Irish Indian poet and author Nikita Gill (The Girl and the Goddess) revives the figure of Hekate in a gripping coming-of-age story told not in epic verse, but in deeply personal poems from the goddess's point of view.
Hekate is the daughter of Asteria ("Titanide of Oracles and Shooting Stars") and Perses ("Titan God of War"). Born during the raging war between the Titans and the Olympians, Hekate and her mother must flee when the Titans fall. Styx and Hades agree to hide only young Hekate in the Underworld. As the goddess grows, she gives voice to her experience through poetry, describing the ways in which her path tangles with other gods: tracing her loneliness and grief; detailing her friendships; and chronicling her quest to find purpose.
Hekate, the first title in the planned YA Goddesses of the Underworld trilogy, is presented in three distinct parts--"A Child of War," "A Dangerous Girlhood," and "A Woman of Power"--which span the time between the gods' war and Hades's eventual kidnapping of Kore, the Goddess of Spring. Gill's poetry shines light on this often ignored mythological figure in a beautiful, approachable, and contemporary way, in which Hekate, the Goddess of Crossroads, is given voice to discover herself in all her complex aspects. Through Hekate, Gill gives voice to the traumas of contemporary children and provides hope that there is life to claim beyond the moments of war and battle. (Illustrations were not available for review.) --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer