Women of Myth: From Deer Woman and Mami Wata to Amaterasu and Athena, Your Guide to the Amazing and Diverse Women from World Mythology

Very cool concept but I thought there could be more information The drawing are gorgeous 😍

Over the millennia and around the world, religions and literary epics and superstition had numerous female characters that have influenced numerous cultures and societies. Women of Myth: From Deer Woman and Mami Wata to Amaterasu and Athena, Your Guide to the Amazing and Diverse Women from World Mythology by Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy with illustrations by Sara Richard covers 50 goddesses, heroines, and monsters from around the world.Over the course of 248 pages, Williamson and McMenemy cover their selected subjects in encyclopedic format giving pronunciation guides, appearance, and any symbols connected with the subject before giving an overview of the individual and their story with a sidebar to end the entry. As the very long subtitle states the authors cover women from around the world as 28 of them come from non-European, North African, or Middle Eastern cultures that sometimes dominate books like these with only token characters from China or India and a generic entry to cover all Native American tribes & cultures. The main reason I got this book was the 30 illustrations done by Sara Richard, an artist whose work I’ve followed for a very long time and frankly her work here is once again top notch. Now for some people who are triggered by gender terminology, avoid this book because Williamson and McMenemy don’t shy away from stating the evidence of genderbending or intersex for some individuals which when I checked other sources—besides those they provided in the reference section at the back of the book—turned out the authors did their research to give that possibility of that interpretation.Women of Myth looks at 50 individuals that had significant impact upon their cultures either as deities to be prayed to, heroines to look up to, or monsters to look out for. Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy did a great job introducing readers to these individuals with the added effect of the amazing art of Sara Richard giving a visual interpretation of them as well.

Beautiful quality of paper, diverses goddesses and heroines and monsters, it will be a pure pleasure to dive into that one. The illustrations are really a great plus.

I got this e-book for free from Ancient History Fangirl's publisher as a Patreon subscriber. I took full advantage of the promo in return for an honest review which I am more than happy to do!First off, I've been a fan of Ancient History Fangirl's podcast for a few years now (and I'm a passionate History fan, as well, for decades) and I LOVE their take on Ancient History! Always respectfully (and thoroughly) researched with a touch of (sometimes off-colour) humour, I really enjoy the episodes! (I can never think of, or say, "Roman Eagles" without laughing. :D If you're curious as to the reason why, listen to "The Ancient-World Stark Family, Part 1: Germanicus the Manicus" )Now to the book! it is AMAZING! The rich illustrations are AMAZING! Well written, chock full of AMAZING content and information, I LOVED it, from beginning to end! *In fact, the only complaint that I have was that there weren't MORE entries of mythological women! I would have loved to have seen 50 more!*I've been a fan of Ancient Greek and Roman (with some Ancient Egyptian thrown in) mythology for years and I learned something new with each of the women that were covered that I knew something about (such as Athena, Medusa, La Lorona, Kali and Deer Woman), of others that I had only a passing familiarity with (such as Amaterasu, Ishtar and Lilith) or never known at all (such as Atargis, Alcha Kandicha, Amba/Shikhandi and Mami Wata). Each one was covered thoroughly and respectfully (which are things that I definitely appreciate and expect!) and it was a pleasure to read their stories. I also appreciate looking at mythological women from a female perspective since the myths surrounding them, specifically the Greco-Roman ones, were written by men with all of their prejudices against the female sex prevalent in their day. it was quite refreshing, to say the least! I also enjoyed what I call "editorial comments" sprinkled throughout (as they do in the podcast itself); these were sometimes off-colour but always funny and I found myself laughing out loud more than once when I was reading!In conclusion, Jenny Williams and Genn McMenemy have written a wonderfully engaging book. I loved the forward by Liv Albert from Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! and the illustrations by Sara Richard combine to make a very memorable, well written, thought provoking and magical book!I highly recommend Women of Myth: From Deer Woman and Mami Wata to Amaterasu and Athena, Your Guide to the Amazing and Diverse Women from World Mythology by Jenny Williams and Genn McMenemy, illustrated by Sara Richard for anyone who loves History and Mythology (or even those that don't because this book is bursting with information on different women deities, female monsters and real-life heroines that I think would spark interest in learning more about them); you're in for a REAL treat!I give this book 5 stars.

Women of Myth by Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy, hosts of the amazing podcast Ancient History Fangirl, is THE book that you'll want to read if you are, just like me, a mythology nerd or if you'd like to learn more about mythology and folklore that aren't only centered on western ones. It featured diverse mythological women from all corners of the world and I just loved that so damn much.The book started strong with a foreword by Liv Albert, host of Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! podcast. I could think of no one better for this and her foreword started perfectly with "There's nothing I love more than mythology... except maybe women in mythology." I fully agree!In Women of Myth you'll find no less than 50 mythological women highlighted and they are divided into three parts: goddesses, heroines and monsters.The Goddesses: Some goddesses featured were Amaterasu from Japan, Ishtar from Ancient Mesopotamia, Atargis from Syria, Mami Wata from Africa and more.The Heroines: Some heroines featured were Amba/Shikhandi from India, Princess Bari from Korea, Mulan from China, Thákane from southern Africa and more.The Monsters: Some monsters featured were Alcha Kandicha from Morocco, Clídna from Ireland, Babamik from Papua New Guinea, Medusa from Greece and more.I really liked how the different women were categorized like that and that there was also a little guide with the pronunciation, appearance and what their symbols were. Especially the symbols I found super fascinating to learn about. Like I said above in this review this book features diverse women from myth from all over the world and this is just so great and not to be underestimated. I also love how the authors don't shy away from the bad in mythology like predatory men who pray on women, which is part of a lot of the stories from the featured goddesses, heroines and monsters. Jenny and Genn did this amazingly!Of course I also have to talk about the gorgeous illustrations by Sara Richard. I was already familiar with her work from other illustrated books but she really blew my mind with her art work in this one. I loved how she portrayed the women she illustrated. They were each and every one just glorious to look at.Women of Myth: From Deer Woman and Mami Wata to Amaterasu and Athena, Your Guide to the Amazing and Diverse Women from World Mythology by Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy is a beautifully diverse and illustrated book that's informative as well as a true joy to read.