The thing about the Greek heroes is that they kind of suck. I mentioned in my review of Heroes by Stephen Fry how they were all just pretty terrible dudes, out there losing their tempers, killing people, cheating on their wives, etc etc.
Sometimes, you need to imagine a better hero. Sometimes, you need to imagine that Heracles was a himbo who loved his Auntie Hera and had no idea why bad things kept happening to him.
Of course, a himbo wouldn’t go around killing monsters. No, he’d hug them and make them his friends.
This is the whole thing with Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell. It imagines a kinder, gentler Heracles, who is nonetheless tormented by his Auntie Hera because she is just fed up with his prayers. When Hera sends a fury down to drive him mad and make him kill his sons, he is absolutely shattered and goes on a series of adventures trying to figure out which god cursed him. Along the way, he’s tasked with dealing with various beasts. The thing is, he just can’t bring himself to kill again. So he has to get creative.
Wearing the Lion is at once heartfelt and incredibly silly. It’s very voice-y. The gods are all buffoons. The monsters aren’t really that bad when you get to know them. And Heracles desperately misses his beautiful life with his wife and sons.
It was the little things that made this book for me, like the fact that people never believe Heracles is the great hero he’s supposed to be, because he’s, well, a little flabby. It’s hard to build muscle when you have the strength of a demigod and everything is effortless to lift! And Wiswell’s answer for why there are sometimes conflicting accounts of where Heracles was, and what he was doing, is really clever.
In some ways, this is a cozy book, with its emphasis on friendship and non-violent solutions. But it still deals with grief, trauma, and other heavy topics. If you find most cozy books to be too low-stakes, you might like this. I can definitely see it appealing to my fellow T. Kingfisher fans because it has that some vibe of good people going through bad things, and you know that somehow, it’s going to work out (T. Kingfisher did in fact blurb the book, so Wiswell and/or his publisher realized the cross-over appeal).
Mythology retellings are hot right now, but so often they’re pretty serious. I’m all for feminist explorations and queer reimaginings; let’s also remember that myths can be fun and silly and adventurous.
I was really excited for this book when I read the synopsis, and I’m so glad it lived up to my expectations.
CWs and TWs: Obviously the big one is death of children; Wiswell kindly does not show us their actual deaths, but the aftermath colors the entire book. There’s fantasy violence and a bit of gore. Mild to moderate sexual content. A lot of cursing.
Source and Format: I borrowed the ebook from Pierce County Library System.
Reading Challenge Prompts
SAL/SPL/KCLS: Found Family. Sometimes a family is a man and the handful of monsters that he befriended instead of killing, and I think that’s a beautiful thing.
Reading Challenge Progress
Nook & Cranny (Card 1): 10 of 25, no bingos.
Nook & Cranny (Card 2): 15 of 25, 1 bingo.
Book Riot: 12 of 25.
Physical TBR: 6 of 12.
World of Whimm: 17 of 24, 2 bingos.
SAL/SPL/KCLS: 10 of 23, no bingos.