A review by readwithev
Psyche: The Laugh of Aphrodite by Penelope Lys

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Overall I think this is a great start for Lys as a debut author. I’m excited to see what they releases next. This story felt 75% finished, 15% rushed 10% characters not fully fleshed out. Lys could have taken 1-2 more chapters to wrap it up. Psyche had moments where I thought she was getting stronger and more independent but then would revert back to her old mindset a few paragraphs later. It never stuck. Also Eros felt very one-dimensional with very little backstory.

Pros:
  • Love the descriptiveness and lyrical writing style. Its rich in the 5 senses. Especially good at evoking fear, loneliness, and wonder. The settings feel so alive.
  • The way Eros hides his true identity and appearance from Psyche
  • Scene where Eros is teaching Psyche to shoot arrows
  • The scene where Psyche is about to betray Eros and she becomes transfixed by his true form. She finally realizes who he is. The description of his wings was also beautiful.
  • The scene after where Eros abandons her. He’s hurt by her, she did not heed his warnings, and she was blinded by false claims about him.
  • Hermes’ playfulness
  • How Psyche has childish ignorance and blind trust in her family; their secrets and betrayals made her question her worthiness, their love, and she grieved the loss of those relationships.
  • Psyche’s trial through the Underworld
Cons:
  • Psyche’s self-pitying and childishly ignorant attitude that doesn’t change much as the book progresses
    she attempts to kill herself twice (trying to drown in the river after betraying Eros then again jumping off the cliff of snakes when Aphrodite sends her to the Underworld).
    she survives a lot of difficult trials, but still thinks she isn’t strong and doesn’t deserve happiness. Some of the other Gods try to tell her she’s being spoiled or giving up too quickly but it doesn’t seem like she changes/grows from these experiences.
  • Eros’ childlike behavior and tantrums.
  • eros never explains how he fell in love with psyche or what he loves about her, only that he’s watched her and loved her since she was young
  • The ending felt rushed and we don’t see Eros forgive Psyche or when Psyche become immortal. Its very anticlimactic; they’ve been apart 50% of the book and Psyche wonders how he’ll feel when she seems him, she’s ashamed of hurting him, and goes through the trials to earn his trust back. Yet, when they reunite they do not mention anything from their time apart. Their reunion is only 2 short paragraphs
  • We don’t get the sisters’ perspective on why they wanted her to kill Eros. The story is told by Psyche as a flashback so it’s more of a frame. Example, “At the time I enjoyed…” so its odd there’s not a mention of “I realize now my sisters were jealous and wanted to take my husband for themselves …” something like that. Also, we don’t know the final fate of the sisters
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