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A review by berrytown
The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.25
Overly verbose and yet still manages to explain points of gender theory in a way that is so on the nose it almost feels juvenile. I’m not sure what this retelling was trying to accomplish (well, I do but iI think it does so poorly). It is part smut novel part self-discovery story. The themes here are mature, but the way they are tackled is so flowery and saccharine it robs these acts of all complexity.
The depiction of male gods in this novel is particularly egregious. Yes, in the myths themselves Zeus, Apollo, Hades, and Poseidon all have sordid histories but the function of retellings, at least to me, is to shed new light on these stories. Instead, they are reduced to cartoon villain misogynists that only exist to laugh at trans people and say “women bad” in every way conceivable. In a book that is trying to bring dialogue about gender into conversation with mythology it felt like a miss to make these interactions between these gods and Eros alike (who herself is often depicted as male) so shallow.
Lastly, what rubbed me wrong in the last quarter of the novel was Psyche’s pregnancy used as way to motivate her through her trials. On its own this idea doesn’t bother me but again in a novel about gender, especially about analyzing patriarchal roles, to have motherhood grant women this sort of supernatural strength is a tired trope and it isn’t doing for feminism what this author thinks it is.
Overall, I was disappointed. I really wanted to like this as Psyche and Eros is one of my favorite myths. Unfortunately this retelling didn’t add anything to the themes of the original myth to me.
The depiction of male gods in this novel is particularly egregious. Yes, in the myths themselves Zeus, Apollo, Hades, and Poseidon all have sordid histories but the function of retellings, at least to me, is to shed new light on these stories. Instead, they are reduced to cartoon villain misogynists that only exist to laugh at trans people and say “women bad” in every way conceivable. In a book that is trying to bring dialogue about gender into conversation with mythology it felt like a miss to make these interactions between these gods and Eros alike (who herself is often depicted as male) so shallow.
Lastly, what rubbed me wrong in the last quarter of the novel was Psyche’s pregnancy used as way to motivate her through her trials. On its own this idea doesn’t bother me but again in a novel about gender, especially about analyzing patriarchal roles, to have motherhood grant women this sort of supernatural strength is a tired trope and it isn’t doing for feminism what this author thinks it is.
Overall, I was disappointed. I really wanted to like this as Psyche and Eros is one of my favorite myths. Unfortunately this retelling didn’t add anything to the themes of the original myth to me.