A review by sapphisms
Eros/Psyche by Maria Llovet

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.