Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the review copy of the incomparable Nikita Gill’s book “Styx.” It is greatly appreciated!
Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the review copy of the incomparable Nikita Gill’s book “Styx.” It is greatly appreciated!
Nikita Gill never disappoints. She is a brilliant writer with a powerful voice that reaches everyone. She is a writer whose work I buy simply because she wrote it and I don’t really care what it is about, I know it will be incredible. In “Styx,” Gill tells the story of the oldest daughter of the great Titans, the immortal gods who ruled the earth prior to the rise of the Olympian gods. Unloved and overlooked because she is not beautiful like her multitude of sisters and cousins, Styx seeks peace in solitude, and in the quiet finds a wellspring of power within herself that rivals to power of Zeus himself. When she is forced to make a choice between her extended family and Zeus, she follows her heart, a choice that will lead her to her destiny.
This is categorized as a YA book, and I understand why, as we first meet Styx when she is a child and much of the novel takes place while she is still an adolescent. This novel-in-verse doesn’t read like a YA book, however. Styx’s thoughts and actions are careful, considering all the possible ramifications. While she has a desperate desire to become a goddess in her own right, she reflects on all that might occur is she accepts Zeus’ offer. Reading this as a fifty-year-old, I still found Styx relatable; she is a young woman who wants to be loved, and she herself loves fiercely and loyally, and will do anything to protect her children.
“Styx” is the second installment of Nikita Gill’s “Goddesses of the Underworld” trilogy. Book one, “Hecate” was published in September 2025, and we can expect book three, “Nyx,” in fall 2027.
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