Bʏ ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʀᴜʟʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴇʟsᴇ, ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ. Aɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀsᴇʟғ, ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ʜᴀʀᴅᴇʀ.” I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book, but I think I overall enjoyed it. It was really messy and it had the potential to be a lot better, but it brought some great life to a Greek myth that not everyone knows about.

I was enraptured by the “antagonist” of the story, Aphrodite, because as everyone knows, Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty and so I thought her character would be sweet and kind but now I’m wondering if that was McNamara’s intent… Persephone is known as the Queen of the Dead and of course, goddess of the underworld but her character was also not what I expected, especially because she’s the daughter of Demeter… I was expecting Persephone to be somewhat kind, like the seasons spring and summer she represents for half the year? I don’t know…. Even Eros (a god himself) shows contempt for the selfish (sometimes harmful) games Zeus’ pantheon of Gods partake in (including his disgust and guilt at some of his own questionable decisions.)Characters: Psyche does fall into the "fierce warrior woman" trope, but I found her desire to carve out her own fate and not have it be dictated by the norms of society or those around her honorable. I do think she stood out more to me than Eros, whose story more seemed to provide the narrative structure for Psyche's tale to be told. Whilst I particularly hated the changes to Psyche's character, I also didn't think the other changes made sense. Why make Penelope the sister of Helen and not Clytemnestra? Why make Aphrodite's motives for punishing Psyche not a matter of divine prerogatives accidentally infringed on but jealousy over Eros being freed from his slavery to her? Why change the three tasks of Psyche to your taste and involve Eros in them when they're Psyche's to solve? And the biggest question of them all: why on Hades make the gods deny Psyche her boon of becoming a goddess and make her become a goddess illegally through an unauthorised potion by Hekate et al.? That wouldn't be possible, Zeus could kill Psyche for becoming an immortal without his authorisation. And in any case, it was him who made her an immortal on Eros' pleading in the first place, so what's so bad about this that it needed changing? Nobody can become a god without Zeus allowing it, so this outcome is nonsensical to the Nth degree. And it also warps the only happy ending in a Greek myth-based story that was actually earned. A classic love story for the ages that McNamara adapts into an unputdownable book. . . . Readers who have enjoyed Madeline Miller’s and Jennifer Saint’s retelling of Greek myths will enjoy this novel. The text is beautiful and poetic, immersing the reader into the world of ancient Greece, while still reading like a modern novel. A must-read for fans of Greek mythology adaptations, this book is enjoyable, poignant, and beautifully written." — Library Journal And since we're on the subject of authors with supposed expertise in Greek & Roman culture, I have to ask the hard question: what is their problem with feminine women in ancient Greece and Rome? Why do they feel the need to take a feminine woman and make her into some warrior princess she never was? There are already some women like that in their myths, like Atalanta, Penthesilea, Artemis, Hippolyta, etc., that you could use if all you want is "active" women who can wield a bow and fight like men. So why do you take women who aren't warriors or tomboys and rewrite them as some sort of tomboys who can be as manly as any Greek hero with the excuse that it's "feminist"? How is it feminist to negate a woman's personality and distort it into another kind of personality that you, a modern woman from the 21st century who probably thinks Wonder Woman is the epitome of feminism, think is the correct way to be a "hero"? Unfortunately this book was a great disappointment and I couldn’t keep reading it. I DNFed it and the reasons are various.

Aphrodite, who reads an awful lot like the version of the goddess as seen in Xena, is the book’s only villain, by the way, as McNamara has removed Psyche’s jealous sisters from the equation here.

See a Problem?

This is not how you should handle a retelling. You can't just manipulate everything to make it do what you wish. WRITE YOUR OWN CHARACTERS IF YOU WANT THEM TO DO WHAT YOU WANT. Make a story that's "inspired by Eros and Psyche" then this is perfectly well as a novel. But not as a retelling.

Fiercely feminist and deeply romantic, Psyche and Eros has the allure of an old fable and the epic quality of ancient myth, tinged with a provocative, modern wit. Passionate and deftly-told.” — AVA REID, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and The Wolf and the Woodsman An enthralling tale of adventure, romance, and star-crossed lovers.” — SUE LYNN TAN, bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess On top of that, the characters were flat, the passage of time was difficult to follow, and everyone is so painfully aware they're in a story (6-year-old Elektra very eloquently and accurately prophesying her entire life immediately after the sacrifice of Iphigenia -- which Psyche is present for, naturally -- nearly made me throw the book) that it robs the emotion out of every possible moment. Evocative and lyrically spun, Luna McNamara’s Psyche and Eros is a pure delight. Bright as a constellation on a moonless night, this reimagining limns the ancient myth while also granting us vibrant insight into the hearts of both Psyche and Eros. Romantic, poignant, and spellbinding.” — Rebecca Ross, #1 internationally bestselling author of A River Enchanted

We’ve been treated to many gripping mythological novels with a feminist slant over the past few years – from Madeline Miller’s Circe and Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne to Claire Heywood’s Daughters of Sparta and Natalie Haynes’ Stone Blind. Psyche and Eros is an amalgamation of all these different tales, weaving the lives, loves and losses of legendary characters into one story. Psyche’s quest to be reunited with Eros takes her on an epic journey across dangerous terrain and into the domains of gods, where she encounters the likes of Zephyrus, Prometheus, Aphrodite, Medusa, Persephone, Demeter and Hekate, amongst others. But whilst it’s these gods and goddesses who are the cause of all the havoc that transpires across the novel, the heart of the story is something that feels inherently human: love. A prophecy claims that Psyche, princess of Mycenae, will conquer a monster feared by the gods. Beloved by her family but at odds with her society’s expectations for women, Psyche trains to become a hero, mastering blade and bow. Evocative and lyrically spun, Luna McNamara’s Psyche and Eros is a pure delight’ Rebecca Ross, #1 internationally bestselling author of A River Enchanted Why focus on all the atrocities and issues women went through in Ancient Greece, when we can take a sweet and beautiful feminine girl and make her into a caricature tomboy misandrist who only somewhat changes her tune when she falls in love with a literal DIVINE BEING?! A prophecy claims that Psyche, princess of Mycenae, will conquer a monster feared by the gods. Beloved by her family but at odds with her society’s expectations for women, Psychetrains to become a hero, mastering blade and bow.