I’m obsessed with this. I was nervous because book one occasionally felt disjointed, but this had none of that. And this had tons of similarities with the original Cupid/Psyche story. I thought it was a great adaptation.
Psyche. I loved her. She is confident and competent. I love a competent character. Her skill with social media and subtle manipulations were great. But she’s also a sweet character. That may sound like a contradiction, but it does work.
Eros is on the grumpy/brooding side. He’s been manipulated by his mom, Aphrodite, and is now her fixer. So he has done some bad things and that’s really messed him up. He views himself as a monster and undeserving of love. I thought this was a great twist on the monster aspect of the original story.
The romance is a marriage of convenience and has some Romeo & Juliet elements. Psyche and Eros’ moms are feuding and the stakes are high. They end up in a compromised situation and get married to try and get out of that. They’re attracted to each other, but know acting on that could cause more problems. So there’s some angst with the sexual tension. The steamy bits were just perfection. The passion lept off the page. And the scenes progressed the story and showed character development. Katee Robert is very good at using sex to explore her characters. And she certainly knows how to write a hot sex scene. She has magic.
The politics of Olympus were further explored here and I’m getting more invested. The stakes were raised. I also am getting invested in more characters. It’s hard because I never know if I’m supposed to like a character. Although Katee Robert will make you fall in love with a villain. I particularly want Psyche’s roaming two sisters to get a romance-especially Euridice. There’s so much there and I need it. Sadly, nothing’s been announced yet.
The next book will be connected to another family. I’m curious to get a different view on politics in the world. It’s also going to be poly. Fortunately, we only have to wait a few months.
Thanks for reading!
Holly