Reviews

Orphia and Eurydicius by Elyse John

belle_abeille's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

carmelien's review against another edition

The man bashing was too strong to be interesting, every female mortal/goddess was good and all of the heteronormative men were bad.

brooklynlaura's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

2.0

puolituinen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

brunchatiffanys's review against another edition

Soft DNF I will come back just not in in the mood at the time. 

anxious_emmy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m not usually a fan of tragedies, but when I saw the description of Orphia and Eurydicius as a gender bent, queer retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, I knew I had to give this one a shot. This book, while a slow start, was heartfelt and the characters feel similar, yet different enough from their familiar counterparts to keep the story interesting. 

Note: check Content Warnings on StoryGraph before picking up this book! 

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 for the eARC! 

bugabilina's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ckcarpenter2's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

lostgwennel's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A straight but queer love story told in elevated, poetic language. I have a couple of critiques, but overall really enjoyed Orphia and looked forward to reading it every day.

This book loves women and every conversation and event feels like it’s told through a female lens. In the ‘mortal’ world women are extremely oppressed and don’t have roles beyond wife/slave/washer-woman, but entering the world of the Gods and Muses allows a more varied story to be told without breaking the historical accuracy. There is also rampant period-accurate homosexuality.

This may be shallow but the cover artwork is stunning, and as a queer person it immediately let me know this was a story I was welcome in. Although there’s nothing explicitly in the text saying that O&E are trans, it’s in the subtext.

The flirting between different Gods and Muses was entertaining. Would’ve liked even more descriptions of what they looked and acted like.

The story is very focussed on O&E, but some side characters were really fun to read: I loved the transformation of Jason from beloved friend to power-hungry opportunist.

Orphia & Eurydicius’ romance was wonderful but I wish it built up slowly, with them courting each other rather than love at first sight. Similarly, Orphia’s powers seem to emerge fully-formed; it didn’t feel like there was any progression.

From the moment she started playing the lyre and composing poetry, she could make plants spring from the ground and pebbles and insects dance - her first performance to the gods was flawless, even before any training with the Muses. I would’ve loved a bit more exploration of the struggle of her honing her power, since it’s such an important part of the story, and the same with her feelings for Eurydicius.

The dramatic, flowery language made fantasy elements like flying and riding on gryphons more believable. I liked these classic fantasy bits a lot.

Now what might be my hottest take. It could be that this is just what I’m used to, but I often like it when characters’ sexualities are left up to interpretation, rather than a very blunt conversation about how both of them are attracted to men, women and nonbinary people. I’m grateful for the recognition, truly. But in a setting like this it feels a bit fandom-y, like looking into the camera and saying “I confirm this is how you can headcanon these characters”. I might be totally projecting!

This was my first time reading a Greek myth retelling and I was pleasantly surprised - it was different enough from the myth I remembered that it kept me in suspense until the end.

The maenads were a great touch (I hadn’t heard of them before), the gruesomeness of that ending felt well-earned, though I didn’t like the fact Orphia had to disguise herself as a man in order to die. And though I love a happy ending, O&E meeting again and living happy ever after in Elysium was almost too neat for a tragedy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, Misogyny, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual violence

books_and_heels's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25