rachyrachy54's review against another edition
5.0
I love when a book catches my attention from start to finish. There was always something going on; scheming, romance, adrenaline. Thank you Katee for not letting me down yet
ambere3977's review against another edition
1.0
First off, this is not a retelling. You can’t just slap some names on some characters and call it a retelling if there isn’t any kind of semblance of the original stories. In order to write a truly good retelling, you need to understand the original story and frankly, I’m not sure K. Roberts actually does.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Spoilers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, onto the bulk of the ‘story’. Truly, I have never been more bored (or angry) while reading nothing. If there was a plot, I couldn’t find it. The majority of the ‘plot’ takes place over roughly 6 days. It goes from Eros threatening to murder Psyche, to them getting married, spending a whole day having sex, spending a day pretending to be all lovey dovey, Psyche almost getting murdered, then the very anticlimactic ending. Somehow, they end up falling in love in 6 days. Why? They only banter and have sex. There’s absolutely nothing to convey that they have genuine feelings for each other, we’re just told that they do. Apart from being very repetitive in how the Psyche/Eros finds the other ‘hot’, it’s incredibly boring to read.
Also, what are the rules of this world? They aren’t gods and don’t have magic, yet it still exists in some form. I also couldn’t help but notice how obsessed K. Roberts is when it comes to describing characters physical features, skin tones and ethnicities. Speaking of ethnicities, how are you going to have 4 poc, then describe one of them as being sneaky and a thief? Eros was also constantly talking about how full or curvy Psyche is, which began to feel a bit uncomfortable.
Now, onto more trivial things. K. Roberts had a bad habit of telling and not showing for most of the book. We are told how Eros is a monster, how good And smart Psyche is, but we’re never actually shown any instances of this. If the chapters weren’t titled on who’s pov it was supposed to be, I honestly wouldn’t have known who we were following for most of the book. We’re also never told how getting married was supposed to save Psyches life (spoiler: it doesn’t). K. Roberts also kept trying to plant smaller plots in the overall story, which doesn’t work if there’s no overall plot to begin with.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Spoilers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, onto the bulk of the ‘story’. Truly, I have never been more bored (or angry) while reading nothing. If there was a plot, I couldn’t find it. The majority of the ‘plot’ takes place over roughly 6 days. It goes from Eros threatening to murder Psyche, to them getting married, spending a whole day having sex, spending a day pretending to be all lovey dovey, Psyche almost getting murdered, then the very anticlimactic ending. Somehow, they end up falling in love in 6 days. Why? They only banter and have sex. There’s absolutely nothing to convey that they have genuine feelings for each other, we’re just told that they do. Apart from being very repetitive in how the Psyche/Eros finds the other ‘hot’, it’s incredibly boring to read.
Also, what are the rules of this world? They aren’t gods and don’t have magic, yet it still exists in some form. I also couldn’t help but notice how obsessed K. Roberts is when it comes to describing characters physical features, skin tones and ethnicities. Speaking of ethnicities, how are you going to have 4 poc, then describe one of them as being sneaky and a thief? Eros was also constantly talking about how full or curvy Psyche is, which began to feel a bit uncomfortable.
Now, onto more trivial things. K. Roberts had a bad habit of telling and not showing for most of the book. We are told how Eros is a monster, how good And smart Psyche is, but we’re never actually shown any instances of this. If the chapters weren’t titled on who’s pov it was supposed to be, I honestly wouldn’t have known who we were following for most of the book. We’re also never told how getting married was supposed to save Psyches life (spoiler: it doesn’t). K. Roberts also kept trying to plant smaller plots in the overall story, which doesn’t work if there’s no overall plot to begin with.
veronicairis's review against another edition
3.0
Ok *cracks knuckles*. This IS better than the first book. Eros is a much more developed character than anyone from the first book and the plot is slightly better with more drama and surprise developments compared to the first book as well. We also get to learn more about Demeter, Zeus, and other characters that will likely reappear in later books in the series. But. There were some serious things that irked me. Like a lot.
SO many phrases were repeated way too frequently.
1. Eros is a monster (ok we get it, no need to repeat it 5,001 times. Additionally, when was he ever a monster? Not once in the book was one of his violent moments delved into and I think that would have added an immense amount of necessary background to his character that would have brought him up from a 6/10 to a 7.5/10 in terms of development)
2. Let’s not throw stones (no one uses that phrase in every conversation they have)
3. I believe him/her. I almost believe him/her (which is it? Yes or no? Do you believe them or not, why is this so difficult?)
4. A moot point (holy moly if I have to read this phrase one more time I am going to scream and then proceed to throw the book out the window)
This entire book also takes place in the span of 5 (?) days? That’s insane. It would have benefited greatly from having the timeline expanded and have made the feelings Eros and Psyche develop so much more realistic and made the reader more invested.
I think this series continues to suffer from the lack of world building and honestly the lack of fantastical elements. For example, is the pain caused by leaving Olympus/crossing the River Styx due to magic? If so, I’d really like to hear more about that magic element in the world, what guides the magic, who uses it, etc. I also don’t understand the dynamics between the humans not in Olympus and the ones in Olympus. On that note, these characters are human and live in a world we can imagine as a form of New York City. Besides the fact that they have mythological names, live in a city called Olympus, and that one tiny element of « magic » concerning leaving the city, there’s no fantasy components. I feel like this series could be elevated so much by just a few changes so it’s increasingly frustrating to read the books.
2.5 ⭐️
SO many phrases were repeated way too frequently.
1. Eros is a monster (ok we get it, no need to repeat it 5,001 times. Additionally, when was he ever a monster? Not once in the book was one of his violent moments delved into and I think that would have added an immense amount of necessary background to his character that would have brought him up from a 6/10 to a 7.5/10 in terms of development)
2. Let’s not throw stones (no one uses that phrase in every conversation they have)
3. I believe him/her. I almost believe him/her (which is it? Yes or no? Do you believe them or not, why is this so difficult?)
4. A moot point (holy moly if I have to read this phrase one more time I am going to scream and then proceed to throw the book out the window)
This entire book also takes place in the span of 5 (?) days? That’s insane. It would have benefited greatly from having the timeline expanded and have made the feelings Eros and Psyche develop so much more realistic and made the reader more invested.
I think this series continues to suffer from the lack of world building and honestly the lack of fantastical elements. For example, is the pain caused by leaving Olympus/crossing the River Styx due to magic? If so, I’d really like to hear more about that magic element in the world, what guides the magic, who uses it, etc. I also don’t understand the dynamics between the humans not in Olympus and the ones in Olympus. On that note, these characters are human and live in a world we can imagine as a form of New York City. Besides the fact that they have mythological names, live in a city called Olympus, and that one tiny element of « magic » concerning leaving the city, there’s no fantasy components. I feel like this series could be elevated so much by just a few changes so it’s increasingly frustrating to read the books.
2.5 ⭐️
ryliereadsetc's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
ashleypeloso's review against another edition
4.0
The tension! The banter! A plus-sized main love interest! Fluid sexuality! Eros himself! This was so much better than the first one. I just wanted more conflict though and more action
nonuhtnaw's review
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
krisk_5's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
carolinegtee's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5