Goddess of the River - Review
- TheLittLibrarian
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
I received a physical & E-Arc copy from Orbit Books via Net Galley. All reviews are my own.
To say I’m disappointed in my next read is an understatement. I’m currently on a mood-reading binge, focusing on Historical Fiction. I narrowed it down to Ancient Greece and Rome, with a hint of Northern Africa and India in the mix. One book on my list was Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel. I raved about her debut, Kaikeyi, when it first came out, and I just knew I would get the same beauty in her sophomore. I got the beauty, but that’s about it.
"A mother and a son. A goddess and a prince. A curse and an oath. A river whose course will change the fate of the world.
Ganga, joyful goddess of the river, serves as caretaker to the mischievous godlings who roam her banks. But when their antics incur the wrath of a powerful sage, Ganga is cursed to become mortal, bound to her human form until she fulfills the obligations of the curse.
Though she knows nothing of mortal life, Ganga weds King Shantanu and becomes a queen, determined to regain her freedom no matter the cost. But in a cruel turn of fate, just as she is freed of her binding, she is forced to leave her infant son behind.
Her son, prince Devavrata, unwittingly carries the legacy of Ganga’s curse. And when he makes an oath that he will never claim his father’s throne, he sets in motion a chain of events that will end in a terrible and tragic war.
As the years unfold, Ganga and Devavrata are drawn together again and again, each confluence another step on a path that has been written in the stars, in this deeply moving and masterful tale of duty, destiny, and the unwavering bond between mother and son."
I decided to check this book out via audio. Narrated by Sneha Mathan, this narration clocked in for 11 hours and 33 minutes. I like Mathan’s voice, especially her depiction of a man’s voice. It’s hard to explain, but it suits her. Like Wesleigh Siobhan’s male narration, Mathan is pretty good with her impressions. She can narrate all of my South Asian books!
I ended up DNFing this book at 71%. The main issue was that, while the writing was beautiful and immersive, the story felt repetitive. I was bored! The story's structure mirrored Kaikeyi's emotional impact, but it offered no development or growth in the author’s writing. My expectations were left hanging, making it difficult to stay engaged with the story.
One thing I’ve noticed in Patel’s writing is that you have to know the mythology before you read her rendition of it. It’s the same issue I had with Sophie Kim’s novels. Though there are content warnings explaining, the narrative expects you to understand the lore, which makes it challenging to follow if you’re unfamiliar. Kaikeyi intrigued me enough to go research the original epic poem, but with GOR, I simply wasn’t compelled. Ganga’s character didn’t do it for me. I liked her matter-of-fact attitude toward human traditions, but her personality felt one-dimensional and didn’t have main-character energy. Another disconnect I had was the flashbacks. Maybe because I was listening to the story rather than reading it, there were times when a flashback would occur, and I would have no idea how we got there. Who were these random characters? How did we get here? And what did it do for the overall purpose of the story? By then, I knew my attention span was waning.
Overall, I rated this book 3-stars. It was cool, but not enough for me to finish. To be fair, the plot was explained pretty early on in the book, so I got the gist of what was to happen. I appreciate Patel spinning mythology into a voice for women. I’m realizing that in the majority of all mythology (not just Greek), women were either minuscule or the problem. There are authors like Patel who are trying to change that narrative, and I like that women are finally getting their spot in history.
Goddess of the River is available now!
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