Psyche and Eros: A Novel

Product Information

Anyways yeah I’m done ranting. Pretty disappointed, if anyone has any recommendations for Psyche/Eros retellings that are good, please let me know! Evocative and lyrically spun, Luna McNamara’s Psyche and Eros is a pure delight’ Rebecca Ross, #1 internationally bestselling author of A River Enchanted Like she stood up to Aphrodite, and lived to tell the tale, and got everyone’s blessing once she and Eros reunited and had their marriage ceremony. She’s even depicted in mosaic art with colorful BUTTERFLIES for crying out loud, in the company of her husband Eros. Her name literally means “soul” in Greek (psūchē - Ψυχή)

When I walked through the Lion’s Gate in my armour, a victor at the height of my triumph, I could hear people comparing me to manifold goddesses: Artemis for my skill, Athena for my cunning, Aphrodite for my beauty. Of all these, it was only Aphrodite who took issue with the comparison. She never could tolerate competition.” The middle section of the book starting after the arrow incident was really good. I especially liked every moment when Psyche and Eros were together. While I wasn’t super fond of each of them individually, their talks and their chemistry were really well written. Psyche’s stubborness and daring with Eros’ kind soul and protective heart made for a fun combination. overall, i enjoyed this particular greek myth reimagining and has me on the lookout to see what LM writes next! 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

Debut author McNamara revitalizes the classic myth with versatile prose and skillful world building, enmeshing her main characters’ lives with those of other Greek tales and in turn giving readers access to a broad swath of rich mythology. . . . What sets this retelling apart and will no doubt endear it to readers is McNamara’s unparalleled imagination, which folds a great many established myths into one cohesive narrative. The result is a multifaceted story full of rich nuance that will definitely require several rereads to fully capture." — Booklist 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 * But I’m not an expert, I’m only focusing on the things that stood out while reading the book. Things that unnerved me a lot. Writing a retelling means telling a certain story again or sharing a new version of it. But this time, the author didn’t simply revisit the original tale, everything was changed, even things that didn’t need to be altered like family ties, myths, and the historical era of some mythological characters. That’s not a retelling. If the the author wanted to write something new and have free will on who and what to write, then a retelling isn’t the right choice to make. Let you inspire from myths, but write your own world, characters, tales, even deities and don’t change important aspects of a people’s culture. You want something like Madeleine Miller's character studies revealing everything the text touches? Don't go into this expecting that. 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.

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. I love the myth of Eros and Psyche, it is one of my favorites from Greek mythology. This author has twisted it, and not in a good way. 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.Born into an era of heroes, a prophecy claims that Psyche – Princess of Mycenae – will defeat a monster feared even by the gods themselves. Rebelling against society’s traditions, she spends her youth mastering blade and bow, preparing to fulfil her destiny. An enthralling tale of adventure, romance, and star-crossed lovers.” — SUE LYNN TAN, bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess 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 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.

Why is Penelope related to Helen and not Clytemnestra? They’re technically all COUSINS in the original myth.

Advance Praise

Startlingly lovely. Reading Psyche and Eros feels like starting down a familiar path, only to discover endless new wonders along the way. This is Greek mythology as it's meant to be told—witty, indulgent, deeply felt." — Grace D. Li, New York Times bestselling author of Portrait of a Thief This is a riotous adventure through the ages of Greek mythology, populated by a cast of vivid, glittering characters. Luna McNamara strikes the perfect note of irreverent humor and furious emotion in this fabulous novel. An absolute joy!" — Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne and Elektra Vividly bold and unapologetically feminist, Luna McNamara’s sweeping reimagining of Psyche and Eros’ story was a refreshingly insightful and engaging read exploring love in all it’s many guides, that I genuinely didn’t want to end. Evocative and lyrically spun… Psyche and Eros is a pure delight’ Rebecca Ross, #1 internationally bestselling author of A River Enchanted 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.

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.

Lisa Fernandes

Fiercely feminist and deeply romantic, Psyche and Eros has the allure...and the epic quality of ancient myth, tinged with...modern wit' Ava Reid