graypeape 's review for:

Maria Llovet's Eros/Psyche by Maria Llovet
3.0
This is a tough one. The art is gorgeous; visually, it's lovely to look at, and goes well with the story. The story, though...it's barely there. Lots of atmosphere, but not a lot of content. The bones of the story are good- a mysterious all-girl school with a small amount of students that grows ever smaller as students are culled after regular exams, where the girl with the lowest score leaves after each exam; an unknown curriculum that seems to include spells, potions, and the like; sapphic vibes simmering on a slow burn; rules that have dark consequences if broken; and a general sense of something sinister going on underneath everything. Sounds good, right? But all we really get are hints of things without any real explanation. The two main characters, Sara and Silje, don't have much personality, and I couldn't really connect to either of them. They're in school, but nothing is said of classes, other than the two collecting herbs, roots, etc., to make potions, do spells, I don't really know. No teachers (or any other adults) are ever seen, but we're told the are Rules That Must Not Be Broken (but not what the rules are), so someone must enforce them, and there are regular exams (in fact, the exam process is the most explained aspect of the story, in that we learn that the girl with the lowest score is dressed in white and must leave the school, and that's the extent of the explanation), so someone must give and score the exams. There's a mysterious Room that no one wants to be called into, someone must be in there. Then we have the attraction growing between Sara and Silje, but I didn't see a lot for it to be based on. Then the end, the big reveal...isn't a big surprise, and there's still no explanation for why all this is happening. It's dissatisfying, so much potential, but so little substance. I have no problem with vague beginnings, slow revelation of details over time, all of that, but the story should become clearer the further in you go. I don't know, maybe if I was in just the right mood I'd have enjoyed this more, and I didn't dislike it, but I don't feel like it lived up to the description; rather, the description gives you almost all the explanation there is. Have I conveyed how vague this was yet?
Tl;dr: if you're okay mysterious stories with little clue to what's going on but are really pretty to look at, you're good.

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