I really wanted to love this book, but the story was just so different from other Greek myths (featuring the same characters) that it made me not really enjoy it. For example, Penelope . In this book, Penelope is the sister of Iphigenia, etc., and Psyche is the Princess of Mycenae. This is the first time I have read that and I just didn't like the changes to the myths that I am familiar with.

Psyche and Eros by Luna McNamara
4.5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

•••Spoiler free review below•••

This was such an enjoyable retelling of the story of Psyche and Eros. When the god of desire, Eros, is forced to suffer his own gift, he must scheme a way to fulfill his desire for Psyche. As usual with the gods, things don't go to plan.

Read this book if you like:
- mythology retellings
- dual POV
- gods learning lessons
- strong female leads
- appearances by other beloved Greek heros/gods

Psyche and Eros will be released on June 13th and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
.
.
.
Special thanks to Harper Audio for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC audiobook! Although I am not familiar with the tales of Psyche and Eros I really did enjoy this retelling/reimagining! It was a great story of love, adventure, friendships, and loss. I never quite knew what was going to happen next and it kept me on my toes the whole way through. I enjoyed the dual narrators for both Psyche and Eros. It really helped differentiate and separate the characters while listening. Overall it was a really fun listen and with good character development and by the end I was truly rooting for Psyche and Eros and for their story to end happily.

While many people I've heard; favorite greek mythology story would be Persephone and Hades, mine was always Psyche and Eros. Probably because of a beautiful illustrated children's book I now own of this story but as a child I reread and borrowed from the library more often than any book in my life. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book.

I thought the author did a phenomenal job of created and meshing so many characters and stories to make this book. I loved diving into the world of Greek mythology and just sat back and let this author take me on a beautiful adventure.

I loved the vibrant visualization of the story and the Gods and mortals, the world building and character development.

The narrators were fantastic, the dual POV and dual male and female narrators were fantastic and I really enjoyed them. Narrators can make or break a book and these 2 did an amazing job and kept me riveted to the book.

Anyone who wants just a lovely story, would totally enjoy this book.

My one problem was the development between Psyche and Eros seemed "too fast" while everything else seemed to take time and depth, I felt like when Psyche and Eros first were together their feelings for each other and their in-house story came about too fast and then when they were torn apart then things slowed down again.

Other than that I loved the book, the overall story was beautifully written and I enjoyed it!

As an avid reader of Greek mythology retellings, I really enjoyed reading about Eros and Psyche. I was not familiar with their story before reading this book, so I can’t speak to the accuracy of the retelling. However, I can say that I loved both of the characters so much!

Psyche is a strong FMC who is willing to do whatever it takes to fox her mistakes and to be with the one she loves. Eros makes sacrifices and endured punishments to be with his beloved.

Psyche is lovable, but Eros was the star of the book for me. I do wish that there were even more chapters from his POV in the latter half of the story.

Overall I highly recommend this book to any fans of Greek mythology!

Thank you to Harper Audio for my ALC!

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narrators, Rachel Petladwala & Joshua Riley, did a phenomenal job emoting with a nearly lyrical narration that kept me captivated from start to finish.

Disclaimer *this was my first Psyche and Eros retelling and I am not fully aware of the original storyline.* That being said, this review will not be analyzing any potential new takes or changes McNamara has made, but just a review of the story she's written.

Psyche, a mortal princess, is prophesied to one day conquer a monster feared by the gods and therefore spends her childhood training with sword and bow as she eagerly awaits her test and claim to heroine status. Eros, god of desire, lives alone and unloved; forced to deliver a curse to Psyche by his jealous mother, he accidentally is cursed by how own arrow and falls for Psyche only to be doomed to be ripped apart the moment their eyes meet. Thus begins their epic love story and adventures. Can love blossom on a foundation of trickery and lies? Can true love develop within the confines of a curse and in defiance of the gods themselves? What does it truly mean to be a hero and who decides?

The read includes palatable tension and explores all types of love; love of family, love of a mentor, love of friendship, love of self, love of one's people/culture and love of a soulmate. With beautiful prose and a mythological setting, it was a transportive read I will be thinking about for months to come.

This is the book I am constantly craving! Greek Mythology retellings have quickly become my go-to, and I am happy to add Psyche and Eros to my favorites list! This was my first read centering on Psyche and Eros, and I loved the audiobook's dual POV and narration. I was engrossed from start to finish. Psyche's character and strength were wonderful, and the relationship was also complicated and fantastic.

I will be patiently awaiting Luna McNamara's next books. Recommend especially for readers who have never read work centering on Psyche and Eros.

Huge thank you to NetGalley, Harper Audio, and Luna McNamara for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 Stars

the myth of psyche has been my favorite for years, probably owing in no small part to its happy ending, better-than-usual romance and influence on other folk and fairy tale favorites such as beauty and the beast and east of the sun west of the moon. we're living in the age of madeline miller knockoffs, which i'm getting quite tired of. what i usually chafe against are these books' claims to be authoritative and true, some radical reframing of the patriarchy of antiquity. i'm glad to report that luna mcnamara's psyche and eros doesn't fall into that trap.

while it does have its own problems with tone and definition (psyche straining against the expectations of a noblewoman struck me as juvenile more than once), i appreciate that it doesn't claim nor want to be the definitive version of the eros and psyche myth. the supporting cast is a game of greek myth "i spy", reminiscent of tumblr role-playing communities (very niche reference, and i must reiterate, this is not a bad thing), and mcnamara clearly had a blast choosing and arranging the references.

do not go into this book expecting it to be circe. it is much lighter and looser and is having way more fun with itself. three and a half rounded up.

A beautiful and engaging retelling of the myth of Psyche and Eros. McNamara did a wonderful job of bringing this story together in a way that wasn't too doom and gloom or too syrupy sweet. I loved her portrayal of the characters involved and never got bored with her story telling.
Rachel Petladwala and Joshua Riley did a great job of narrating and everything was seamless and smooth.

I’ll always say yes to a Greek mythology retelling, especially when the cover looks like this one for Psyche and Eros! I don’t know much about this myth, but I binged this audiobook hard. First, the narrators were incredible—their accents and voices were so smooth, I really loved hearing them. It did take me a little bit to get into it. It, at first, reminded me of Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne, where there was a heavy build up of explaining the Greek gods and myths. The writing though was beautifully descriptive and eloquent. And I really enjoyed Psyche and Eros. There was a spot in the middle I was waiting to get more of Eros’ perspective because there was a lot of Psyche, but otherwise I loved the balance of these two POVs. They’re so distinct from each other and I love this kind of spin on opposites attract / grump/sunshines. The depth of Eros I thought was so good and I loved his internal battle with both being cursed to love Psyche but also how he just started to like her. And Psyche is such a brave, unwavering character. The two make for a perfect balance and I loved all of the gods throughout it. It’s definitely more a description heavy read, but the writing is beautiful and the characters felt genuine. I enjoyed this retelling a lot.

3.5 stars, rounding up to a 4

This book was at it's best a disappointment, and at it's worse a girl boss take on a myth that suffers at the changes the author forced upon it. We get it, the only way we can respect a #Feminist is if she ditches her feminine pursuits and works to become a warrior. We've all read that story, it's 2023 we should be able to recognize that femininity is not equal to weakness but whatever.
I love authors taking liberties with source material, I'm pro-changing things that need to be changed. I don't even need a good reason, just change it for a vibe! But this book was just... odd in it's choices.

Mythology retellings are my catnip. I’ve read just about every one I can get my hands on, and I like to think I have a solid reference point for the good, the bad, and the best of them.

Luna McNameras debut Payche and Eros fell somewhere in the middle for me. I love the original story and felt this did a great job staying faithful to the myth. However, this iteration felt somewhat impersonal in execution. There didn’t really seem to be a distinct voice to the prose, and I struggled to really feel like this was a unique interpretation of the myth of Psyche and Eros because of that. Likewise, the characterization of Psyche and Eros as protagonists is somewhat flat. The story is written from a dual POV but there wasn’t too much of a difference between the narrative styles, which I found to be a detriment to their unique characters.

Ultimately the story felt thoroughly researched and well edited. Still it failed to trigger any empathy for the tragedy, largely because the characters personalities weren’t all that strongly developed . I enjoyed this to a certain extent, and appreciated the detail and integration of so many myths, but I probably wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who’s not already super into this genre of retellings.

I'm absolutely loving all the novelizations of Greek myths that have been coming out lately. An ancient romance with a happy ending, and fable-quality life lessons. Strong female protagonist, strong female characters throughout, and a romance that was not the damsel in distress but a female warrior.

While many people I've heard; favorite greek mythology story would be Persephone and Hades, mine was always Psyche and Eros. Probably because of a beautiful illustrated children's book I now own of this story but as a child I reread and borrowed from the library more often than any book in my life. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book.

I thought the author did a phenomenal job of created and meshing so many characters and stories to make this book. I loved diving into the world of Greek mythology and just sat back and let this author take me on a beautiful adventure.

I loved the vibrant visualization of the story and the Gods and mortals, the world building and character development.

The narrators were fantastic, the dual POV and dual male and female narrators were fantastic and I really enjoyed them. Narrators can make or break a book and these 2 did an amazing job and kept me riveted to the book.

Anyone who wants just a lovely story, would totally enjoy this book.

My one problem was the development between Psyche and Eros seemed "too fast" while everything else seemed to take time and depth, I felt like when Psyche and Eros first were together their feelings for each other and their in-house story came about too fast and then when they were torn apart then things slowed down again.

Other than that I loved the book, the overall story was beautifully written and I enjoyed it!

*Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow & Company for this ARC audiobook*

This book prides itself on being subversive and nuanced. I'm not so sure about that. A few notes:

1) I am not opposed to taking liberties with the source material. My issue is that any potential consequences are not interrogated well (if at all). Okay, fine, make Penelope the sister, not cousin, of Helen and Clytemnestra. Make Psyche the niece of Agamemnon and cousin of Iphigenia. Eliminate Psyche's sisters entirely, using Iphigenia as a stand-in for a crucial aspect of the myth (and not very well, imo. The sisters would've been a better source of tension. Iphigenia spends like three seconds questioning Psyche about her mysterious husband). The book does precisely nothing to justify these choices. The Trojan War side storyline felt like window dressing and took oxygen away from the core myth, which frankly needed more breathing space. Why change anything, then? There are a million examples like this but I don't care to type them all out.

2) There is a type of historical romance novel which embodies #GirlBoss #Feminism. It values physical strength and traditionally "masculine" pursuits over "girly" hobbies like embroidery and housekeeping. Any silly female who enjoys the latter is merely validating patriarchal ideals. It's one-note in a misguided attempt to dismantle the patriarchy. The more thoughtful books, like Olivia Waite's THE LADY'S GUIDE TO CELESTIAL MECHANICS, have a more nuanced interpretation of feminist revolution.

PSYCHE AND EROS isn't a historical romance, but it suffers from the same problem. I was open, if cautious, to the idea of making Psyche an accomplished warrior with hero ambitions. Psyche wants to train under the hero Atalanta? There's zero evidence for this characterization in the source material, but I initially didn't care because I assumed the worldbuilding would be nuanced. Well, maybe I should have cared, lol. Perhaps it's possible to create a subversive "Psyche is a badass warrior" retelling, but this book isn't it. There are so many *actual* badass female warriors in Greek mythology. It seems like a waste to haphazardly slap on this backstory to Psyche of all heroines.

3) I could forgive #1 and #2 if the romantic ship was great. Alas, it was not.

4) 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.

I am still three-starring because I liked the audiobook narration and the writing was good enough for me to finish. NY publishing is flooded with subversive Greek retellings, so it's unsurprising that some of them don't live up to the advertising. If you're looking for a Madeline Miller readalike, this isn't it. If you don't give a fuck about the mythological source material, you might enjoy PYSCHE AND EROS.

Read via audio (narrated by Rachel Petladwala and Joshua Riley).

4.75/5

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Psyche and Eros is a fantastic reworking of the Greek myth. Psyche is a strong and powerful female character that is easy to fall in love with. The story kept me enthralled until the end and left me wanting more!

A great addition to the ever growing selection of mythological retellings that are so popular right now. Psyche is an awesome, strong woman and I loved getting a happy ending from a Greek tragedy for once.

I really loved this story and thank you so much to the publishing team for the early read. If you're a fan of greek myth and the gods, I definitely recommend Psyche and Eros!

I really wanted to like this book but as far as retellings go this one was very lackluster. The characters lacked genuine growth and the events were all rather circumstantial. There were many moments where I felt as is this book was trying to empower women but it ultimately falls flat of that task. Psyche shows great compassion but she didn't feel like a real character beyond that. The pace really picked up for me when Psyche begins her "quest" but that is in the last 20% of the book.

Overall I found this to be a really enjoyable read. No, it doesn’t strictly stick to the myth that it’s inspired by and it doesn’t have quite the same depth of emotion as some of the other Greek myth retellings but I enjoyed the writing and the way the story was told kept me interested and invested all the way through. I like that the unique take on the story made it feel both familiar because of the world/general characters that we know with but also still felt fresh and new, not just a rehash of the same old thing. If you’re a stickler for retellings being faithful to the source material, this may not be for you. But if you can remove any preconceived notions and take/enjoy the story for what it is, this one is definitely worth reading. And I highly recommend the audiobook version, the narration was great and added interest/depth to the story. I always appreciate multiple narrators when a story is from more than one perspective, it makes it so much easier to tell which parts are which.