This book took me a while to get into. I was very excited for this book, because I love Greek mythology retellings, but unfortunately I never felt like I was immersed in the story.

Elyse John's writing style is deeply descriptive and beautiful. However, I felt that was overshadowed by the slower build up and forced feminism that tends to be a trend with Greek mythology retellings.

I wish it had been a little stronger of a take on the feminism messaging, given how much that was the focus.

As far as the "retelling" portion, I felt like it fell flat. I understand taking a different stab at the story, but I feel like we missed the messaging of the original.

Overall, I thought it was beautifully written, but just not for me. Perhaps if I went into it without the expectations I have from other Greek retellings I'd have liked it more.

this was my first book that was a retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, and it even had a twist. I am familiar with their story, and found the gender role being switched to be enjoyable and a really innovative idea for the author to take on. the author's writing was beautiful. the crafting of sentences was something i dont really read often so it lead to an exciting reader experience. i thought the pacing of this story was a bit off-putting. the training was so long and i wish the journey part was a little bit longer. i enjoyed both main characters and their relationship. i just think that there were some things that could have been better that wouldve made me change my thoughts of "this book was fine" to "this book was so good".

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collons for providing me with an ARC of this book! The writing in this book is so wonderful; it reads almost like a classic. However, unlike some classics, the language in this book is easy to comprehend. The words chosen convey an almost lyrical quality, which is fitting for a story about a poet. This is a gender-bent retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice (as Orphia and Eurydicius) and I enjoyed every second of it.

- update, it’s been months since I read this and I find myself thinking about it all the time, so I’ve bumped my rating up from 4.5 to 5 stars!

I will start out by saying that I'm a sucker for a Greek myth retelling. Some of my all-time favorite books (and movies) are Greek myth retellings. I was super excited for this book as it's a fresh take on a classic myth, with a feminist spin. Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me. I enjoyed the writing. The writing was lyrical and stunning. I felt the passion and emotion of the romance come through my Kindle (as this was an eARC) and could lap up the prose all day. The "feminism" felt very stereotypical to me? Like, "hey we're women and we can also be strong." I would've been upset if that wasn't part of the characterization, but it stopped there. There was very little nuance. Overall, I was bored with the story and wanted more. Again, I loved the writing and am interested in more by this author, but this retelling just wasn't for me.

This book is a gender-bending retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. I really liked the female centered story and mythical retellings, but this one felt very long and the retelling seemed to drift a little too far from the original storyline. There were a lot of characters and the story was solid, I like how the character's story was centered, but I did feel very long and winded. Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy,.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC; Orphia and Eurydicius is another addition the to Greek Mythology retellings inspired by Madeline Miller. Where parts of the book shown through, mainly the world building; I was disappointed because the trap of trying to be different from the original. In my eyes the best Retellings keep the spirt of the original while exploring a deferent point of view. Orphia and Eurydicius had potential to do this giving more agency to a character who when the story starts is doomed to die. The changes made to the story were not enough for me, and could easily be summed up as queer Orpheus and Eurydice. Sadly I have reached a point were I struggle to enjoy retelling unless they stand out from the rest.

I struggled to not compare this novel to Hadestown a musical the retells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice beautifully and grows the characters, provides agency while building a new world for the audience experience the story in.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc! I have been picking this one up and putting it back for about three weeks. It has everything I love in a book but the prose was just very dry. Which may have been the point, to rewrite it in the exact prose that it was originally written but man it was also so extremely slow. I am not sure what it was about this book or if it was just a right book, wrong time situation but I could not enter the world or this retelling for the life of me. That being said, it is a great starting point if you want to learn more about Orpheus and Eurydice.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-edition of this book!

Unfortunately, I do not think I was the audience for this book. I am not overly familiar with Greek mythology, so I couldn't really appreciate any of the changes and alterations to the original mythos. That said, I still thought I would enjoy it as I like the original Orpheus and Eurydice story, but I just found this book a bit of a drag. I saw some reviews talking about how much they loved Orphia and Eurydicius's romance, but they barely even spent any time together. The book is also quite lyrical and I don't particularly like lyrical writing. This is a me problem though, I should've expected that a story about a poet would be lyrical, but I wasn't really thinking that far ahead when I requested it on Netgalley. As for the feminist aspects of the book... they were not necessarily bad, just very simple and lacked any form of subtlety. The women in the book were regularly going on feminist diatribes which was not particularly engaging or fun to read.
So yeah, wasn't really a fan of this book. I liked parts, but on a whole found it a drag to read. I think this book would be best for someone who is new to feminist ideologies.

3.5/5 stars

I am a big fan of Greek Myth retellings and was excited about this book. By far my favorite part of this book was the lyrical writing. I found it beautifully written and it made me feel like I was existing within the story. Definitely a different writing style to many of the books I have read.

I was only vaguely familiar with the myth of Orpheus going into the book but I loved the making of the main character female and enjoyed the story.

Thank you Net Galley and publishers for letting me read this arc in return for an honest review.

"Tell me, Muse,' I began, 'of Orphia and Eurydicius." The story of Orpheus and Eurydice has been a favorite of mine in all of the Greek mythology stories. It speaks of a love that endures all, even death itself. It is also one of the most tragic of love stories. Elyse John has taken this beloved tale and made it her own without trampling the myth. It was a fun kind of different that it was gender bent and all around bi love story. I got to see some other great myths and famous Greek characters (Goddesses, Medea, Muses) thrown throughout as well as some not so beloved characters, (*cough *cough, looking at you Jason). This whole book was written so beautifully and lyrically like one of the great Epics we know, Odyssey, Iliad, etc. Some parts were a bit drawn out where other parts weren't detailed enough for me. It felt a bit too long and dragged out. I really wanted to read more about their love for each other than about her long journey to become a great poet. She isn't a great poet until they meet. Two souls eternally bound together in equal love. Even though I knew the story and what was going to happen, I still cried 3 times reading this story. This is a great book for lovers of mythology.

Gender bent mythology sign me up! This book was great, and it was what I expected and more will definatly be recommending this

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360 for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: April 2, 2024 (yes I'm behind)

This was a lovely, lyrical, gender-flipped Greek retelling. I feel like fans of The Song of Achilles would enjoy this.

First, I want to thank NetGalley, Harper360, and Elyse John for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Morphia and Eurydicius is a reimagining of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology with a gender twist. I enjoyed the shake up of the story, and adding queer representation. I love mythology, and the change Elyse made was one I really enjoyed.

The way Orphia stands up for what she feels is right for her was empowering (also slightly terrifying with her standing up to her Greek god father Apollo). I love strong female characters, especially when she is bisexual (no bi erasure here)! Eurydicius not being your typical Greek mythology idea of masculinity was refreshing. The characters really were written so well. A great balance in all of them, and I really felt I was able to get to know the characters. Orphia and Eurydicius being determined to not let anything stop them from being together was definitely a tying quest, but what love story or relationship isn't?

I could truly read an entire other book just about the Muses and Calliope (Orphia's mother). Hera, and Persephone were really lyrically written. I wanted to stay in their world and learn so much more. Weaving in a balance of original mythology and the reimagining of the gods, goddesses, and Muses felt natural and I truly felt pulled into the story,

I did feel the story line hit a bit of a drag just about mid-book. It felt a little repetitive in the storyline, but it picks right back up. I only mention it because I want you to read this book, and keep with it if you feel stuck (but you might not feel stuck at all). When the book ended, I wasn't ready. I'm torn on here, and wish we could do half stars. I am putting 4 stars, but would do 4.5 if I could add a half. Be sure to check out Elyse's social media or her website to see some beautiful character art. I absolutely love when authors do this. The book is out now, so be sure to add it to your TBR and pick it up from your local indie bookstore. Yes, there are even ways to support indie bookstores with ebooks and audiobooks!

I’m not usually a fan of tragedies, but when I saw the description of Orphia and Eurydicius as a gender bent, queer retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, I knew I had to give this one a shot. This book, while a slow start, was heartfelt and the characters feel similar, yet different enough from their familiar counterparts to keep the story interesting.

Note: check Content Warnings on StoryGraph before picking up this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 for the eARC!

Orphia and Eurydicius was quite a surprising debut; a Greek mythology retelling of the original Orpheus and Eurydice experiencing a gender flip. I adored the delicate and oh-so-poetic writing of author Elyse John. Orphia was a passionate characters I really enjoyed reading; not afraid to defy her father God Apollo who wants to make her a warrior, but Orphia feels deep in her bones that being a warrior is not what she is meant to be. Her strong will leads her to her mother Calliope who introduces her to the Muses who teach all teach her the skill required to become the best poet in the world. In comes Eurydicius and we can clearly say that it was love at first sight
They complement each other, he is the Ying to her Yang, and they reminded me of the twin flame theory. This book takes us on a beautiful live quest and how they both shook "heaven and earth" (not quite, but anyway) to be together forever.

Greatness!

I fell for this myth when I saw Hadestown last year, and this gender-swapped version is gorgeous! The prose is enchanting and beautiful in how it weaves poetry and magic — visceral. Paced a bit slower than my preference, but still worth a look!

This was a book that I was extremely excited to read and now that I’ve finished it, I’m left with a ton of mixed feelings. Orphia and Eurydicius is a cisbent retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice — which is one of my favourite myths. 

Overall the book is beautifully written with flowery prose, but that also happens to be a bit of a drawback for me. Sometimes purple prose makes it a bit difficult to connect with characters and follow a storyline (despite me already knowing the myth itself), but I know not everyone might be familiar with the original story and it might make this book intimidating and inaccessible for some readers. 

The pacing was also a bit off, especially since the author removed a few crucial parts from the original myth. Some boring parts of the story were dragged out and then other important details were glossed over.

Complaints aside… the romance between Orphia and Eurydicius kept me pushing through. Their tragic romance is so beyond beautiful and the subtle queerness displayed by both main characters made me so happy as a fellow bisexual nonbinary. I just wish that they had been more of a focal point than the overly poetic lengthy descriptions and inner dialogue that didn’t serve much of a purpose. 

It was a beautiful book in general, but I just think that it took a bit too long for me personally to get into the groove of the writing style to fully enjoy this book. This is more so on me than Elyse John who clearly poured so much love and care into crafting this story.

Thank to netgalley and Harpercolins for the ARC of this book. In exchange, this is my honest review of the novel.

So, I’m probably not the target audience of this novel. I hold a degree in classics, (as well as English) so the mythology differences immediately jumped out at me. I don’t mind this so much; every novel I’ve read that retells Greek stories takes liberties. It’s hard to rewrite lyrical poetry and plays as a full length, modern tale. However, the discrepancies in this one just rubbed me all the wrong ways. For one, changing Orphia’s background completely and making her a god from a lesser known telling struck me as interesting. How complex a story could be when the daughter of the god of poetry is forbidden from performing! However, she’s treated almost as mortal outside of her power over poetry force (because it really came off as the force through recitals) and space jumping. There is no real repercussions to her crossing her father, a god. Likewise, the changing of Ixion felt way too head nodding to people who wouldn’t be familiar with the myths and quite possibly not even the name until the wheel drop.

Which, let’s talk about Ixion, because he was one in a long line of overtly 2010s feminism push that rubbed me all kinds of wrong. I’m an intersectional feminist myself and I actively engage in writing and works in feminist circles, but the push that ONLY Euridicius being the “good man” of the story just gave me the ick. I’m all onboard for Jason slander, always, among most men in Greek mythology because most of them suck hardcore from a modern lens, but holy smokes Batman did I suddenly snap back to my tumblr feminism days with this one. The message was boiled down to basically “men are stupid and oppress/r@pe women and only this one man is redeeming”. Which, again, an argument can be made for ancient gender roles, but did I need it so heavy handed in this novel? No. I didn’t.

The pacing was also very slow at times and too fast at others. The first half with the quick skips over years of Orphia’s life felt like I was missing so much of her training and her time with the muses. I didn’t feel the relationship with them at all. The second half felt too quick with cascading action and story beats, taking descending actions to a whole new meaning. The reversal of the golden woman trope in Eurydicius also left a lot to be desired for me. I got too little of him to actually build a love for him as a character. I cared more about Orphia’s grief over him that I did for him himself.

But I won’t say everything was an issue for me. The writing itself was lovely and flowed well. I found myself enjoying Orphia as a character and I loved her relationship with Eurydicius. The two met the star crossed lovers trope to a tee, always have, and John very much captured that here. If you’re reading it for a woman focused tale with lots of revenge vindication, this book has that for you. But if you’re a fan of retellings like Madeline Miller’s which stick pretty closely to the myths they stem from or TS Elliot’s Until We Have Faces, i would steer clear, personally. I enjoyed it as far as putting aside my education and I will more than likely pick up a physical for my shelf to maybe revisit in the future and I will keep my eyes peeled for Elyse John's future releases.

Incredible! The details John put into this story were amazing! I fell in love beside Orphia and felt the heartbreak and regret she felt. I loved reading this story and cannot wait for more!

This book is a gender-bending retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. I am really loving all of these female-centric myth retellings but this one was very, very long for no reason. I think a lot of the things the author wanted to hammer down into the reader (like that the gender-roles were reversed for Orphia and Euridicius and that almost all of the characters were queer) were stated far too many times - don’t assume your readers are stupid or won’t understand the significance of something, especially if it’s important to the overall story.

I wish this story would have been shorter and had a stronger tie to all of Orphia’s plights - they just kind of each fell off of her as she went to her next journey.