Hekate the Witch by Nikita Gill Book Review

 Hekate -The Witch

(Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

By Nikita Gill 

Published Year: 2025

Page Count: 384 pages

Medium Used: Oneplus Nord Ce6, Moon Reader 

Genre: Mythology, Gods and Goddesses, Titanomachy, Poetry, Adventure, Greek Gods, 2026-read.

Rating: 4.5/5 😎 😎 😄 😄 

This is first person account of the coming of age story of a Greek Goddess, Hekate. As a child, she struggles to find the fates of her parents who are defeated gods in the titanomachy, then to learn her skills and talents. Then as a grown up, she puts her powers into action to bring peace to the world and humans,then relieve some burden for her imprisoned father. She defies her relatives and also Gods at every step to seek and get what she aims for. She is guiltless because what she does is listen to the strings of her heart and follow them. I liked the character and there seemed no break between the child and adult - like I could see the bold, inventive adult emerge from the child that she once was. This girl is a true hero and is born to create a place for herself in the turbulent world! 

She tells her story from birth during Titanomachy and how she was brought up in the Underworld by her aunt Styx and uncle Pallas, to the point where she realises her hidden powers and then later uses them to help the Olympians defeat an insurgence from the Giants, to help bring an end to the endless winter curse by bringing together Demeter and her daughter Kora. I thought it's an overall good book written in a poetry style with short chapters and short, informative stanzas and sentences. The first question I had after reading this is how much of it is based on solid mythology and how much is creation. Apparently, a lot of it is imagined by the author but it was reasonable and rang possible. Especially the parts where she discovers the technique to best the giants and also reunite a mother with her daughter. I couldn't understand where she let go of her childhood desire to reunite with her parents but somewhere along the path she did. I can understand even this. She has grown and formed attachments else where. 

Hekate is a daughter of two Titan gods - Asteria and Perses. Her mother is the Goddess of shooting stars and dreams while her father is God of war and destruction. They are both defeated when Olympians win the Titanomachy. Her mother, in order to escape from hunting Gods Zeus and Poseidon, turns herself into an eternal island in a stormy sea. But she drops off her daughter, baby child Hekate, with her sister Styx in the underworld before doing so. Hekate grows up in the company of Styx, Pallas her uncle who builds her a palace in the underworld with a sun room to see above earth and Charon the ferryman. For a very long time, she doesn't know what her special powers are. She grows into a curious little child and defying her aunt's frequent admonitions, she ventures into the different parts of the Underworld. She meets souls and then decides to visit the fates who are residing in Hades' throne room to figure out what her powers are. She makes an adventure where she escapes Kronos, makes friends with her future love Tanathos, continues on her journey but the fates don't divulge the secret she is seeking. When she returns, she finds her aunt and uncle have always known and kept her talents hidden from her. She storms away from them and builds a nest near to Tanathos. She finds that she is the Goddess of Witchcraft and Necromancy. Yes, no God or Goddess in the pantheon has the skill to bring back dead to life .. except she. And that makes her a threatening personality to all Gods alike.

Later when she learns that the Olympians who have defeated and tortured her parents are in trouble due to Demeter and Giants, she chooses to help them. I didn't understand why she left out her mother from the gifts she sought from Zeus after bringing him victory. She helped her father but not her mother, why? And also she seemed resigned to have her father in chains despite everything! Loved the book except for these small points where I couldn't reconcile the younger child with the grown woman. Definitely try it out. It is so easy and breezy to get through!! Cheers 🥂🥂🥂 The author has covered many popular myths in the story - the most notable being punishment of Prometheus by Zeus for stealing his fire and gifting it to humans. I enjoyed reading them like I always do when greek myths are written in a consumptive way. Hermes and his caduceus also play an important role in her life and we read it here.