Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley. I loved The Mars House and The Watchmaker on Filigree Street, also by Pulley. So, I was extremely excited to get my hands on this book a bit early. Read on to see all of my thoughts and find out if my excitement was warranted… 🙂

A timely and timeless reimagining of the story of Dionysus, Greek God of ecstasy and madness, revelry and ruin, for readers of The Song of Achilles and Elektra.

Raised in a Greek legion, Phaidros has been taught to fight for the homeland he’s never seen and to follow his commander’s orders at all costs. But when he rescues a baby from a fire at Thebes’s palace, his commander’s orders cease to make sense: Phaidros is forced to abandon the blue-eyed boy at a temple, and to keep the baby’s existence a secret.

Years later, after a strange encounter that led to the death of his battalion, Phaidros has become a training master for young soldiers. He struggles with panic attacks and flashbacks, and he is not the only one: all around him, his fellow veterans are losing their minds.

Phaidros’s risk of madness is not his only problem: his life has become entangled with Thebes’s young crown prince, who wishes to escape the marriage his mother, the Queen, has chosen for him. When the prince vanishes, Phaidros is drawn into the search for him—a search that leads him to a blue-eyed witch named Dionysus, whose guidance is as wise as the events that surround him are strange. In Dionysus’s company, Phaidros witnesses sudden outbursts of riots and unrest, and everywhere Dionysus goes, rumors follow about a new god, one sired by Zeus but lost in a fire.

In The Hymn to Dionysus, bestselling author Natasha Pulley transports us to an ancient empire on the edge of ruin to tell an utterly captivating story about a man needing a god to remind him how to be a human.

***Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for providing an advanced copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

I was blown away by how much I loved this book. I expected to enjoy it because of the author, the setting, and the queer love story. Everything about it just completely surpassed even my lofty expectations. The writing and world-building were so unique, and the PTSD representation made me an emotional mess. I’ve been suffering from a book hangover ever since finishing it, and I fully anticipate this story being one of my favorites of the year.

The Hymn to Dionysus was such a fascinating re-imagining of the myth. Pulley definitely took some creative liberties, but they all added great depth to the characters. I also particularly loved how the author put her own spin on ancient Greece. The addition of clockwork marvels and other aspects not typically associated with the time period was interesting, albeit somewhat jarring at first. The way they were incorporated was actually quite thought-provoking by the end. It left me wondering about all the things about our past that have been lost to the sands of time.

The plot of The Hymn to Dionysus kept me glued to the page. Every time I think I had everything figured out, the story would turn everything on its head. There’s something so riveting about watching a society eat itself, which is basically what was happening to Thebes. The city was experiencing intense hardship because of drought and famine. The whole thing was like watching a train wreck you know is coming but just can’t look away from.

At the center of it all was Phaidros, a soldier raised on the battlefield by the queen’s brother. He suffered from severe PTSD after serving in the long Trojan War and was trying to adjust to being back in the city. His feelings of loneliness and fear of himself were heartbreaking to read, but they worked so perfectly as a mirror to Dionysus. Where Phaidros, and Thebes in general, had an obsession with honor, duty, and sticking to a strict regimen, Dionysus was magical, chaotic, and kind of whimsical. Over the course of the story, Dionysus helped Phaidros see that there was more to being human than the repression and control that had been instilled in him since childhood. The two were often diametrically opposed but also the perfect match to pull each other out of their chronic loneliness.

All in all, The Hymn to Dionysus was a beautiful and thought-provoking reimagining of the Greek myth. The characters stole my heart, and I was swept away by the world-building and twisty plot. I cannot recommend this story enough. Therefore, I rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

There you have it! My thoughts on The Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley. Are you a fan of Pulley’s books? Do you plan to read this one? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments! As always, happy reading! 🙂