Psyche and Eros: A Novel

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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 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?! McNamara’s debut novel will mesmerize readers with its unique and subversive take on gods, monsters and the human heart." — Booktrib 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 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.

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. An enthralling tale of adventure, romance, and star-crossed lovers’ Sue Lynn Tan, bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess

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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 The romance was lighter than I had anticipated but still lovely nonetheless, and the pacing was also quite good considering the amount of info that needed to be conveyed in the opening half of the book. im not super familiar with the tale of psyche and eros, so i really enjoyed learning more about their story. 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.

This is not how you should handle a retelling. You can't just manipulate everything to make it do what you wish. WRITE YOUR OWN CHARACTERS IF YOU WANT THEM TO DO WHAT YOU WANT. Make a story that's "inspired by Eros and Psyche" then this is perfectly well as a novel. But not as a retelling. 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." 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.) Why make Aphrodite into a vicious evil person who is tormented by jealousy alone but make Psyche’s sisters good people? Oh yeah, because sisterly bonds are important and we need them for a feminist retelling. Silly me. But let’s keep the goddess of love, sex, and beauty as a vicious terrible divine figure since she needs to be one for the sake of plot, and since she’s feminine am I right? 🙃Bʏ ʟᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʀᴜʟʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴇʟsᴇ, ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ. Aɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀsᴇʟғ, ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ʜᴀʀᴅᴇʀ.”

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 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. Although still a Princess, this version of Psyche is both an only child and an aspiring warrior (thanks to the prophecy at her birth which claims she’ll conquer a monster feared by the gods.) 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)

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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.

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. 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. My thoughts on this book are a bit all over the place, so it was hard for me to settle on a rating at first, but I think three stars is fairly accurate. It had lots of good moments, but it also had tons of flaws. This book is great for Madeline Miller fans and hardcore Greek mythology fans. However, if you don’t fit into either of those groups, you should skip this one and instead spend your time reading better books.A captivating, feminist retelling of the classical Greek myth. . . . McNamara's prose transports you to another time and place, perfectly capturing the magic and mystery of ancient mythology. A beautifully crafted novel that will enchant fans of Greek mythology and romance alike." — Glamour (UK) She whines so much throughout the book, treats Eros like crap. She’s a misandrist who likes to shoot arrows at things. I’m not entirely sure what the author was going for here. There are so many cool warrior women figures in Greek myth, she could have written about physically strong women like Artemis or Hippolyta… but no. 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 * In this utterly transporting reimagining of Greek mythology, the god of desire is cursed to fall for a spirited young mortal woman, but if she looks upon his face they will be parted forever—an epic adventure and love story for the ages, sure to satisfy fans of Madeline Miller and V.E. Schwab 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