Reviews - The Palace of Eros

700 reviews for:

The Palace of Eros

Caro De Robertis

3.89 AVERAGE

erinmmetzger's review against another edition

4.0

emotional inspiring reflective 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: Complicated

Content Warnings

vale012573's review against another edition

4.0

"you cannot let your wounds lead"

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc and especially to Atria (Simon & Schuster) for the physical arc!!

the writing in this is so stunning, so captivating, and she describes carnal yearning like an art. I felt some points were exhausted and I expected them to be a bit more nuanced with the swirling language being used throughout, but they were points that needed to be made for such a diverse story. Such a dazzling retelling that makes you feel like you're on a chaise longue in a sun room also captivated by Eros

denver_wren's review

4.5

adventurous hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A queer retelling of the story of Psyche and Eros that largely tracks the original Greek myth. It had a YA feel in some places, perhaps because the character Pyche was so young and inexperienced at the start. I appreciated that the author acknowledged and addressed some of the imbalances in their relationship.

bugsybugs's review against another edition

4.75

emotional inspiring slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Beautiful captivating writing, and an emotive queer story.

lindseygl's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

ale_ja's review against another edition

quite lovely,, feels very,, "of special appeal to teens" a la alex awards...
interesting how retellings can make so plain an author's intentions, things are said more directly than i feel they'd dare in other works, though of course i haven't read anything else by caro de robertis specifically so i'm curious how things compare, based on synopses alone it seems very distinct from their body of work

betanianne's review against another edition

5.0

I loved this.

I think that after a long period of feeling nothing, this book brought back a spark of life. Psyche inspired me to also search for my own desires and needs, and she gave me the hope at the end to still look towards love and a future.

This is a queer retelling of Psyche and Eros. I mean, it's mythology so it should be queer. But this is a non-binary, genderfluid Eros who loves Psyche as both a man and woman.

Psyche is beautiful, but unloved. Men coming to meet her sisters discover her beautiful and tell everyone else to come stare at Psyche because she's more beautiful than Aphrodite. The men are violent and cruel, but they keep coming to stare, and they hurt women in the process. Then of course, Aphrodite can't stand the insult of men worshipping another beauty, so she sends her daughter Eros to kill Psyche. But Eros SEES Psyche and decides to create a palace where she can steal her bride away and they can hide in peace. Psyche can finally do and have anything she wants, as long as she never glimpses her husband's face. And so the lovers must decide if a secret palace is still a prison, and how to be free if you can only live outside society.

This was a beautiful book, and I need to buy it so I can read it again.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for this ARC.