Sihay

Psyche and Eros is Luna McNamara’s debut novel. It retells the myth we’ve known since grade school English class, but with a refreshing balance of fierceness and selflessness when it comes to the people we love. Due to Aphrodite’s jealousy, Eros fell hopelessly in love with Psyche after fumbling with his quiver and wounding himself with the cursed arrow. They can never look upon each other’s faces else they will be pulled apart forever.

However, instead of a naïve, love-sick, young woman who’s desperate to find a spouse, Psyche is a spirited warrior princess in this novel. That is my favorite thing about this retelling, having a woman who was prophesied to be a great lover but also clings on to her agency. The oracle said she’d destroy a monster that even the gods feared. She trained since childhood to overcome this “monster” and grew strong and beautiful in the process. She’s loyal and dedicated to her family and friends and found love only by accident. In more ways than one, she’s naïve to the ways of the world, which can be understood as she was a princess, but pragmatic and resourceful in times of trouble. I can’t emphasize enough how much I fell in love with this character.

I loved the dialogue, how each line elicits emotion, especially when Prometheus was describing his unconditional love for humans. I also like how the characters are painted in the novel, the meticulous depiction of the cross that each woman in this novel has to bear. They hold truth even in just a few words. The author didn’t say much, but you will know the characters’ dispositions and state of mind at every scene. I was especially impressed by how Elektra was portrayed as a calculating, cold toddler.

There really wasn’t much to hate about the book. I just found that some backstories and explanations disrupt the story and interrupt however you’re feeling in certain scenes. Still, the book was magical and emotional, and exactly what I needed to read at the right time.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

1. I was seeing inside her dream. Sometimes minds attuned to each other can touch in sleep. Desire, after all, always finds its target.
2. There’s a certain kindness to you now that can only come from pain.
3. I suppose I did it for the same reason any immortal does anything: I wanted to see what would happen…and because I have found that a life spent protecting what one loves is the greatest satisfaction of all. (Prometheus, on why he risked having his side mutilated and his liver eaten by an eagle for all eternity, all because he wanted to give humans fire.)
4. I suppose you simply love her as best you can and for as long as you can, until her mortal soul goes down into the Underworld. (Prometheus to Eros)
5. You are not like a daughter to me. I would never rest easy if I had a daughter; the world is too cruel…I have watched you grow into the fullness of your strength, and it has been one of the great joys of my life. (Atalanta to Psyche)
6. For Clytemnestra, the world was nothing more than an ornate cage, and her only hope was making sure it was at least orderly.
7. Don’t let grief burden you. Don’t lose yourself in visions. Don’t resign yourself to the Fates.
8. Real love meant caring for someone else as much as you did yourself, and Aphrodite always put herself above all others. Perhaps a god could change, but Aphrodite needed to decide that for herself.

Not that it’s relevant to my review, but I finished reading this book at the most charming cafe on Jeju Island. The owner himself delivered the cup of coffee to me. We don’t speak the same language but have somehow understood each other. He said that every morning, they lovingly handpick each coffee bean that they’ll use throughout the day.

Naturally, I felt grateful for the thought and said, “Then this must taste amazing.” He flashed this beaming smile and nudged the cup closer to me, so I knew he understood. I know I was only a stranger flipping through a book, but being in that corner, surrounded by people who rested after a work day, talking in hushed tones with their friends, and by the cafe owner and staff who put a lot of love and care into the cup of coffee in front of me was truly a gift.