For more than a decade now, there has been a sort of Renaissance within the literary world. Writers, mostly women, have picked up well-known (and sometimes less well-known) mythologies and ancient histories and given them a new perspective. For instance, Margaret Atwood told the Odyssey from Penelope’s perspective in her Penelopiad. Madeline Miller wrote The Song of Achilles, which is a retelling of the Iliad, clearly stating that its most defining love story was not between Helen and Paris but between Achilles and Patroclus.
Over the last few years, a sort of new genre has evolved. The genre of mythology retellings that sheds new light but also clarity and understanding on how sexist, homophobic, and brutal, and less heroic, divine and beautiful all these old myths truly were. Here is my top five list I read in 2025.
5: Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald
This is already an immortal Young Adult book. Girl, Goddess, Queen is the perfect blend between a Greek Mythology retelling and a young adult love story. Fitzgerald knows her Greek Mythology inside out and it is especially the little details of the original story that were carefully placed within the novel and became very important cornerstones for the entire narrative and especially the ending.
The links to modern themes that resonate on a universal level throughout the story are also quite wonderful and inspiring. Feminism and the dismantling of the patriarchy take centre stage and are cleverly woven into the plot and vital for some exciting plot points.
The lightness of the writing and the wonderful world-building as well as the gripping romance make the novel a perfect read. Whether for cozy winter days or hot summer nights, this book will satisfy all your young adult cravings.
4: Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan
This novel is the sequel to Daughter of the Moon Goddess, and book two is just as magical and enchanting as the first one. The narrative takes the reader deep into the world of Chinese mythology, telling a story of divine warriors and the legendary sun birds. Mixed with Young Adult tropes, a gripping love triangle stands at the centre of the story, while Chinese mythology transports the reader into a fascinating world.
3: Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
In Katabasis, Kuang reckons with university life and especially how male professors exploit female students. To put it simply, Katabasis is all about sexism in academia, while the main characters literally go to hell.
All of that is wrapped in an exciting fantasy story, reminiscent of Dante’s Inferno and other mythological ideas and texts about hell. However, just like her last novel, Yellowface, it leans more into satire than into a dramatic story.
Kuang once again manages to combine character development with a fascinating plot, as well as brilliant and smart writing.
2: Babylonia by Constanza Casati
Babylonia is historical fiction; however, her main characters are based on real historical figures from ancient Mesopotamia. Discover how Semiramis, one of the first famous queens of ancient history, rises from nothing to power, loses everything, gets back up again, and loses everything again.
A story that is over 3000 years old, it not only shows, through delicate research, how people lived back then but also how they survived in this very brutal world. Casati focuses especially on mental health and what oppression, war and court hierarchy can do to the mind, driving people insane. This is a perfect read if you enjoy historically accurate details wrapped in a gripping story that doesn’t hold back on the brutality of ancient times.
1: No Friend to This House by Natalie Haynes
Haynes is an incredible writer and at this point, the genre of mythology retellings could not exist without her anymore. No Friend to this House is her latest novel and an amazing retelling of the famous story of Medea and the characters and events surrounding her iconic and very brutal tale.
Chapter by chapter, a narrative is pieced together in a way only Natalie Haynes can do it. At the beginning of the book, the reader doesn’t quite know where the story is going. But the more you read, the more fascinating aspects of the story unfold as well as never-before-imagined perspectives.
In this Greek mythology retelling you are once again invited into the insane minds of immortals and visit the sorrowful thoughts of broken-hearted women trying to survive in a violent world of men.
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