and which sometimes are a bit more clever than you'd expect. He grows too throughout the book, and I loved him so much.

The result is a story of not just found family and of performing tasks without violence, but also one of accountability and responsibility. Hera herself declares that by the book's middle point, but even there so much of the journey is her learning to figure out a way to be accountable for her mistakes and to make up for them: at first she's afraid to be seen as the one who committed these horrible acts; then she accepts that she should admit fault but wants to take the easy way out; and finally she learns that the only way to truly be accountable is to try to take action to repair the damages she's caused as much as possible. It's really well done for the most part, although I think Heracles' story arc ends with him changing his mind about Hera a bit too easily. But overall it works out really well and is charming at times, devastating at times, and immensely satisfying and relieving by the end.

Just a terrific book and another tour de force from John Wiswell.

At first glance, this book seemed like it would be right up my alley, and I have to say, it truly delivered an enjoyable experience! I’m thrilled I took the time to finish it, especially as a fan of Greek mythology. The unique perspectives and imaginative scenarios it presents are not only thought-provoking but also entertaining. While the writing style didn’t quite resonate with me personally, I can definitely see how it would captivate many readers. There’s a silliness to the narrative that keeps things lively, even if it challenges my attention span at times. This book is an excellent choice for anyone looking to dive into fresh interpretations of mythology. If you’re ready to explore different facets of these timeless tales, I highly recommend giving it a try!

Gently DNF'ing this one at 48%.

I appreciate the angle John Wiswell has taken on this story. It's refreshing, it's clever, and it's deeply kind in a way you wouldn't think to find in a story about a man driven to kill his family in a fit of god-inspired madness. It's also, unfortunately, extremely repetitive. The conversations between the gods, the chapter volley between Hera and Heracles, and the trials of Heracles all fall very quickly into predictable patterns. I admire what this book is going for, and I'll continue to keep an interested eye on John Wiswell's work, but this one has fallen into the "not for me" category.

Honestly, this was one of the best books I could've read about as the early days of Trump 2.0 start to fucking explode all around us. What if Heracles was, in fact, just genuinely that loved and naive and thought Hera truly loved him, and what if Hera was so wrapped up in her own anger and rage at Zeus that Heracles became enmeshed with it, and oh shit what the fuck did she do??? There is a lot of focus on the messy family dynamics of Olympus and healing and how people react to trauma that hurts in the best kind of ways to read. Also Heracles tries to pacifist run all the Tasks. It goes remarkably better than you might expect. Pick this up this July and get ready to cry in the best way.

Ancient Greek mythology gets the Wiswell treatment, making this book an absolutely amazing read! Even if you're not current with which Greek gods are which, you'll love meeting them here and discovering their quirky, all-to-humanly-relatable personalities as you follow the half-mortal, half-divine protagonist, the hero Heracles. Wiswell sticks to the lore surrounding Hera's hatred of Heracles--proof of her husband Zeus's infidelity--but there the likeness ends. Yes, there are the monsters, and the quests to overcome and presumably slay them, but in Wiswell's hands that becomes something quite a bit delightfully different. Hera sets the impossible quests, and Heracles neatly avoids death by accomplishing each in his own unique and "ungodlike" way--with empathy. In the end, it's hard to say who changes more--the hero, or the god who provoked and plagued him. This is definitely a book where you'll guffaw aloud at the puns, and then run to tell all your friends to read so you can laugh together over the best parts. And it will make you think, too--long after the book is over, your outlook will be slightly altered for the better. It's the Wiswell way.

CW: It should be noted that there is a rather gruesome scene, told mostly in passing but the memory of which troubles Heracles throughout the book--the deaths of his children by fire.

I really liked Wiswell's debut novel, Someone You Can Build a Nest In, but his new book lacks the cleverness, wit, and charm of the first, which had excellent plot twists and moved at a good clip. Wearing the Lion seeks to rehabilitate Heracles from the murders of his family, and while I'm all for a good rehabilitating-the-gods tale (I've written one myself), WIswell's approach here doesn't work. Determined to clear Heracles of all wrongdoing or all kinds, Wiswell makes the demi-god a simple, earnest fellow, who is manipulated by the gods he reveres and makes friends with the creatures he's sent to kill. Wiswell tries to rehab Hera as well, making her attacks against Heracles, particularly the one in which she drives him to madness and he kills his family, all a terrible misunderstanding. Throughout, the tone is uneven, with the Erymanthian Boar depicted as a traumatized man and the hydra, who is written as kind of a borscht-belt comedian, as suffering from migraines in all of its heads. Heracles does him a favor when he gets rid of all those extra heads: "here, take my head, take two, why doncha?" The luminous Ceryneian Hind is a brief instance of beauty and magic in the novel. The characters are mostly regrettably flat—Athena is about as deep as onion skin—and awfully repetitive. I get that Hera's perpetual epithet for Zeus is "my dipshit husband," but it grows old quickly, as does Heracles's "Dear Auntie Hera" prayers. The pacing is slow and the repetition doesn't help, and the novel drags towards a dull finish.

I ended up ending Wearing the Lion at about 30%. I just don’t think this retelling was for me, that being said, I do think it has some great writing. I enjoyed Hercules onesided relationship with Hera and I even got teary eyed when Hercules discovered what happened to his children. Him going back to his original name instead of using Hercules because he was ashamed of his actions and the name is tied to Hera and he viewed that as a blessing, was a great touch. How the gods talked at times did make me cringe and pull me out the story.

I received a free copy from DAW Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Publish date June 17th, 2025.

I'm moderately skeptical about Greek myth retellings, but Wiswell blew me away with his Someone You Can Build a Nest In last year, so I was on board with this retelling of the Labors of Hercules. In Wearing the Lion, queen of the gods Hera fiercely resents humble young Heracles as an insult to her marriage. When Heracles sends yet another prayer to her, in a fit of rage, she sends a Fury to destroy his children, an act which will undo both Heracles and Hera...

In my experience, most Greek myth retellings aren't doing anything particularly innovative or compelling with the subject material (except for, of course, Le Guin's Lavinia). But I trust Wiswell, and that trust was rewarded tenfold. Wearing the Lion was an absolute blast, from the very first scene with Hera threatening to stab Zeus with a javelin through both of his testicles and at least one of his eyes. He takes familiar story elements, like the twelve labors, the Fury-enabled murder of Heracles' family, and Hera's conflicts with her spouse, and twists them into his own original and compelling version. Here, Heracles is a kind and maybe not too bright man who's spent his whole life in sincere devotion to Hera, and the goddess is a furious yet sympathetic woman who's been irrevocably shaped by centuries of hating the god she once truly loved. (Also, she's really funny.)

Wiswell's mastery of original character voice is on full display here. As in Someone You Can Build a Nest In, this is a book about humanizing the monstrous. All of the characters, from Heracles' wife Megara to the Fury who cursed Heracles to the monsters of the labors, are drawn with a clear and sympathetic eye. There's no cackling villain, only complex characters. This is also a very funny book, but mostly from the sheer effervescence of the character voice. The characters' struggles aren't treated flippantly, and nor are they caricatures for the bit. (Except for poor Apollo, where the running joke is that he's always avariciously out to poach other gods' domains).

An absolute blast of a myth retelling about impossible grief, being doomed to repeat the sins of your parents, and seeing humanity in the monstrous. Highly recommended. I'm excited to see what Wiswell writes next.

Holy crap. So, I am a big John Wiswell fan who will read literally anything he writes and did the happiest of happy dances when I was approved for the ARC of Wearing the Lion, but I promise to write a fair and balanced review. Mostly. Okay, I will try.

I liked the structure of the book, with a chapter split in two: one half from Herecles’ point of view and the other from Hera’s. It was interesting to see things from both perspectives, but it also made it so easy to see how similar they truly are as two lost souls having major identity crises and yearning for somewhere they belong.

I love how beautifully every character evolves throughout the story. Hera and Heracles obviously show a lot of growth as strong main characters but even secondary characters like Boar and Granny were out there learning and growing. Heracles is such a sweet, naive man I couldn’t help but root for throughout his years-long journey. And Hera! She’s such a deep and well-written character. I felt her pain, her struggles, her turmoil. Her constant scheming and interference are so much fun (no matter her motivation) and being inside her head was always a good time, though I have to admit she lost me a few times during her scheming. It could get pretty complicated!

Heracles’ found family was incredible and so unique. He finds acceptance with a ragtag pack of monsters (like, actual monsters, okay?), proving that home really is where the heart is. The LGBTQIA+ rep was an extremely welcome surprise as well.

Wearing the Lion has so much heart and a lot of humor to lighten the mood when things get serious. It’s similar to John Wiswell’s debut novel, Someone You Can Build a Nest In in a lot of ways, and though I’d say it’s not cozy in the way that one has been described, I think if you enjoyed one, you’ll likely enjoy the other just as much as I did.


***I will update this review with links to Instagram and blog posts closer to the book’s release date.***

I love this author. And this book is so different from the last one. Greek mythology re-telling with lots of humour. Really enjoyed it. Can’t wait to see what he writes next. Thank you to the author. Thank you to # NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the early read. John Wiswell wrote a great Greek story. I'll request everyone that I can on NetGalley and I stoked that I got approved for this one!! Great read.

What if everything we thought we knew about the twelve labors of Heracles (aka Hercules) weren’t quite right, that the story we know was because the gods were making different people do what Heracles was supposed to be doing, but differently, just to confuse things. And that perhaps it was not all that important to kill the monsters, as to make friends with them.

The Lion of Nemea? Couldn’t you just carry him, to deliver him, without skinning him? And the Hydra, did you really need to cut off the last head? And the Bull of Crete…I think you get the idea.

I’m not sure if knowing what the twelve labors of Heracles were helps in understanding why this retelling is so different.

This story, told in two points of view (POV), one of Hera, who is annoyed with Zeus for siring another kid, and thus angry at Heracles for existing at all, and Heracles, who loves his Auntie Hera, and prays to her all the time. That she couldn’t possibly have sent a fury to kill his kids. Oh, no, Auntie Hera lovessss him so much. It must have been some other god.

It is the story, ultimately of found family. Of making friends with your “monsters”, and realizing that they can be just as important to your life. That perhaps you don’t have to have humans around you, as long as you have beings that care about you, as much as you care about them. Because, he does. He even names the lion Purracles, and makes sure to scratch him behind the ears.

I love that Heracles finds a different way, the third path, and it works for him.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is being published the 17th of June 2025.

This was great, flipping back and forth between viewpoints and with a very satisfying and diverse vision of the ancient Greek Gods. Excellent prose like in John Wiswell's first novel, and there are some monsters in the book too. His version of the labours of Herakles is unique and while it's often sad, it also has some epic mythical battles and adventure. I can't wait to see what he comes out with next.

This has got to be one of my favorite mythology remixes that I've read to date. I have never been more glad to read something that uses Greek mythology as another retelling.

Wiswell's writing is comedic to contemporary audiences without sacrificing mythic reference and nods to Greek history at its expense.

Reading the blurb makes you believe that a certain plot point happens much sooner than it does, Wiswell is a great writer and yet so emotionally cruel for the build-up to the turn in the narrative.

When readers' say that they want found family THIS is what they want. The patience put into developing each character, the comedic moments, and a strong emotional core that snowballs in size through the narrative.

Wearing the Lion Skin is a bold and subversive retelling of the myth of Heracles, offering a fresh perspective on the legendary hero’s labors and his complicated relationship with the gods—especially Hera. Rather than the standard tale of heroic conquests, this novel delves into grief, redemption, and the unexpected power of compassion.

The novel reimagines Heracles not as a mindless brute, but as a grieving father seeking justice for the tragic death of his children—a loss Hera herself causes in a moment of frustration and spite. Wracked with guilt but unwilling to face the consequences, Hera distracts Heracles with his famed Twelve Labors, only to find that he is too broken to mindlessly kill. Instead, he bonds with the very creatures he is sent to slay, turning them into an unlikely found family.

The book’s greatest strength is its character development. Heracles is depicted with nuance, his grief and trauma making him more than just a demi-god warrior. Hera, often reduced to a vengeful wife in traditional myths, is given depth, making her a tragic yet infuriating figure. The monsters, too, are not just obstacles but living, breathing beings with their own place in the world—adding emotional weight to Heracles’ refusal to kill them.

The prose is sharp and engaging, laced with dark humor and modern sensibilities that make the ancient myth feel alive and relevant. The pacing is well-handled, blending action, introspection, and political intrigue on Mount Olympos. And the overarching theme—that violence is not the only way to carve out a legacy—is a powerful counterpoint to the traditional Heracles mythos.

I absolutely love the premise of this novel. It’s not a retelling in the normal sense — rather, it’s an alternate version of the familiar story of the Labors of Heracles/Hercules. But Heracles befriending the monsters brings an endearing twist to this well-known story. One of the stand-out aspects is the relationships Wiswell creates between his characters, whether that’s the pure love Heracles shares with the Nemean Lion (“Purrseus”), or the contentious friendship between Hera and Athena, or the impossibly complicated thread binding Hera, Heracles, and the Fury (“Granny”) together in their trauma.

The dynamic between Hera and Heracles in particular is such an unusual one and just ripe with tension, and Wiswell writes grief and reckoning with a masterfully deft touch. This is where Wearing the Lion really shines: it manages to be both incredibly dark and incredibly funny at the same, which is not easy to pull off. I knew the death of Heracles’s children was coming (it’s right in the official blurb and also the original story) but it still hits like a freight train when it happens. And such horrific moments will be followed by exchanges of dialogue or goddess-ly thoughts that are natural to the scene and also genuinely hilarious.

Unfortunately, although there is a lot to love here, this novel definitely struggles in its pacing. At the end of the day, twelve labors is a lot to fit into a story like this, and it does start to feel repetitive, especially when the reader already knows what the labors are and whom Heracles will find at the end of them. The story is told in alternating viewpoints of Heracles and Hera and often they overlap, so you read the same scene again from the other character’s POV. The version I read had 395 pages; it probably shouldn't have had more than 300.

Wearing the Lion is ultimately about breaking cycles of family trauma, facing mistakes, and healing together. It’s a warmhearted cozy read, and while it won’t have your heart racing or your pages flipping desperately to find out what happens next, Wiswell’s humor and kindness isn’t to be missed.

Big thanks to Netgalley and DAW for the e-ARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

Having read John Wiswell's debut novel, I thought I knew what to expect when I cracked this one open but I am pleasantly surprised by how different this book felt. The humour is amazing, it was so fun and fresh to read a greek myth retelling that doesn't have that same dour, serious tone that most rely on. I can see how someone unfamiliar with the author's work might not enjoy the tone difference, at times it did feel like it was a *lot* of silliness, but for me it mostly worked and created a stand out retelling.

I also really appreciated the weaving of wit and heart into the narrative. While it opened with mostly humour, I felt a lot of empathy and love for these characters. It's easy to make someone who loves greek myths feel for a familiar character, but Wiswell really made them his own and gave them new depths that I found very endearing.

Overall I'm really impressed and very tickled to have had the chance to read this one early.