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loveisnotatriangle's review
3.0
The Psyche - Eros myth is one of my favorite Greek tale. And I enjoyed this adaptation. The choice to make the language contemporary certainly made it more readable and relatable, though it did feel a bit less authentic because of that choice. I don't really know why I didn't love this more, maybe I would have liked it more if it didn't feel so much like a contemporary ya novel.
tats59's review
4.0
Thank God for a book that actually doesn't have 4 or 5 more sequels. Or at least this book looks like a stand alone book. Let's hope
noctisora's review
4.0
After Psyche turns down Aphrodite’s request to marry the callous Eros, Aphrodite’s son, Psyche is cursed with a grave fate. She is to become the wife of a monster, a thing even the gods themselves fear. However, Eros accidently strikes himself with one of his arrows, falling in love with Psyche, and he creates the curse. He steals her away to a grand palace he made for her, and he visits her under the cover of darkness night provides so she can never see his face. He then tries to win her love while Psyche tries to come to terms with her destiny of being tied to a monster.
I love Greek myths, especially the story of Cupid and Psyche, so I just had to get my hands on Destined! As with most myths and epic stories, there are many different versions of the same story, making it extremely difficult to write a good retelling. However, Harrell does an excellent job! She combined some of the versions together to make Destined and I really enjoyed it. In some versions of the Cupid and Psyche story, Pysche hurls herself off a cliff after certain events go down (which is not a satisfying ending, if you ask me). Sorry for mentioning that there is an absence of cliff diving, but would you honestly want to read a book where the main character falls to her death? (If you do, I would suggest reading some of the other versions of this story.)
I liked Psyche and Eros a lot. Psyche is beautiful both inside and out, and I really adored her. Even with being the most beautiful woman in the world, she seems like any other girl and is rather humble. She hates being extremely beautiful, for she wants people to like her for who she is on the inside, not what she looks like on the outside. She wants the guy she’s going to be with to like her for personality and mind, and I really respect that about her. Her life has become quite a mess after Aphrodite’s offer to marry her son, and she takes it in stride, remaining strong and mature through most of it. I just really appreciated how real her emotions and thoughts were and I really liked her character. Eros was also pretty awesome. Even as the god of love, he was not saved from heartbreak when a previous lover of his left him. He is on the defensive when it comes to love, but he slowly reveals a little more about himself to Psyche. The chemistry between them took a while to build up, but towards the end of the story, I really felt the love they had for one another. Besides Eros and Psyche, I really did not care for the other characters. I did not mind Aphrodite, but I could not stand Iris. Darrell probably wanted to make her seem all clingy and annoying (I hope), and she did a bang up job.
Destined is an amazing retelling of one of the most heartbreaking and beautiful (not to mention monogamous) relationships in Greek myths. Even if you are not a fan of Greek mythology, this book is one that you will still enjoy. It is more of a love story than a myth, and I enjoyed every page. Harrell has made me a fan! She has written a short story for an anthology called In His Eyes, scheduled to come out February 14, 2012 (Valentine’s Day!!). I will definitely be checking it out!
I love Greek myths, especially the story of Cupid and Psyche, so I just had to get my hands on Destined! As with most myths and epic stories, there are many different versions of the same story, making it extremely difficult to write a good retelling. However, Harrell does an excellent job! She combined some of the versions together to make Destined and I really enjoyed it. In some versions of the Cupid and Psyche story, Pysche hurls herself off a cliff after certain events go down (which is not a satisfying ending, if you ask me). Sorry for mentioning that there is an absence of cliff diving, but would you honestly want to read a book where the main character falls to her death? (If you do, I would suggest reading some of the other versions of this story.)
I liked Psyche and Eros a lot. Psyche is beautiful both inside and out, and I really adored her. Even with being the most beautiful woman in the world, she seems like any other girl and is rather humble. She hates being extremely beautiful, for she wants people to like her for who she is on the inside, not what she looks like on the outside. She wants the guy she’s going to be with to like her for personality and mind, and I really respect that about her. Her life has become quite a mess after Aphrodite’s offer to marry her son, and she takes it in stride, remaining strong and mature through most of it. I just really appreciated how real her emotions and thoughts were and I really liked her character. Eros was also pretty awesome. Even as the god of love, he was not saved from heartbreak when a previous lover of his left him. He is on the defensive when it comes to love, but he slowly reveals a little more about himself to Psyche. The chemistry between them took a while to build up, but towards the end of the story, I really felt the love they had for one another. Besides Eros and Psyche, I really did not care for the other characters. I did not mind Aphrodite, but I could not stand Iris. Darrell probably wanted to make her seem all clingy and annoying (I hope), and she did a bang up job.
Destined is an amazing retelling of one of the most heartbreaking and beautiful (not to mention monogamous) relationships in Greek myths. Even if you are not a fan of Greek mythology, this book is one that you will still enjoy. It is more of a love story than a myth, and I enjoyed every page. Harrell has made me a fan! She has written a short story for an anthology called In His Eyes, scheduled to come out February 14, 2012 (Valentine’s Day!!). I will definitely be checking it out!
chaosqueen's review
3.0
For more reviews, check out http://vivaladolcevita14.blogspot.com/
This novel wasn't very good. I loved the premise, but mostly because I like the Psyche and Cupid myth. Apart from that, not much was terribly interesting, this was just mostly played out like a soap opera. Also I was perplexed at the characters speaking like modern people. I mean the story took place in ancient Greece, I'm sure the speech patterns were not exactly the same as they are today. I know, that's a small thing to nitpick about, but it really bothered me. If you are going to set your story in a different time, then please at least try to make the speech patterns at least similar to what they were supposed to be.
Psyche was ok. She was your typical spunky, determined heroine whom shocked almost everyone around her with her fiestyness (sp?). I did like her a bit near the end, but that was about it. Come to think of it, all of these characters were pretty stereotypical. There was no true growth, and there was almost no original personality in anyone.
The writing was decent at best. Like I said, I'm really peeved that Ms. Harrell used modern speech patterns with the characters. Admittedly, I did like how she built her world. That was probably the only thing I truly liked about this novel.
This novel wasn't very good. I loved the premise, but mostly because I like the Psyche and Cupid myth. Apart from that, not much was terribly interesting, this was just mostly played out like a soap opera. Also I was perplexed at the characters speaking like modern people. I mean the story took place in ancient Greece, I'm sure the speech patterns were not exactly the same as they are today. I know, that's a small thing to nitpick about, but it really bothered me. If you are going to set your story in a different time, then please at least try to make the speech patterns at least similar to what they were supposed to be.
Psyche was ok. She was your typical spunky, determined heroine whom shocked almost everyone around her with her fiestyness (sp?). I did like her a bit near the end, but that was about it. Come to think of it, all of these characters were pretty stereotypical. There was no true growth, and there was almost no original personality in anyone.
The writing was decent at best. Like I said, I'm really peeved that Ms. Harrell used modern speech patterns with the characters. Admittedly, I did like how she built her world. That was probably the only thing I truly liked about this novel.
thereadingfaery's review
4.0
I really liked it! The romance was a bit fast, and it didn't really feel like ancient Greek, but otherwise, it was a great read! The mythology was great! Review to come!
vveeee's review
5.0
The story of Cupid and Psyche is my favorite of all the Greek Mythologies! I have yet to read any retelling of it so I am extremely excited for this book to come out!
After reading the book, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!
I'm glad that Harrell stayed true to the natures' of Psyche and Eros. The personalities that she gave the characters really embodied their names. And she also stayed true to the moral of the original tale that love, Eros, is nothing with out the soul, Psyche.
After reading the book, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!
I'm glad that Harrell stayed true to the natures' of Psyche and Eros. The personalities that she gave the characters really embodied their names. And she also stayed true to the moral of the original tale that love, Eros, is nothing with out the soul, Psyche.
iambethf's review
3.0
I wanted to love this book. My favorite Greek myth, with a bit of a twist, sounds wonderful. But the more I read the less and less I liked it. I tried to ignore the 21st-century language to the best of my ability but that aside I couldn't bring myself to love it.
You can read plenty of reviews about the modern language in Ancient Greece so there's no point in me elaborating on it. I didn't mind the changes to the myth because they weren't too extreme, though taking out a sister was pretty big. There were a few things that bugged me to no end.
Alexa - I liked her a character, it was good for Psyche to have a friend to spend time with during the day. It's was her name that bugged me. When you have all these Greek names throughout the story why use an English nickname? Alexandra would have work perfectly, but it shortened to Alexa.
Vesta, Ceres and Favonius - This might just be a pet peeve of mine but I can't stand the mixing of Greek and Roman deities. Fortunately, these were the only three that were the Roman counterparts rather than Greek. But in truth, how hard is it to type/write Hestia, Demeter, and Zephyrus? Especially since this is clearly the Greek version (Eros not Cupid), but I'm just being picky.
Psyche was whiny. She was not as strong as she should have been, and daughter of Poseidon? I feel like that was added in at the last moment. It had no significance to the plot (until the half dying thing) and it was mentioned only a handful of times.
I also liked the idea of Psyche and Eros hating each other at the beginning, though a little cliche, it added a different element to the story. Sadly, no matter how much I wanted this to be a page-turning romance adventure, it was slow and filled with too may imperfections. So My first attempt in self-published territory wasn't the best.
You can read plenty of reviews about the modern language in Ancient Greece so there's no point in me elaborating on it. I didn't mind the changes to the myth because they weren't too extreme, though taking out a sister was pretty big. There were a few things that bugged me to no end.
Alexa - I liked her a character, it was good for Psyche to have a friend to spend time with during the day. It's was her name that bugged me. When you have all these Greek names throughout the story why use an English nickname? Alexandra would have work perfectly, but it shortened to Alexa.
Vesta, Ceres and Favonius - This might just be a pet peeve of mine but I can't stand the mixing of Greek and Roman deities. Fortunately, these were the only three that were the Roman counterparts rather than Greek. But in truth, how hard is it to type/write Hestia, Demeter, and Zephyrus? Especially since this is clearly the Greek version (Eros not Cupid), but I'm just being picky.
Psyche was whiny. She was not as strong as she should have been, and daughter of Poseidon? I feel like that was added in at the last moment. It had no significance to the plot (until the half dying thing) and it was mentioned only a handful of times.
I also liked the idea of Psyche and Eros hating each other at the beginning, though a little cliche, it added a different element to the story. Sadly, no matter how much I wanted this to be a page-turning romance adventure, it was slow and filled with too may imperfections. So My first attempt in self-published territory wasn't the best.
catarpillarr's review
1.0
No me gusto, no pude terminar la ultima cuarta parte del libro porque no tenia sentido la historia entre Psyche y Eros, y la verdad, no me interesaba saber como terminaba el libro. Menos mal que compre el libro en la versión Kindle.
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