Reviews

Eros/Psyche by Maria Llovet

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moth_dance's review against another edition

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4.0

Dreamy details in each panel. A haunting tale that extends past genre.

eileenthecrow's review against another edition

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2.0

Read this free on NetGalley. The cover immediately caught my attention. The blurb? Even better! It had a promising start too; a sapphic dark academia that has witchcraft in it? It's almost like they handpicked these genres for me... Sadly, it couldn't live up to my expectations. The art is absolutely breathtaking. It's beautiful! Perhaps the best thing about this book is the art, every page could be a beautiful artwork of its own. I loved the aura and the aesthetics of the world that was built here. However the storyline itself falls short... I would have given this 5/5 for the art alone but the storyline was hard to follow and a bit frustrating because of the fact. I felt as if the author had a clear image of the story in their mind and assumed the story itself unfolded in the readers' eyes the way they envisioned it. I'm saddened to say that this was not the case for me. I didn't understand most of the plotline and I still don't know what even happened in it. There were some side storylines that resolved right after they were introduced, ruining the point of side characters. I feel like there was so much potential that was ultimately wasted on confusing storytelling choices.

I would be open to checking other works from Maria Llovet out as I can see that the genres they work with seem tailor-made for me.

alandd's review

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1.0

Confusa, aburrida, y un desarrollo inexistente. Se supone que el final sea impactante, pero la sinopsis dice más que todas estas páginas. Literalmente, no entendí de qué se trataba ni sentí algo por cualquiera de los personajes. Solo una colección de hilos sueltos.

Confusing, boring, and nonexistent development. The ending is supposed to be shocking, but the synopsis says more than all these pages. I literally didn't understand what it was about or feel anything for any of the characters. Just a collection of loose threads.

cusiccoyllur's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

sapphisms's review

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1.0

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review

CW: suicide/hanging
representation: lesbian MCs

i think this is the first one-star i've had in a while that comes from sheer disappointment and not from overwhelming problematic content. genuinely, if i hadn't read the summary, i wouldn't have known that the characters were casting spells, and i wouldn't have known about the secret society. the comic flat-out refuses to divulge any information about its plot, and just pads it with visuals. i'm rather lenient when it comes to graphic novels, but i'm just amazed that i have gained nothing from start to finish - i know and understand the story no more than when i began. the art is beautiful, but if you're reading a panel where silje's scar or nose ring isn't shown or sara's mole is hidden, the two main characters are almost interchangeable, which is very annoying for a graphic novel that relies almost exclusively on art and not on dialogue.

this isn't even pointing out that it almost shamelessly rips off key points and visuals from [b:Revolutionary Girl Utena, Vol. 1: To Till|14078|Revolutionary Girl Utena, Vol. 1 To Till|Chiho Saitō|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349049138l/14078._SY75_.jpg|16164]. the very penultimate reveal is taken from utena - that

Spoiler

there is 'a rose' (in utena, the rose bride) who does not age and embodies the school, and while they're at the school (la rosa in eros/psyche, ohtori academy in utena) the students are frozen in time until they are removed by a council

. even the emblematic symbol of la rosa resembles the rose symbol in utena. almost everything that 'eros/psyche' tried to execute was done better in utena, lesbians included.

althea's review against another edition

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3.0

Hmmm I have...mixed feelings about this graphic novel. On the one hand, I loved that it is a sapphic dark academia-esque story set in a school for witches in which mysterious things keep happening to the girls and the artwork was absolutely gorgeous, and I loved the focus on the story of Eros and Psyche (which I didn't really know prior to reading this, so I'm glad it was explained!). However, at times the writing felt very clunky and not like natural English (I don't know if this was a translation issue but there were some really big mistakes), though I can excuse that as this is an ARC, but also the story itself just left me wanting there to be more to it at the end. It didn't feel like anything groundbreaking or new, and when the big reveal happened I was just kinda like...oh, is that it? I'd recommend it if you like eerie sapphic dark academia, but if that's not your thing, maybe give this a miss!

TW: suicide, mild gore, nudity

Thanks to Netgalley + Ablaze for an eARC in return for an honest review!

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luna_frighthouse's review

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2.0

It’s clear reading this that this is one of Maria Llovet’s earliest works. This is very much driven by her (exquisite as always) art, but unfortunately the writing leaves the plot too unclear, and not in a way that makes it interesting and plays to the strengths of the visuals sadly.

Definitely worth reading if you’re also a Maria Llovet fan as it’s interesting to see how her writing and art have developed over the years, and her visuals are always worth the price of admission.