Psyche and Eros: A Novel

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A beautiful retelling, breathing new life into a beloved myth. Luna McNamara weaves an enthralling tale of adventure, romance, and star-crossed lovers, in an enchanting world of ancient gods and legends.” — Sue Lynn Tan, bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess 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

This is one of my favorite Greek myths, as it’s one of the few where the female is the hero in her own tale and wins her own happy ending. She fights for it, and hard, but she does see victory in the end. I thought that McNamara presented it very well. The romance was fun and sweet with just the right amount of tension for the story to really work. Psyche is a strong character, and even though she is not generally a warrior in classic tellings of the tale, I thought her ferocity balanced well with her kindness, and both worked beautifully for the story. Eros was presented as more likable and fleshed-out that is typical, which I appreciated, as well. And I love how thoroughly the author embraced the magic of the time and place. 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 story becomes a name-dropping marathon of Who's Who in Greek mythology. Everyone worth a mention in the heroic cycle appears here. The author decided this story would take place during the Trojan War timeline, because why not, a time where human sacrifice was still practised, but somehow making a feminine girl a tomboy so she's properly feminist is more important than the horrific customs of the time. You get a catwalk throng of heroes and gods sashaying around here, and all changed from how they are in the myths. Why? Because "myths are always evolving and adapting." Yeah? Is Greece your culture and are those myths part of your modern culture? No. The author is American, and as many Anglophone authors recently, seems to think they can take another culture's mythology and do as they please with it in the name of "reclaiming it" or making it feminist. I loved the vibrant visualization of the story and the Gods and mortals, the world building and character development.A joyous and subversive tale of gods, monsters, and the human heart and soul, Psyche and Eros dazzles the senses while exploring notions of trust, sacrifice, and what it truly means to be a hero. With unforgettably vivid characters, spellbinding prose, and delicious tension, Luna McNamara has crafted a shimmering and propulsive debut novel about a love so strong it defies the will of Olympus. Fiercely feminist and deeply romantic, Psyche and Eros has the allure of an old fable and the epic quality of ancient myth, tinged with a provocative, modern wit. Passionate and deftly-told.” — Ava Reid, bestselling author of The Wolf and the Woodsman 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.” McNamara writes interesting characters and fleshes this myth out in a way that adds meaningfully to the current trend of exploring the lives of women in antiquity." — Book Riot

Evocative and lyrically spun… Psyche and Eros is a pure delight’ Rebecca Ross, #1 internationally bestselling author of A River Enchanted 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. I just realized while reading this that he's a lot like an Edward Cullen character? He's only dreamy if you're into self-centered creepy jerks. If Eros and Psyche were set in modern times, Eros would TOTALLY be driving a Volvo.)A riotous adventure . . . McNamara strikes the perfect note of irreverent humor and furious emotion in this fabulous novel. An absolute joy!” — JENNIFER SAINT, bestselling author of Ariadne 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 Evocative and lyrically spun... Psyche and Eros is a pure delight' Rebecca Ross, #1 internationally bestselling author of A River Enchanted 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 New York Times bestselling author of Divine Rivals and A River Enchanted Even the writing didn’t live up to my expectations. It proceeded too fast and it didn’t let us emphasise with the characters. They remained flat throughout the percentage of the book I read and there was nothing particular characterising them.

Bʏ ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʀᴜʟʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴇʟsᴇ, ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ. Aɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀsᴇʟғ, ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ʜᴀʀᴅᴇʀ.” Fiercely feminist and deeply romantic, Psyche and Eros has the allure…and the epic quality of ancient myth, tinged with…modern wit’ Ava Reid Fiercely feminist and deeply romantic, Psyche and Eros has the allure of an old fable and the epic quality of ancient myth, tinged with a provocative, modern wit. Passionate and deftly-told.” — AVA REID, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning and The Wolf and the Woodsman Psyche is never seen as a warrior or “physically tough” woman in the myth… I’m not entirely sure what is up with English authors taking feminine ancient Greek historical or mythological figures and making them “badass” and “warrior-like” and physically tough… It’s as if there is some type of shame surrounding the notion of a virtuous but feminine and kind woman. What is “feminist” about distorting a woman’s entire persona just because you don’t like the fact she’s feminine??? She was never a tomboy and NEVER a warrior, so this made me so annoyed from the get-go. A stunning, exciting and hotly-anticipated feminist retelling of one of the greatest love stories in Greek mythology!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. I was completely unfamiliar with the story of Eros and Psyche before reading this book and was really looking forward to a new (to me) story set within the Greek and Roman mythos. 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. It’s presented as a retelling of Eros and Psyche, a myth and a famous novel written by Apuleius that I’ve read this year and studied at school years ago. As an amateur of Greek and Roman mythology, I couldn’t wait to start this retelling, not aware that everything differs from the original myth or, in general, from mythology itself. 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."

Wᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜʀᴀʟʟ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴇsᴛɪɴʏ ᴏʀ ғᴀᴛᴇ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴍᴇʀᴇʟʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ ᴄʜᴏɪᴄᴇs. Wʜᴇɴ ᴡᴇ ᴛᴜʀɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏᴡᴀʀᴅ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ʟɪᴋᴇ ғʟᴏᴡᴇʀs ғᴀᴄɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ sᴜɴ, ᴡᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ғᴜʟғɪʟʟɪɴɢ sᴏᴍᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴘʜᴇᴄʏ ᴏʀ ᴏʟᴅ sᴛᴏʀʏ. Wᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ.” 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. Why is Penelope related to Helen and not Clytemnestra? They’re technically all COUSINS in the original myth. 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.Overall a fun and thoroughly entertaining read that’s perfect for fans of Madeline Miller and Jennifer Saint. Even Eros (a god himself) shows contempt for the selfish (sometimes harmful) games Zeus’ pantheon of Gods partake in (including his disgust and guilt at some of his own questionable decisions.) Honestly, everything about this book was an insult to the tale of love between Eros and Psyche. And it really bums me out. Aphrodite, who reads an awful lot like the version of the goddess as seen in Xena, is the book’s only villain, by the way, as McNamara has removed Psyche’s jealous sisters from the equation here. A classic love story for the ages that McNamara adapts into an unputdownable book. . . . Readers who have enjoyed Madeline Miller’s and Jennifer Saint’s retelling of Greek myths will enjoy this novel. The text is beautiful and poetic, immersing the reader into the world of ancient Greece, while still reading like a modern novel. A must-read for fans of Greek mythology adaptations, this book is enjoyable, poignant, and beautifully written." — Library Journal