Thank you to Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and Netgalley for reaching out to me and providing access to this fantastic retelling from Irish Mythology.   

Kim Curran is a new author to me and I loved her bold writing style and exploration into The Morrigan, a complex, multi-faceted goddess from Irish Mythology.  I am a little familiar with Irish Mythology and it was refreshing to see an author bringing the stories to life on the page.  

This book opens with the Tuatha De Danaan's journey back to Ireland and their battle with the Fir Bolg to reclaim the land.  They are in turn defeated by the Milesians and driven underground.  The Morrigan however refuses to be repressed beneath the earth with the rest of her race and goes out into the world on her own.  The next part of the book features stories from the Ulster Cycle with The Morrigan meeting Queen Mebd and the great warrior, Cúchulainn. 

I found this to be a beautifully written, fierce and feminist retelling that pulls no punches.   The battle scenes are gruesome, gory and epic, definitely not for the squeamish.  The witty dialogue adds a little humor and lightens an otherwise dark and brutal tale.  

I would recommend this to fans of mythology fiction and I found it a little reminiscent of Circe by Madeline Miller.  I will certainly be looking out for future books by this author.