Reviews

Psyche and Eros: A Novel by Luna McNamara

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tarian's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.5

sian_24's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

LOVED this retelling.

A Greek tragedy that wasn’t so tragic?

perfect :) I thought both Psyche and Eros were so compelling here, it was unironically easy for me to fall in love with them both. The weaving of other familiar characters throughout their story was so well done and not overwhelming in the slightest. I didn’t find having previous knowledge of the story of Psyche and Eros to lead to enjoying this read any less, I found myself surprised and pleased at so many points, and I thought the changes to the “traditional” retelling (for want of a better phrase) kept me intrigued throughout.

There is no end to wonderful characters in Greek mythology, I find myself attached to so many of them with every new book I pick up, and Psyche and Eros are no different.

val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

3.5

I added this book to my TBR last year and I was supposed to start it months ago, but I ended up finally picking it up because of Bridgerton (Cressida saying Penelope and Polin are like Psyche and Eros) and I just knew it was time.

I enjoy Greek Mythology retellings so much and this was not an exception.

I remember reading a bit of the story of Eros and Psyche in that book by Rick Riordan talking about a bunch of different characters from Greek Mythology. But I’m glad I picked up this book that was mainly about this couple because I learn more stuff about their lives (even if it was to the interpretation of the author). It's so interesting to see the differences the authors do in retellings, and yet some major things don't change (like who is married to who, who is child of who, who kills who, who rules what).

It was so interesting to see other characters like Atalanta, Achilles, Patroclus, and especially Clytemnestra, Iphigenia and Agamenon because I just finished the book “Elektra” last month.

I love how Psyche was such a different female character. She was trained, she was prepared, she was ready for a fight with a monster, she literally went to the Underworld for Eros even after learning the truth about the curse. My girl was the hero here.

I just remembered Queen Charlotte (Netflix) saying “I will stand with you between the heavens and the Earth” and that’s so Psyche and Eros coded.

I love how this book made it sound like Persephone was the true ruler of the Underworld. But also made me remember how much of a b*tch Aphrodite and other Goddesses can be. Like, Hecate and Medusa who have “bad reputations” were better women than them.

I enjoyed the dual pov audiobook! I really like his voice but I’m sorry to say her voice was not doing it for me.

Overall, it was a 3.5 ⭐ for my taste. I’m happy for their happy ending <3

Content Warnings

p0megranaterat's review against another edition

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hopeful fast-paced

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

2.5

kaylareadsallthetime's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

Really enjoyed this retelling of Psyche and Eros. What an adventure these twos love story is! Beautiful writing.

emhawes's review against another edition

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3.25

This book was fine, and I probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't so familiar with the tale of Eros and Psyche, but I am. There are SO MANY deviations from the source material in this book - which generally is fine and a lot of the time can make a book like this infinitely better, especially since women in Greek myths are frequently overlooked. But Psyche's story is pretty well described and the changes the author chose to make didn't seem to add anything to the story?
I never felt any sort of true relationship between Eros and Psyche which is sad because the slow burn potential and all the tension between the pair SHOULD be easy to create. I think too much time was spent on the early years of Psyche's life (presumably so we could alternate between POVs and get Eros's backstory as well) and not enough time was spent after their marriage before the curse takes effect. Even the trials of Psyche felt a little flown through.

Overall, this is fine, it's an enjoyable story on its own and the writing is solid. I didn't love all the changes to source material, but if you're not as familiar with this story it probably wouldn't be such a problem.