What a beautiful, stunning book this was to read!

I’m generally wary of comparisons to The Song of Achilles, but this is the first book I’ve read where it seems fitting. There’s the same poetic, lyrical writing style, the emotional intensity, and an atmosphere that transports you to another world entirely.

In this book, Eros (known as Cupid in Roman mythology) is reimagined as a shape-shifting, gender-fluid figure, who mostly (but not always) spends their time in a female form. For Psyche, this means re-evaluating everything she has ever known about gender, sexuality, and the roles played by husband and wife. On the occasions when Psyche brushes up against the mortal world again, she is struck by how out of step she feels with Greek society, in a way that felt reminiscent of how many queer people feel today.

Eros also has her own journey, as she explores the different expressions of her own gender. Being a literal god, she is not bound by the rules of human society, but she still has her own obstacles and preconceptions to come up against.

This is a beautifully written, tender study on queerness, told through the lens of an ancient myth. It grabbed my in from the very first page, and wouldn’t let me go until long after it ended. It’s a must-read for anyone who enjoys queer literature, mythology books, and anything in between.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

I am not familiar with Greek mythology retellings. It is a genre I am wary and unfamiliar with, but The Palace of Eros exceeded my expectations.
The story is lush and expertly written while maintaining the author's own direction and substance, making it their own.
I will recommend this book to friends who love Greek myth, because compared to a different overhyped Greek retelling, I prefer this one.

I am a little conflicted about my thoughts on The Palace of Eros. While it is an enjoyable and easy read, it was not quite as complex as I normally like a book to be. I felt it lacked some depth and thoroughness in a few areas, which left me feeling a bit disappointed because I think some concepts from the original mythology could’ve been interesting to incorporate. I do love how themes like gender, femininity, and kindness were explored so that is a major positive.

Such a wonderful premise from Caro De Robertis for "The Palace of Eros" giving us a beautiful, powerful and gender fluid re-telling of the story Psyche and Eros. Unfortunately the writing style didn't work for me. I'm not a fan of flowery, purple prose and there was a lot of it with this book. The plot itself felt a little lacking and was much more character driven focusing on the seduction, romance and blooming love affair between Psyche and Eros which for me wore a little thin quite quickly.

This book will be a must read for fans of books like The Last Tale of the Flower Bride and it genuinely has an amazing heart and powerful message about autonomy, it was just a miss for me based on the writing style which didn't suit my preferences.

2.5*

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press for a digital review copy of "The Palace of Eros" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

This was an interesting retelling of the Pysche and Eros myth, let down by an occasionally jarring writing style and a slow-paced middle section.

There was a lot I enjoyed about this book, such as the charactisation of Pysche and Eros and their relationship. This was also an interesting and multi-facueted version of Aphrodite - shown through the lense of her relationship with Eros. There were times where De Robertis' writing really drew me into the world of Ancient Greece and its myths and its Gods.

However, there were other times where the writing kept swapping between the sentences being far too long or far too short. There were too many run-on sentences in desperate need of a full stop, mixed with short, fragmented sentences that felt half-complete. I think it was possibly supposed to show an almost dream-like state when Pysche is at Eros' palace but it didn't work for me, it just kept pulling me out of the story. (Like at one point I ended up counting how many lines on my Kindle a single sentence was - 13 was the highest I think.)

The middle section also feels like it grinds the pace to a halt with Pysche basically alone in the Palace during the day and then spending her nights with Eros. (And her days with a fig tree and other inanimate objects that left me thinking 'girl, that's how you end up in Ancient Greek A&E.')

On a similar but less humorous note, the deal Eros made with Zeus (that she could shape shift into a man as long as Zeus could watch the first nine times she had sex as a man - a compromise for her being neither female or male that Zeus and Aphrodite decided upon) made me uncomfortable. Like I understand that was the point but it didn't make me any less icked out when reading about it.

Overall, this might still appeal to fans of Greek mythology retellings (especially if you are looking for queer retellings) but it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

3.5 stars

I was given an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"I want to let the rest of the world's noise dissolve, even if only for one night, I don't know what I am or who I am but tonight, right now, I know what I want, and so what if the laws of gods and men would slay me for it, who cares, they already tried to slay me and here I am."

This offered a really interesting take on one of my favourite, but often overlooked, Greek myths. Recounting the story of Eros (aka Cupid) and his mortal lover, Psyche, De Robertis explores the boundaries of the ancient world, and its conceptions of love.

I thought the discussions around gender and sexuality were really well-handled, and perfectly illustrated the complexity of gender and sexual expression in a world with strict societal norms. The dual narrative allows you to appreciate the difficulties faced by both the novel's mortal and immortal protagonists, creating the impression of a couple only just beginning to understand one another and themselves.

There were some places where the strong message of the book felt a little over-emphasised, particularly around the middle of the story where the sex scenes grew a little monotonous and superfluous to its plot. However, the beginning and ending brought some more interesting and nuanced plot points that I have not always seen explored in mythological retellings. I loved the complicated familial relationships - particularly Eros and Aphrodite's bond, and their relationship to a wider and older pantheon of deities. It's through these relationships, and her considered study of gender and sexual expression that De Robertis not only acknowledges the broad strokes of the original myth, but builds on it in new, intriguing ways.

Books with similar vibes - Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane, and Hera by Jennifer Saint.

I don't really know how to rate this, it would probably be closer to three stars but the originality, gender fuckery and horny sapphics makes me want to give it its flowers, so four stars is where I've landed.

Let's start with what I didn't like because I think that list will be shorter:
★ I thought the plot and pacing could have been a little bit tighter, as there were periods where I was gripped and periods where I was a bit bored. There's a lot of long sections of dialogue that I felt could have been a bit more concise, but this was only a small issue for me.
★ The main characters and the relationship between them felt a little bit underdeveloped and insta-lovey, but I equally felt this was stylistic because of the genre, subject and ton e of the story. It very much feels like a myth in the way it's written, and the myth of psyche and eros would lend itself to insta-love. However I do think there could have been a bit more of development of their relationship and chemistry outside of sex!
★ I felt a bit beat over the head with the moral of the story - like yes I get it. Women should have freedom. It feels a bit bitter them talking about changing this and knowing that all the shit they deal with still goes on.

What I loved!
★ The writing itself is gorgeous, emotive and lush. It's got some beautiful lines and the characters' pain is vivid and real.
★ Most importantly, <b>the gender of it all!</b> I've not read a book that does it quite like this. At first I thought we were just getting your bog standard horny sapphics (no complaints from me here) but when Eros started discussing her gender?? A treat. Eros can change her genitalia at will, and feels most comfortable with a penis, but still calls herself a woman. There's a lot of amazing discussion about the expansive feeling of gender, how she feels fluid and like both a woman and a husband, and I just loved it all. There's unashamed sex in both forms, and lots of it, and I just love a book that does not shy away from things like this.

A unique retelling of the romantic tale following psyche and Eros, this book was beautiful from its writing to its story. It’s been approved by Madeline miller and it’s approved by me.

I enjoy re-telling’s of Greek Mythology so I really wanted to read The Palace of Eros, a sapphic reimagining of the tale of Psyche. I had a great time reading this. It’s a fun read. I enjoyed the author’s version of the Gods and some well-known myths, legends and stories. I loved Psyche and Eros’s intense connection and how Psyche obeys her new wife’s strange requests but like all humans curiosity gets the better of her. This is a brilliant fable, a thoroughly engrossing love story. I loved it and would recommend it.

I saw online that this book had been read and recommended by one of my favourite authors, and wanted to see for myself whether the rave review was merited. Being a sapphic retelling of ancient Green origin, this further piqued my interest. I was luckily granted early access by NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!).

Understanding didn’t take long. The first few pages of this book demonstrated such lyrical prose and vivid storytelling that I was completely hooked from then on. It was a constant battle between wanting to devour it in one and wanting to take it slowly and savour it. I did take it slowly but found myself thinking constantly about it and itching to jump back in. Now it’s finished I don’t know what to do with myself and feel a little lost!

I don’t want to say too much about the actual story for fear of spoilers, but it’s about Psyche, a beautiful young mortal woman who captivates the (unwanted) attention of countless men and angers the goddess Aphrodite, whose shrines become abandoned in favour of watching Psyche. Eros is tasked by Aphrodite to make Psyche pay for this - but it doesn’t quite go according to plan…

If you enjoyed The Song of Achilles, do yourself a favour and prioritise this as your next read - you won’t regret it.

The Palace of Eros is a queer retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche. It follows Psyche as she grows up in a small village and draws the ire of Aphrodite through no fault of her own, until she is ultimately swept away to Eros’ palace, where the god has only one demand: she can never be seen in the light, by day or by lantern. Eros, in turn, must keep the relationship secret from her mother, Aphrodite, who originally tasked her with killing Psyche for her slight.

In the way of damned lovers, Eros and Psyche spend their time together in an intimate paradise, with Psyche using her days to explore art and the surrounding woodland. The prose of this book is absolutely gorgeous, and kept me enthralled through the entire read. Despite being familiar with the myth, I found myself constantly wanting to turn the page to see how De Robertis would craft the story in this unique fashion.

If you’re a fan of Greek mythology, or even if you want a sapphic book with a strong feminist undercurrent, The Palace of Eros is a great pick.

"The Palace of Eros" has an interesting premise, and an absolutely horrible (at least to me) writing style. I actually started skimming about half way through because I got so bored by the flowery prose. The plot was minimal, instead the author focuses on the characters' sex life, which just doesn't lend itself to a lot of character development or suspense.
The ending didn't really make sense to me either: the main conflict was basically resolved off-screen, which I certainly didn't find satisfying in any way.

The Palace of Eros is a Greek myth retelling that follows Psyche, a beautiful young woman who has unfortunately caught the attention of the goddess Aphrodite, and Eros, Aphrodite’s daughter and the goddess of desire, that chronicles their all-consuming love that threatens the power of the gods. I appreciated that Psyche was written to be more than just a beautiful girl and instead Eros’ attraction is not purely psychical and is alternatively a result of Psyche’s pure feminine anger shining brightly through her she is paraded by her father as an object for men to gawk at. The resulting marriage and passion between the two characters was believable and well-written and stayed true to Eros’ role as the goddess of desire. The themes of gender identity and bodily autonomy were fantastically written and were a strong message throughout the story. The prose in this book was beautiful and transported me into the world created. I would recommend The Palace of Eros to readers wanting a beautifully written queer love story that perseveres against the wrath of the gods.

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me an early copy in exchange for an honest review*

This retelling of Eros & Psyche follows the original closely, but with the major difference that Eros is a woman (most of the time, she's fluid in gender too). If you're familiar with the story, the book will be fairly predictable, but the characterization and writing were quite good and engaging, I could finish the book quite fast.

Psyche is a mortal girl who never did well fitting into the mold of a ancient Greek woman and future wife and I like how het relationship with beauty was explored. Psyche was so beautiful men came as suitors purely to see her and claim she's more beautiful than Aphrodite and Psyche is deeply uncomfortable with all this attention.

Eros is the daughter of Aphrodite and sent to punish Psyche because Aphrodite is jealous, but instead falls in love with her. The circumstances of their relationship aren't ideal and I love that this retelling explores how the secrecy really wasn't fair to Psyche.

I also really appreciated the characterization of Aphrodite and Eros's relationship with her. Aphrodite is the antagonist of the original myth, but here she's a complex character and ultimately Eros does want a good relationship with her mother and they have a the two of them against the rest of the gods sort of relationship.

I would recommend this to fans of books like the Song of Achilles and Ariadne who would like to see more sapphic myths.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC copy.

This book had me grabbed from the blur straight away, but it's going to be a DNF for me. I managed about a quarter of this book, and I've just had to stop. I just found myself bored it started well, but then I felt it was going nowhere ....im gutted as Greek mythology is my go-to....I suppose you can't love every book you pick up.

I was really excited to read a queer retelling of the Eros and Psyche myth. I was disappointed.

I could not stand the writing style. Lyrical writing can be poetic, this was bloated with unnecessary similes and metaphors. The words start to lose meaning.

The dense prose distracts from the utter lack of plot or real character depth.

The author made the baffling decision to have Psyche’s chapters in first person and Eros’ in third person. Eros was the more interesting character, first person would have given more insight into the character.

3.5 stars

Loved most of the book but it just did not have the magical charm I expected.
I still really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to others.

While we all know the story of Psyche and Eros, we as readers may not realise the full impact that there story had on others. A beautiful story about the power of autonomy.

A story of fighting for one’s autonomy among so many uphill battles, Psyche shows so much strength in that journey for true happiness and love. Could Eros give her everything she wanted and more? Or would their palace only become yet another cage with rules that are hard to follow whilst also being authentic to herself?

For me, the mark of a good book is one that I don’t want to put down - and The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis was absolutely that. This is the tale of Psyche and Eros, but it’s also the tale of what happens around them - the other lives they touch, and how their stories and interwoven in to the tales of other people, other women, other gods.

As a huge fan of Madeline Miller I was SO excited to read this – and I wasn’t disappointed. This novel is heart-wrenching, hard-hitting, beautifully written, sumptuous, poetic, romantic, and (because Eros is the goddess of desire) utterly scorching in places.

I loved how the author switched between Eros and Psyche’s point of view in this novel, and I personally loved the switch between first person (Psyche) and third person (Eros) as I think that mirrored the distance between Psyche and Eros in the novel, the gap between humans and mortals, and was a perfect mirror to the darkness that conceals and veils their relationship from the prying eyes of vengeful gods (like Zeus! Gosh that was an amazing subplot).

A gorgeous retelling, and one I will no doubt read again!

A big thank you to the author, Netgalley, HarperFiction and Borough Press for my advanced e-copy.