Psyche and Eros: A Novel

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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. Anyways yeah I’m done ranting. Pretty disappointed, if anyone has any recommendations for Psyche/Eros retellings that are good, please let me know! Psyche trains from a very young age to become a fierce archer and warrior, and grows arrogant in her belief that she will become the strongest and fiercest woman in the land. She can outride, outshoot, and outwrestle any man, and also hates every single one she meets. At thirteen, she was present at the wedding of Helen to Menelaus, even though she could not possibly have been old enough to attend. Also, Penelope and Helen and are somehow sisters now. She even trains alongside Atalanta, and becomes a rival in athletics of Achilles, whom she can outrace as a teenager. At the age of seventeen, she beheads a drakonius and becomes a full acolyte of Atalanta. Oh, and Iphigenia is Psyche’s beloved cousin. The Eros sections were far more interesting and thoughtful than Psyche's point-of-view. The book would've been a lot better if it was solely from Eros's perspective.

For someone who wasn't familiar with Eros and Psyche's story, this book was the best Greek myth book I have ever read. When I requested for the arc I didn't expect to get the arc. Honestly, I didn't expect this book to be so good. I love Greek mythology and I know it's surprising that I wasn't familiar with this couple but eyyy maybe it was my destiny to learn about them in this book lol. so I’m pretty sad, but felt I should warn people that are excited about this book. Of course this is just an opinion, feel free to read it and make one for yourself, but I’m just SO DISAPPOINTED. A prophecy claims that Psyche, princess of Mycenae, will defeat a monster feared even by the gods. Rebelling against her society’s expectations for women, Psyche spends her youth mastering blade and bow, preparing to meet her destiny. 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 * Delightful . . . Psyche and Eros is a fierce example of the power of love, fidelity, and determination . . . McNamara takes ancient mythology and, making judicious alterations, creates something that is recognizable yet new and, yes, more modern. McNamara is following in the tradition of Euripides and Apuleius – bringing myths into the contemporary world – and I for one am here for it.” — Alexandra Pierce, Locus

Summary

I enjoyed Eros’ character arc, though I admit to finding Psyche just a smidge more developed. I did, however, really love Eros’ alternating POV chapters as they allowed us to delve into the thought processes and emotions of the gods, which we don’t always get to do in retellings. Psyche in the original myth is a wonderful, modest woman, and STRONG, not because she’s a “warrior” and “hero” that underwent the tutelage of Atalanta (seriously where did this storyline even pop up into existence for the author they never even MET in the myth let alone were teacher and student) but because she went through so many tasks and obstacles and even ventured into the underworld absolutely TERRIFIED but determined to find her long lost love. That’s what makes her strong and beautiful. One of my favorite books of all time is Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, which is a retelling of this very myth. Psyche and Eros couldn’t be more different in tone and telling, and yet I thoroughly enjoyed this iteration, as well. McNamara made some interesting choices in terms of setting and character inclusion that baffled me a bit, but her style was easy and engaging and a lot of fun to read.

So, here we have a mediocre pastiche of the actual myths surrounding Eros with the novel by Apuleius plus Greek drama bits and plenty of personal tastes forced into foreign ancient mythology. Eros is forced to be Aphrodite's "son," why? Because she says so and he can't avoid becoming her slave. Psyche is made a Mycenaean princess and granddaughter of Perseus, why? Because the author wanted it, screw cohesion. Psyche's sisters aren't the envious saboteurs as in the novel, why? Because the author despises having precious sisterly bonds depicted negatively, screw that as a social worker she'd know well how dysfunctional families can be, but of course let's keep Aphrodite as the arch-villain and make her even eviller than in the novel, because that's not sexist, no, sir, only showing women as bad sisters is sexist. We knew we needed to move fast to snap up Luna’s brilliant novel and we’re so thrilled that she’s chosen Orion to be her publisher." Overall a fun and thoroughly entertaining read that’s perfect for fans of Madeline Miller and Jennifer Saint. 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. The writing of this book was excellent, but in a far different way than Circe or Clytemnestra or weightier books in the Greek myth retelling world. Psyche and Eros is an incredibly fast, easy read, one that felt young adult or new adult, but in the best of ways. It was all about the story, not about the prose or the philosophy or the emotion. It was a compelling story very well told, and that was all it needed to be.

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 could write an essay on what I didn't enjoy about this book, but it all boils down to feeling like McNamara had no confidence that the Eros and Psyche story could stand alone. Psyche spends so much of her storyline bouncing between cameos of famous Greeks and being the most Special Woman To Exist (she's the granddaughter of Perseus! She's the only student of Atalanta! She's besties with Iphigenia! She shows Achilles that girls can run! She's as skilled as Artemis, as cunning as Athena, as beautiful as Aphrodite! She's briefly engaged to Nestor! She's beloved by all who meet her, including most of the gods and also Medusa!) that when she finally meets Eros, there's barely any time for them to bond in any meaningful way. And even that time is spent faffing about with Eros not telling her the nature of his curse or his identity and her just... not asking. 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 tender, meditative, bittersweet tale of one of literature’s most ancient themes: love unfolding through self-discovery in the face of death’ Maya Deane, author of Wrath Goddess Sing

Lisa Fernandes

Having said this: all of the characters are reinvented in ways that don’t make sense, the author took from an actual primary source like from Hesiod, mixed it with retellings from Euripides and Apuleius , and decided to add her own twists too, which made absolutely zero sense: As I said before, I couldn’t finish this book. From the beginning, when Psyche’s character was irremediably changed, I knew that this novel wasn’t for me. Carol Gilligan analysed the myth and described it as the story of the woman against her reification that started with her veneration as a goddess because of her striking beauty. But the changing carried out in Psyche erased the real essence of her character. Charlotte Mursell, editorial director at Orion Fiction, pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights to the debut novel from Hattie Grunewald at The Blair Partnership in a two-book deal. US rights have been sold at auction to Julia Elliott at Morrow, HarperCollins and translation rights have been sold in Italy (Garzanti), Poland (Muza) and Germany, with offers in eight other territories. Bᴜᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴀɴsᴡᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏ̨ᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴ: ʏᴇs, ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴛᴀʟ ɢɪʀʟ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ɪs ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ᴛʜᴏᴜsᴀɴᴅ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴍᴏʀᴛᴀʟ ɢɪʀʟs, ᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴡʜᴏᴍ ғᴇᴇʟ ᴘᴀɪɴ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴀᴘᴘɪɴᴇss. Sᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇs ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴄᴀᴜsᴇs ᴏɴᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ sᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇs ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ – ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴀs ɪᴛ ɪs ᴀᴍᴏɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏᴅs." Ok, I have to admit that she is from now on my favorite heroine. She is sooo brave and the way she never gave up. She isn't like the other Greek girls from the myths. She is special and that makes her have a special place in my heart. She never doubted herself and believed herself to be a heroine one day. I love her.

Evocative and lyrically spun… Psyche and Eros is a pure delight’ Rebecca Ross, #1 internationally bestselling author of A River EnchantedAn enthralling tale of adventure, romance, and star-crossed lovers' Sue Lynn Tan, bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess Overall: I would recommend to those who want a Greek Myth inspired love story with plenty of adventure!