A review by tdotrenae
Orphia and Eurydicius by Elyse John

dark emotional tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Firstly, Thanks so much to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC version of this book. Secondly, I would like to say that I am a casual Greek Mythology fan, so I feel like that might impact how I felt about this book. Overall, I liked it.

 

There were some parts that just didn’t work for me. Like Orphia is supposed to be the greatest poet of all time, but I felt like I didn’t get enough of her poetry. In some parts, it was just describing her poetry, rather than like… giving us the poem. While the author’s writing style is so beautiful and poetic, I think what happens in a lot of Greek retellings, is that the language feels a little forced in places where the “feminism” parts are more apparent. I also think the pacing could’ve been a little better, there were some parts that were happening so quickly, and other parts that felt like they were dragging, especially towards the end. On one hand, the messaging of women using their voices loudly was well received, there were some parts that were laying it on THICCCKKKKKKK. Finally, this is a small point, but some of the God’s powers were kinda all over the place for me – like Zeus is supposedly all powerful and his descriptions/actions just didn’t work. There were often parts where I thought Apollo was way more powerful, which isn’t necessarily true. Or like Hera being able to skirt around Zeus’s power so easily was kinda odd to me.

 

BUTTTTT, There were some things about this book I really enjoyed and loved, for example, Eurydicius’s love for Orphia and literally all the romance scenes were to die for. Like Eurydicius and Orphia’s love was so pure and was REALLY FELT in my soul, even when death came for both of them. I also liked the author’s choices in terms of the mythology and chronical order to tell the story in. I loved getting to know the Muses and all the parts where she was training her poetry skills. I loved the messaging of “women defying what is expected of them,” and the often-forgotten women’s perspectives of Greek Mythology. The even brief mentions of Medusa, Hera’s story, and even the Maenads illustrates this beautifully! I also really loved the bisexual and LGBT+ representations! Elyse put her foot in those parts – like it was so natural and flowed perfectly with this story, where there were times I was forgetting this was a retelling!

 

Anyways – I liked the story enough! There were things I liked about the book, and other things I didn’t like much. Elyse John is a wonderful author and storyteller!