I really admire what Jo Walton attempted with this novel. It is both creatively and conceptually ambitious, and a much called-for fresh take on the fantasy genre (and the sci fi genre too, for that matter). Both male and female characters were well-represented, with realistic weaknesses and strengths in both. Walton's world-building was masterful and utterly convincing - she set up this strange utopia-cum-dystopia with compelling detail. But, as some others have pointed out, Walton tried to do too much in 350 pages. Here are some (not all) of the major themes covered: misogyny and gender relations over the course of human history, artificial intelligence vs. human intelligence, the meaning of "love" and its different manifestations, nature vs. nurture, free will and choice, censorship, sex/marriage/monogamy, the nature of gods vs. humans vs. incarnation, and of course, the materialization of Plato's "Just City". All were fascinating, but all were inadequately explored. 
 I also found the three rotating POVs (from Apollo to Simmea to Maia) to be distracting and unhelpful, because all three sounded exactly the same. In the hands of an author who could successfully channel three distinct voices this device might have broken up the dense story very well, adding depth and nuance by way of unique observations. But there were too many times when I would only realize POVs had switched mid-way through a new chapter, at which point I'd have to double back and confirm who was speaking. This muddied and slowed the narrative, and made the characters feel like wooden mouthpieces rather than real people. 
 Finally, some of the character's decisions and actions felt contrived to the point of absurdity, most evidently with Pallas Athena. The climax was almost nonsensical. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, rationality, and strategy, was unable to hold her own in a debate with Socrates? I mean, it's not just that he bested her: he DESTROYED her. Her arguments were incredibly weak, and she was petty and irrational throughout the novel. I assume Walton was trying to convey that Athena could not understand humans the way Apollo did because she never became human, and thus could not get on our level when it came to debating the Just City's worth, but if that was indeed the goal, it was not portrayed well at all. Probably another casualty of crowding too many ideas in one short discourse. 
 A quick note: I've read some complaints about the amount of sexual violence in the book, but I found all examples of this to be a realistic (if very tragic) depiction of how such events would have played out if a Just City were ever to come about. Some ask: why weren't there any other notable crimes in the Just City besides rape? Well, the citizens all got there by praying for a city where justice prevailed - it would have been strange if criminals HAD been present. Unfortunately, rape still occurred because the culprits didn't consider their assaults to be criminal or immoral for a multitude of reasons (the time period they came from in one case, and a lack of education on the subject of consent in another). I found this to be an interesting and truthful illustration of sexism and the removal of agency from women in history as well as in the present day. 
 This was an enjoyable, quick read with a great premise but (especially for a novel named after a weighty philosophical concept) it was ultimately rather long on drama and short on philosophy. 3.5 stars!