A review by cnorris235
Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm going to start by saying I feel this is more of a reimagining than a retelling of the original story, as the author admits to changing some of the original story line and blurring fairytale with Greek mythology.
Overall I'm a big fan of Greek mythology and I love reading new interpretations of old stories. I really loved that this novel incorporated many different gods/goddesses on a timeline I'm familiar with in history (the Trojan War). Psyche is the princess of Mycenae and Eros the god of desire is "cursed" by one of his own arrows. Eros falls hopelessly in love with Psyche and brings her to his magical seaside home, only Psyche can never see his face or Eros will be ripped away from her forever. Psyche learns she is expecting and decides she must see his face. Psyche takes a lamp into their bedroom while Eros is sleeping, and almost instantly he is ripped away into the unknown, their house falling into ruin around her. Psyche must now figure out how to find her way back to her love.
I enjoyed this novel, however it isn't for everyone. It's told as a story from both Psyche and Eros' perspective, almost as if they are in the far away future looking back on these events that happened. There are also parts of the story that seemed slow and unnecessary, hence the docked star. I also thought it would be more of a romance that it was.
Overall I'm a big fan of Greek mythology and I love reading new interpretations of old stories. I really loved that this novel incorporated many different gods/goddesses on a timeline I'm familiar with in history (the Trojan War). Psyche is the princess of Mycenae and Eros the god of desire is "cursed" by one of his own arrows. Eros falls hopelessly in love with Psyche and brings her to his magical seaside home, only Psyche can never see his face or Eros will be ripped away from her forever. Psyche learns she is expecting and decides she must see his face. Psyche takes a lamp into their bedroom while Eros is sleeping, and almost instantly he is ripped away into the unknown, their house falling into ruin around her. Psyche must now figure out how to find her way back to her love.
I enjoyed this novel, however it isn't for everyone. It's told as a story from both Psyche and Eros' perspective, almost as if they are in the far away future looking back on these events that happened. There are also parts of the story that seemed slow and unnecessary, hence the docked star. I also thought it would be more of a romance that it was.