Quicksilver, by Stephanie Spinner, is a retelling of five famed stories within Greek mythology—the story of Persephone and Hades, Perseus’ defeat of Medusa, the golden apple, and the retrieval of the body of a hero in the Trojan War. Their connection? Each of these five stories shares a common character: Hermes. 

One of the more overlooked gods out of the twelve Greek gods on Olympus, Hermes plays a role, no matter how small, in each of these stories. Quicksilver is a retelling from Hermes’ first-person perspective. The rare perspective brought originality, but it became one of readers’ biggest issues. As a minor character in a few of these stories, Hermes is a limited narrator, which can impact the excitement level of readers.  

Other readers took issue with the characters themselves. Hermes is described as a mischievous yet compassionate “ultimate Olympian insider” by Spinner in her author’s note. These were traits that were mentioned. However, some readers felt that they weren’t shown as expected within the story. His compassion was commonly shown as guilt, shown to be one of his most prevalent traits. 

All in all, Spinner crafted a story that served well as a light, quick overview of some of the popular Greek myths, but was less successful in its entertainment value, especially for those who expected an introduction to more lesser-known stories. Nonetheless, the unique perspective—while it wasn’t fully taken advantage of—aided, in small part, in bringing the often undervalued, supporting character of Hermes into light.