Hekate

The Witch

De: Nikita Gill

Narrado por: Nikita Gill

In this stunning reimagining of Greek myth for fans of Circe and Lore, Nikita Gill showcases the underworld and its chthonic deities in all their glory, weaving a gripping story about the young goddess coming of age within their midst.

Hekate sings the story of its eponymous heroine. Born into a world on fire and at war, she and her mother are left behind by the menfolk of their Titan family as the battle against the new Gods–the Olympians–begins. Soon, Hekate and her mother are forced to flee their home as the Olympians overpower and enslave the Titans, including Hekate’s father, Perses, and gain dominion over the universe. In a bid to protect Hekate from the clutches of Zeus and Poseidon, her mother leaves her in the underworld with the goddess Styx and king of the underworld, Hades, where she must make a life for herself and discover her divine purpose.

Here begins Nikita Gill’s beautiful and propulsive reimagining of Hekate’s myth which unfolds into a coming-of-age adventure story and quest in which our young protagonist – not yet a goddess – sets out to discover what has happened to her parents, heal from the trauma of her separation from them, make a new home for herself in the underworld, and, eventually, step into her true power as a woman and goddess, before it’s too late.

poetic

this was a beautiful retelling. Wonderful narration and left me wanting more from the author.

beautiful narration

Beautiful story! Very descriptive, enchanting, amazing storytelling 😍 A tale of a goddess that fought for herself as well as others, selfless and powerful. Highly recommend.

Officially one of my all time favorites!

Hekate the Witch has beautiful descriptions that truly transport you into the story. You can feel the hatred, love, and sorrow with Hekate. I love that it keeps to many great stories, yet the author isn't afraid of filling with her own imagination as well. It's truly an amazing blend!

mother is mothering

genuinely one of the most stunning and emotional reads of 2025. written in beautifully ornate and eloquent verse, HEKATE: THE WITCH Is a must read for all, but especially women and girls. love that this is young adult (!!!) but feels ageless. an incredible seminal work beautiful read by the author/poet. this magic will live rent free in my mind for years to come.

Enjoyed very much

Loved the story of Hekete. The only concern was the narrator's pronunciation of certain letters of alphabet such as b and p, k and g, etc. At times this interrupted the flow, but overall I liked her voice very much.

Read like a true myth!!

Hekate is my goddess I have been a practicing witch all my life and when I first heard of this book coming out I squealed. And it did not disappoint! Listening to the audio was like entering meditation it was so good and the voice of the lady reading it was spot on!

wonderfully descriptive, so poetic and immersive!

can't think of a single dislike. absolutely amazing book, I am actually starting all over again to relive every moment!

Beautiful

I loved the poetry, mythology, and lyrical writing, this one’s a must-read.

Gill captures Hekate’s journey to godhood with such grace and power — it feels like you’re watching her ascend in real time. Each page is short, poetic, and hauntingly beautiful, making it a quick but emotionally rich read.

As someone who’s always been fascinated by gods and goddesses, I found this take on Hekate’s story absolutely captivating.

Beautiful. Ethereal. Divine feminine energy.

How accessible this rendition made the Greek myths. It humanized the Gods to be relatable.

It was well done. The narrator brought the marble cold Gods and Goddesses to life.

Shallow characters, lackluster story, fun format

The format of this book is clever, and the language is well-crafted. The task of trying to compose a compelling origin story for Hekate is no small task. I wanted to like this book, I really did.

Unfortunately, this book fails to paint a very well-rounded picture of Hekate as a character, let alone a goddess. The story is thin and doesn't really earn it's big emotional moments. As there are literally millions of people around the world who sincerely revere Hekate as a goddess, to paint her as basically a Zack Snyder-style super hero doesn't really do justice to her name, her legend, and is frankly disrespectful to all the people who sincerely venerate her. What's extra frustrating is how her actual legends and references in history and literature are so much more interesting than this titan refugee storyline of a scared little girl who defies the gods and eventually becomes death's girlfriend. Lame.

Where is the Hekate of the Theogony who is first cousin and best friend of Artemis? Where is the Hekate who helped Zeus overthrow the titans in the first place and was honored on Olympus, the Underworld, and the Sea? Where is the Hekate who empowered the magic of legendary witches like Circe and Medea? Where is the Hekate famous for haunting the crossroads to test the dosages of magical and poisonous plants on unsuspecting travelers? Where is the Hekate who is the great mother goddess and soul of the world described in the Chaldean Oracles? Where is the Hekate haunting the fate of Shakespeare's MacBeth? She's not in this book, that's for sure.

Sure, there's no singular legend of Hekate, but if you're going to come up with a completely new legend of her origins, it's got to be at least as interesting as her existing legends and this book falls miles short of that. The Hekate portrayed in this long poem is a scared little girl who helplessly waves fire in the faces of monsters and splits into three if she gets too stressed out. What a joke. I so badly wanted to like this book.

Breaking the story up into little bite-sized poetical verses is clever, and the author's writing is genuinely lovely, but it doesn't make up for such a shallow and surprisingly ignorant portrait of Hekate and her mythology. It doesn't make up for for all the ways the key emotional moments of the story aren't really earned.

My advice to readers would be to wait for Madelline Miller or Rosie Garland to write a novel about Hekate and skip this one.