longbeachyreads 's review for:

The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis

3.5

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I generally love retellings of famous stories, but this Psyche + Eros story was hard for me to get through. Maybe because it was less familiar to me? Or because I always get my Greek and Roman deities mixed up? 

I liked the queer rep and exploration of gender identities, but their relationship also felt a little "insta-love" to me. I think the timeline was like two weeks before they consummated the marriage but it didn't seem like they really had any deep talks with each other. It felt like more like lust, but perhaps it's a commentary on how unconditional acceptance = love? 

The dialogue also felt too modern to me. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it with dated prose, but it still felt a little jarring -- like seeing Juliet in jeans. 

Sourced: BCB Book Club, June selection

And I, of course, like every daughter born in the wake of other daughters, was a surplus, a disappointment, a child who should not have been born.