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Psykhe
Kate Forsyth gives voice, power and agency to Psykhe telling this much loved myth from the perspective of the woman at its centre.
It is not wise to anger the gods ... or to fall in love with one.
Psykhe has always been different. Fair as Venus, the goddess of love, and with the hard-won ability to save the lives of those of mortal blood, she is both shunned and revered.
When she unwittingly provokes Venus, she and her sisters lose everything. Psykhe must find a way to make amends and support her family.
Befriended by an old woman, Nokturna, Psykhe finds herself irresistibly drawn to her young friend, Ambrose. But neither is what they seem.
For Psykhe has fallen in love with a man whose face she is forbidden to see. After disobeying this injunction, she must risk everything to try to save him, even if it means travelling down to the shadowy Underworld to face Proserpina, queen of the dead.
The way to the realm of the dead is easy. A thrust of a sword, a sudden fall, a careless bite of toadstool, and the soul is sucked away. It is the return journey that is difficult ....
The story of Psyche and Eros has been told for more than two-and-a-half thousand years. Kate Forsyth infuses it with new vigour as a life-affirming celebration of female strength, sexual desire, and empowerment.
It is not wise to anger the gods ... or to fall in love with one.
Psykhe has always been different. Fair as Venus, the goddess of love, and with the hard-won ability to save the lives of those of mortal blood, she is both shunned and revered.
When she unwittingly provokes Venus, she and her sisters lose everything. Psykhe must find a way to make amends and support her family.
Befriended by an old woman, Nokturna, Psykhe finds herself irresistibly drawn to her young friend, Ambrose. But neither is what they seem.
For Psykhe has fallen in love with a man whose face she is forbidden to see. After disobeying this injunction, she must risk everything to try to save him, even if it means travelling down to the shadowy Underworld to face Proserpina, queen of the dead.
The way to the realm of the dead is easy. A thrust of a sword, a sudden fall, a careless bite of toadstool, and the soul is sucked away. It is the return journey that is difficult ....
The story of Psyche and Eros has been told for more than two-and-a-half thousand years. Kate Forsyth infuses it with new vigour as a life-affirming celebration of female strength, sexual desire, and empowerment.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 28, 2024
73 people are currently reading
2673 people want to read
About the author
Kate Forsyth
86 books2,562 followersKate Forsyth wrote her first novel at the age of seven, and is now the internationally bestselling author of 40 books for both adults and children.
Her books for adults include 'Beauty in Thorns', the true love story behind a famous painting of 'Sleeping Beauty'; 'The Beast's Garden', a retelling of the Grimm version of 'Beauty & the Beast', set in the German underground resistance to Hitler in WWII; 'The Wild Girl', the love story of Wilhelm Grimm and Dortchen Wild, the young woman who told him many of the world's most famous fairy tales; 'Bitter Greens', a retelling of the Rapunzel fairytale; and the bestselling fantasy series 'Witches of Eileanan' Her books for children include 'The Impossible Quest', 'The Gypsy Crown', 'The Puzzle Ring', and 'The Starkin Crown'
Kate has a doctorate in fairytale studies, a Masters of Creative Writing, a Bachelor of Arts in Literature, and is an accredited master storyteller.
Her books for adults include 'Beauty in Thorns', the true love story behind a famous painting of 'Sleeping Beauty'; 'The Beast's Garden', a retelling of the Grimm version of 'Beauty & the Beast', set in the German underground resistance to Hitler in WWII; 'The Wild Girl', the love story of Wilhelm Grimm and Dortchen Wild, the young woman who told him many of the world's most famous fairy tales; 'Bitter Greens', a retelling of the Rapunzel fairytale; and the bestselling fantasy series 'Witches of Eileanan' Her books for children include 'The Impossible Quest', 'The Gypsy Crown', 'The Puzzle Ring', and 'The Starkin Crown'
Kate has a doctorate in fairytale studies, a Masters of Creative Writing, a Bachelor of Arts in Literature, and is an accredited master storyteller.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews
September 22, 2024
At least this served as a good reminder for why I abandoned Greek myth retellings, and why it should stay that way. And also as the nail in the coffin for Forsyth concerning ever reading her again.
What I'm going to say will sound harsh, but someone had to call this practice out at some point. I'm tired to my core of authors who claim to "love" a myth (or a fairy tale), only to reveal by their choices that, in reality, what they love is that the myth (or fairy tale) serves them as a blank canvas to project their own ideas (or ideology) on that more often than not have nothing to do with what the myth (or fairy tale) represents. And, in the case of Kate Forsyth, it also reveals her poor research into history as well as her inability to create a feel for time and place based on the research she touts. Taking every bit of information she finds in a book/document related to the topic she's retelling and inserting it with a hammer in her story is a flaw she's always had (see my review for her B&B retelling), and she's not improved any after so many books she's written since.
I'm not going to focus so much on her annoying Forrest-Gumping as much as I'm going to focus on her choices for this novel. Let's start with what she has done to Psyche, a mortal princess from a nebulous and unnamed city who is too beautiful as to attract Aphrodite's jealousy, who then charges her son Eros to punish the "offender" with marriage to a monster, but he accidentally falls in love with her, and kidnaps her from her doom to make her his wife, only to be found out by Aphrodite and punished by prison for him and impossible tasks for her on pain of death. Psyche triumphs, with help, and ultimately is rewarded by Zeus to become one of the immortals.
This kind and brave girl, the only case of a mortal girl becoming a deity through the Hero Journey reserved only for (usually bastard) male offspring of gods and kings, is turned in this novel into an albino. Why? No idea. Forsyth says in her authorial notes that there's archaelogical remains of an albino boy in Etruria, the implication being that it might've been a sacrifice. Well and good, but:
a) what does it have to do with the Eros & Psyche myth, pray tell?
b) and since we're on the topic of Etruscans, what do they have to do with Eros & Psyche as told by a Roman novelist seven centuries later?
c) and why do you throw in the Junii and the Julii, both famous Roman Patrician families, as consorts/lovers to Psyche's sisters?
Forsyth is known for her appalling logical pirouettes, she's the author who wrote the wife of Wilhelm Grimm as a victim of abuse by her own father based on her theory that she must've been the source of some of the Grimms' tales with abused girls in them. Because, of course, women can't tell dark tales without firsthand experience of violence themselves? Who knows. But here, Forsyth again takes an illogical mental gymnastics jump by making Psyche an Etruscan noble's daughter based on there existing a fresco depicting Eros & Psyche she says is the earliest depiction of the myth before Apuleius wrote it as we know it. And since there are also remains of an albino, and it's 500 years BC, the "logical" conclusion Forsyth reaches is to make Psyche an albino Etruscan related by marriage to the Tarquin last king of Rome and to the Junius Brutus and Julius Caesar families. But, naturally, she still kept the bits from the myth she likes, such as Psyche being otherworldly beautiful (as if primitive Romans would find an albino anything but ugly and sick, both Greeks and Romans were terribly ableist) and smooching with Eros (who is still a deity, but called Ambrose instead).
Ah, haha. Oh, how I laughed out loud at this mess. Did I tell you that Forsyth also inserts two slaves called Nasrin and Fatima, identifiably Muslim by name and description, in a setting a millennium before Islam existed and in a place that was more likely to have (white) slaves from the next city-state over than from Persia? And that another slave, a Gallic woman, somehow knows resurrection techniques from Egypt at a time when the Gauls were mostly nomadic and didn't have the civilisation and far-reaching contacts they would have centuries later through Greece and Rome's influence? And that Psyche's sister conceives Cesar (the first of the Caesars from the Julii line) from an affair with her guard? And so and so forth. It's a nauseating smörgásbord of bits and pieces from here and there, typical of someone with a feeble grasp of a historical period and that tries to compensate by attaching all sorts of frills to their Christmas tree of a plot.
Perhaps the most irritating aspect, to me, is what the author claims about "Beauty and the Beast," from which she takes and shoehorns some elements that don't belong in the myth. She says Eros & Psyche is the taproot for the fairy tale, which is true enough. To an extent, because they're not in the same category like Forsyth claims. B&B isn't "searching for the lost husband" like she says, E&P is. Come on, I don't have a PhD degree in creative arts and fairy tale studies, but even I know that what you say isn't true. Beauty & Beast does share the same "animal bridegroom" category, but it's not in the same tale type as Eros & Psyche. There's over a millennia worth of evolution from the myth to the tale, and B&B is basically its own subcategory by now that doesn't share space with Psyche's myth as it's a creation from the 18th century on its own. Do you even know the difference between myth and fairy tale? I have my doubts. Maybe Forsyth was thinking of the Grimms' version of B&B, the one she retold (and badly), entitled "The Singing, Springing Lark." That folktale does have a "searching for the lost husband" categorisation, but, oh boy, that isn't the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale.
For goodness's sake, when are these "experts" going to learn that BEAUTY AND THE BEAST IS THE ONE BY MADAME DE VILLENEUVE. Full stop, and thank you for coming to my TED talk. Jesus, it's so discouraging when even supposed fairy tale academics don't seem to know their stuff and have the gall to claim they love this tale and that it's one of their favourites.
And back to the "I love this tale" claim, I've come to dread this claim by now, because of what follows right after. Many of the self-proclaimed lovers of B&B and Eros & Psyche are very adept at "feminist" ideas that conflict with these old tales and myths, and Forsyth is no exception. When explaining her love for the Psyche myth (with hardly a mention of Eros, by the way), she says it's because this myth is one of the few where a female isn't abused and mutilated and treated like chattel (really? have you read the myth and what happens to Psyche?) but is a triumphant tale of feminine empowerment at the end. That's quite true, Psyche is indeed such a rare gem of a myth, and it's also one reason I love it so much as I do B&B. But, unlike Forsyth, I accept the myth for what it is, I acknowledge that its problematic aspects exist and the ugly realities of its culture and time and mores that it reveals; I can't change that, and I accept that.
Forsyth doesn't. She says there's a fairy tale (from centuries later, by the way) that has the same plot and archetypes, in which Psyche isn't passively made to accept Eros when he kidnaps her from the sacrificial rock to make her his wife but that she gives her active consent to break the curse instead, so she goes for that and inserts it here. To achieve her whitewashing and sanitising of the myth as originally told, Forsyth wants to get rid of the "problematic" parts that rile her up and makes Psyche and Eros, er, Ambrose, be childhood friends, so when it's time for them to screw each other, at least Psyche won't be having sex with a stranger she didn't choose but her very handsome childhood chum who happens to be a god and adopted son of a psychotic goddess. How is this different from the legions of fangirls that can't live with themselves for loving Hades & Persephone stories without first having them meet before he kidnaps her? Seriously, all the cultural and period context has to go out the window only because these people's modern sensibilities can't handle the cognitive dissonance of enjoying a romance from a time when arrangements were the norm and female consent wasn't required. You have to make them meet beforehand, and have the woman actively consent, because God forbid we accurately reflect the ugly reality that women were made to accept their own oppression. No, sir, all these characters have to give consent and boldly proclaim that they will only marry for love to men they know well and have created bonds with. Oh, and also be anti-slavery at a time when nobody thought slavery was abhorrent.
So, yeah, that's how we ended up with an albino Psyche who is a witch and very beautiful and married to a deity but somehow she and him end up mortals and dying at the end anyway. Screw it that history wasn't Salem, Ma., writ large where any woman in midwifery and healing was seen as a witch by default regardless of time and place, screw that people from 500 years BC wouldn't consider a half-Gaulish albino a beauty, and screw that Etruscans, Hellenes, and Romans are very different. Yes, screw all those pesky facts, what we need is a special snowflake not like other girls, and because we need to make it believable, let's make it pseudohistorical instead of pure fantasy as it'd have been best.
Maybe the author would've produced a story that was both enjoyable and made sense if she'd paid more attention to history books and less to the Jungian pseudo-scientific psychobabble she names by the end. Anyway, I'm striking this author through from consideration for future reads, I've given her too many chances, and it's always the same issues in every book of hers.
What I'm going to say will sound harsh, but someone had to call this practice out at some point. I'm tired to my core of authors who claim to "love" a myth (or a fairy tale), only to reveal by their choices that, in reality, what they love is that the myth (or fairy tale) serves them as a blank canvas to project their own ideas (or ideology) on that more often than not have nothing to do with what the myth (or fairy tale) represents. And, in the case of Kate Forsyth, it also reveals her poor research into history as well as her inability to create a feel for time and place based on the research she touts. Taking every bit of information she finds in a book/document related to the topic she's retelling and inserting it with a hammer in her story is a flaw she's always had (see my review for her B&B retelling), and she's not improved any after so many books she's written since.
I'm not going to focus so much on her annoying Forrest-Gumping as much as I'm going to focus on her choices for this novel. Let's start with what she has done to Psyche, a mortal princess from a nebulous and unnamed city who is too beautiful as to attract Aphrodite's jealousy, who then charges her son Eros to punish the "offender" with marriage to a monster, but he accidentally falls in love with her, and kidnaps her from her doom to make her his wife, only to be found out by Aphrodite and punished by prison for him and impossible tasks for her on pain of death. Psyche triumphs, with help, and ultimately is rewarded by Zeus to become one of the immortals.
This kind and brave girl, the only case of a mortal girl becoming a deity through the Hero Journey reserved only for (usually bastard) male offspring of gods and kings, is turned in this novel into an albino. Why? No idea. Forsyth says in her authorial notes that there's archaelogical remains of an albino boy in Etruria, the implication being that it might've been a sacrifice. Well and good, but:
a) what does it have to do with the Eros & Psyche myth, pray tell?
b) and since we're on the topic of Etruscans, what do they have to do with Eros & Psyche as told by a Roman novelist seven centuries later?
c) and why do you throw in the Junii and the Julii, both famous Roman Patrician families, as consorts/lovers to Psyche's sisters?
Forsyth is known for her appalling logical pirouettes, she's the author who wrote the wife of Wilhelm Grimm as a victim of abuse by her own father based on her theory that she must've been the source of some of the Grimms' tales with abused girls in them. Because, of course, women can't tell dark tales without firsthand experience of violence themselves? Who knows. But here, Forsyth again takes an illogical mental gymnastics jump by making Psyche an Etruscan noble's daughter based on there existing a fresco depicting Eros & Psyche she says is the earliest depiction of the myth before Apuleius wrote it as we know it. And since there are also remains of an albino, and it's 500 years BC, the "logical" conclusion Forsyth reaches is to make Psyche an albino Etruscan related by marriage to the Tarquin last king of Rome and to the Junius Brutus and Julius Caesar families. But, naturally, she still kept the bits from the myth she likes, such as Psyche being otherworldly beautiful (as if primitive Romans would find an albino anything but ugly and sick, both Greeks and Romans were terribly ableist) and smooching with Eros (who is still a deity, but called Ambrose instead).
Ah, haha. Oh, how I laughed out loud at this mess. Did I tell you that Forsyth also inserts two slaves called Nasrin and Fatima, identifiably Muslim by name and description, in a setting a millennium before Islam existed and in a place that was more likely to have (white) slaves from the next city-state over than from Persia? And that another slave, a Gallic woman, somehow knows resurrection techniques from Egypt at a time when the Gauls were mostly nomadic and didn't have the civilisation and far-reaching contacts they would have centuries later through Greece and Rome's influence? And that Psyche's sister conceives Cesar (the first of the Caesars from the Julii line) from an affair with her guard? And so and so forth. It's a nauseating smörgásbord of bits and pieces from here and there, typical of someone with a feeble grasp of a historical period and that tries to compensate by attaching all sorts of frills to their Christmas tree of a plot.
Perhaps the most irritating aspect, to me, is what the author claims about "Beauty and the Beast," from which she takes and shoehorns some elements that don't belong in the myth. She says Eros & Psyche is the taproot for the fairy tale, which is true enough. To an extent, because they're not in the same category like Forsyth claims. B&B isn't "searching for the lost husband" like she says, E&P is. Come on, I don't have a PhD degree in creative arts and fairy tale studies, but even I know that what you say isn't true. Beauty & Beast does share the same "animal bridegroom" category, but it's not in the same tale type as Eros & Psyche. There's over a millennia worth of evolution from the myth to the tale, and B&B is basically its own subcategory by now that doesn't share space with Psyche's myth as it's a creation from the 18th century on its own. Do you even know the difference between myth and fairy tale? I have my doubts. Maybe Forsyth was thinking of the Grimms' version of B&B, the one she retold (and badly), entitled "The Singing, Springing Lark." That folktale does have a "searching for the lost husband" categorisation, but, oh boy, that isn't the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale.
For goodness's sake, when are these "experts" going to learn that BEAUTY AND THE BEAST IS THE ONE BY MADAME DE VILLENEUVE. Full stop, and thank you for coming to my TED talk. Jesus, it's so discouraging when even supposed fairy tale academics don't seem to know their stuff and have the gall to claim they love this tale and that it's one of their favourites.
And back to the "I love this tale" claim, I've come to dread this claim by now, because of what follows right after. Many of the self-proclaimed lovers of B&B and Eros & Psyche are very adept at "feminist" ideas that conflict with these old tales and myths, and Forsyth is no exception. When explaining her love for the Psyche myth (with hardly a mention of Eros, by the way), she says it's because this myth is one of the few where a female isn't abused and mutilated and treated like chattel (really? have you read the myth and what happens to Psyche?) but is a triumphant tale of feminine empowerment at the end. That's quite true, Psyche is indeed such a rare gem of a myth, and it's also one reason I love it so much as I do B&B. But, unlike Forsyth, I accept the myth for what it is, I acknowledge that its problematic aspects exist and the ugly realities of its culture and time and mores that it reveals; I can't change that, and I accept that.
Forsyth doesn't. She says there's a fairy tale (from centuries later, by the way) that has the same plot and archetypes, in which Psyche isn't passively made to accept Eros when he kidnaps her from the sacrificial rock to make her his wife but that she gives her active consent to break the curse instead, so she goes for that and inserts it here. To achieve her whitewashing and sanitising of the myth as originally told, Forsyth wants to get rid of the "problematic" parts that rile her up and makes Psyche and Eros, er, Ambrose, be childhood friends, so when it's time for them to screw each other, at least Psyche won't be having sex with a stranger she didn't choose but her very handsome childhood chum who happens to be a god and adopted son of a psychotic goddess. How is this different from the legions of fangirls that can't live with themselves for loving Hades & Persephone stories without first having them meet before he kidnaps her? Seriously, all the cultural and period context has to go out the window only because these people's modern sensibilities can't handle the cognitive dissonance of enjoying a romance from a time when arrangements were the norm and female consent wasn't required. You have to make them meet beforehand, and have the woman actively consent, because God forbid we accurately reflect the ugly reality that women were made to accept their own oppression. No, sir, all these characters have to give consent and boldly proclaim that they will only marry for love to men they know well and have created bonds with. Oh, and also be anti-slavery at a time when nobody thought slavery was abhorrent.
So, yeah, that's how we ended up with an albino Psyche who is a witch and very beautiful and married to a deity but somehow she and him end up mortals and dying at the end anyway. Screw it that history wasn't Salem, Ma., writ large where any woman in midwifery and healing was seen as a witch by default regardless of time and place, screw that people from 500 years BC wouldn't consider a half-Gaulish albino a beauty, and screw that Etruscans, Hellenes, and Romans are very different. Yes, screw all those pesky facts, what we need is a special snowflake not like other girls, and because we need to make it believable, let's make it pseudohistorical instead of pure fantasy as it'd have been best.
Maybe the author would've produced a story that was both enjoyable and made sense if she'd paid more attention to history books and less to the Jungian pseudo-scientific psychobabble she names by the end. Anyway, I'm striking this author through from consideration for future reads, I've given her too many chances, and it's always the same issues in every book of hers.
September 27, 2024
A delightful re-telling of a lesser known myth.
Psykhe is a great character, and I found it so easy to empathise with her. She's a mortal seemingly cursed by the goddess, Venus, and so calamity abounds.
I always enjoy the contemplation of 'an act of the gods' versus coincidence. How much of Psykhe's pain could have been avoided if not for coincidence? But then how dull our stories would be.
This tells the tale of Psykhe's life and how her path inevitably crosses with that of the god, Eros. Yet I found what I most enjoyed about this story was the human-ness of it; less of the gods causing chaos and more just a girl trying to survive in a world that submits to their fickleness.
The language is gorgeous, though this is a less complex story than others I've read from this author. I liked that it was an easier read, to be honest. I was able to lose myself in it and just relax and enjoy the ride.
A delightful story with plenty within its pages to consider. Fans of mythology retellings should get a kick out of this one.
Psykhe is a great character, and I found it so easy to empathise with her. She's a mortal seemingly cursed by the goddess, Venus, and so calamity abounds.
I always enjoy the contemplation of 'an act of the gods' versus coincidence. How much of Psykhe's pain could have been avoided if not for coincidence? But then how dull our stories would be.
This tells the tale of Psykhe's life and how her path inevitably crosses with that of the god, Eros. Yet I found what I most enjoyed about this story was the human-ness of it; less of the gods causing chaos and more just a girl trying to survive in a world that submits to their fickleness.
The language is gorgeous, though this is a less complex story than others I've read from this author. I liked that it was an easier read, to be honest. I was able to lose myself in it and just relax and enjoy the ride.
A delightful story with plenty within its pages to consider. Fans of mythology retellings should get a kick out of this one.
June 2, 2024
⭐️5 Stars⭐️
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to receive an early copy of Psykhe by Kate Forsyth, I was absolutely spellbound, the writing is beautiful and immersive, I couldn’t put the it down. The story of Psykhe is inspired by ancient history and myth and is a retelling of the story of Eros & Psykhe.
I loved this new and creative version, it was haunting, magical and witchy and set in Tuscany, Rome and the Dolomites in Italy. I was intrigued with the character of Psykhe and her life journey, her relationships with her sisters and cruel father and how she learned about healing herbs and their secrets and became a healer and midwife.
The places in the story are real and I was so excited when we followed Psykhe to Portovenere a small Italian coastal village named after the ancient shrine of the Goddess Venus, a place I will be visiting later this year, how magical.
Psykhe was born dead and revived, she’s always been so different from everyone else, she’s an albino pale beauty with fine white hair. We follow her life as she grows into a woman with compassion and strength. Unfortunately she finds herself at the scorn of the goddess Venus when she falls in love.
The story has themes of magic, darkness, fate, desire and it celebrates female empowerment.
The cover is absolutely gorgeous with the gold foil, striking black background and roses, this is a story not to be missed.
An incredible read! Loved it.
Publication Date 28 May 2024
Publisher Vintage Australia
Thank you to the amazing team at Penguin Books Australia for a copy of the book.
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to receive an early copy of Psykhe by Kate Forsyth, I was absolutely spellbound, the writing is beautiful and immersive, I couldn’t put the it down. The story of Psykhe is inspired by ancient history and myth and is a retelling of the story of Eros & Psykhe.
I loved this new and creative version, it was haunting, magical and witchy and set in Tuscany, Rome and the Dolomites in Italy. I was intrigued with the character of Psykhe and her life journey, her relationships with her sisters and cruel father and how she learned about healing herbs and their secrets and became a healer and midwife.
The places in the story are real and I was so excited when we followed Psykhe to Portovenere a small Italian coastal village named after the ancient shrine of the Goddess Venus, a place I will be visiting later this year, how magical.
Psykhe was born dead and revived, she’s always been so different from everyone else, she’s an albino pale beauty with fine white hair. We follow her life as she grows into a woman with compassion and strength. Unfortunately she finds herself at the scorn of the goddess Venus when she falls in love.
The story has themes of magic, darkness, fate, desire and it celebrates female empowerment.
The cover is absolutely gorgeous with the gold foil, striking black background and roses, this is a story not to be missed.
An incredible read! Loved it.
Publication Date 28 May 2024
Publisher Vintage Australia
Thank you to the amazing team at Penguin Books Australia for a copy of the book.
April 15, 2025
Being only newish to the cross over of names for Greek and Roman mythology I did need to pause occasionally and work out who was who as I was not familiar with the Roman (not sure if the physical book provides more info?!)
I really enjoyed the first half for the mythology vibes and I enjoyed the second half for different reasons - it was more of a fairytale/fantasy feel and that also confused me as to how that tied in with the Greek myths. In the Author’s Note it does explain that this is where Beauty and the Beast probably originated from (which is amazing because I was getting a cross over of both that and Snow White and Rose Red at times), so I can now accept this retelling as not total fantasy and does follow the original tale.
Overall an engaging story with wonderful descriptions. I especially appreciated how Psykhe was a healer and the detail that was taken in these pages 🌹
I really enjoyed the first half for the mythology vibes and I enjoyed the second half for different reasons - it was more of a fairytale/fantasy feel and that also confused me as to how that tied in with the Greek myths. In the Author’s Note it does explain that this is where Beauty and the Beast probably originated from (which is amazing because I was getting a cross over of both that and Snow White and Rose Red at times), so I can now accept this retelling as not total fantasy and does follow the original tale.
Overall an engaging story with wonderful descriptions. I especially appreciated how Psykhe was a healer and the detail that was taken in these pages 🌹
November 17, 2024
Having a relatively poor knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology, I was a little concerned when I picked up Psykhe by Kate Forsyth. It's a fictional re-telling of the Greek Godess Psyche and Cupid and I was worried I might end up lost in the narrative or missing references I couldn't place due to my lack of background in the classics.
Kate Forsyth is a favourite Australian author of mine and I should have trusted she would make her tale accessible to those familiar with ancient mythology and those relatively new to it.
Set in Italy, our protagonist introduces herself on the first page by recounting her dramatic birth. Born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and appearing blue and all but dead, her mother's midwife blew air into her lungs and brought her back to life:
"So I was named Psykhe, which means breath and soul and butterfly, words having many meanings. Only gods die and return to this world alive. So as I grew into girlhood, many people began to think I too must be divine." Page 3
It's clear by the second page that Psykhe has albinism and it was interesting to read an historical fiction novel featuring a main character with the physical traits of albinism; white hair, low vision and extremely sensitive skin which can burn and blister in the sun. It's a topic that has interested me for years and you can read my review of Beyond the Pale: Folklore, Family and the Mystery of Our Hidden Genes by Emily Urquhart for more on albinism in history although I suspect there are better books on the topic.
I can't comment on how Psykhe having albinism compares to the original myth, however I did find it a stretch to believe that an albino woman would be considered a great beauty at the time. Usually albinism is accompanied by fears of curses, dark forces or magic.
Psykhe learns the healing properties of herbs and plants and becomes a midwife, also drawing attention to herself as a potential witch. These early years are where the book excels and it's clear the author loves writing about potions and tonics and the many uses for plants known at the time.
Psykhe's relationship with a cruel and absent father highlighted the complete lack of agency she and her sisters experience as young girls and later young women. Psykhe falls in love with an immortal, referred to as Cupid or Eros in ancient mythology and a romance ensues.
When introducing the Vestal Virgins of Rome - which I just learned about watching Those About to Die with Anthony Hopkins - the author describes the Roman temple:
"The round temple to Vesta, where virgins dressed in white tended the everlasting flame of the goddess of the hearth. Taken when only children, they would never know the touch of a man's hand, the deep kiss of desire, the swelling of a child in their womb, the suck of a babe on their breast." Page 103
Readers familiar with Greek and Roman mythology may have issue with some of the author's choices in the novel but I don't know my history well enough to pass judgement. I did find several elements a bit of a stretch (a caesarian section, mouth to mouth resuscitation and the albinism) but largely enjoyed the narrative. While unconvinced by the romance element, I enjoyed the challenges presented by loving a mortal, the supernatural and fantasy elements and the lengths Psykhe goes to for love; including her quest to the underworld.
Psykhe by Kate Forsyth is a feminist re-telling that will appeal to lovers of mythology, fantasy, romantasy and historical fiction.
Kate Forsyth is a favourite Australian author of mine and I should have trusted she would make her tale accessible to those familiar with ancient mythology and those relatively new to it.
Set in Italy, our protagonist introduces herself on the first page by recounting her dramatic birth. Born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and appearing blue and all but dead, her mother's midwife blew air into her lungs and brought her back to life:
"So I was named Psykhe, which means breath and soul and butterfly, words having many meanings. Only gods die and return to this world alive. So as I grew into girlhood, many people began to think I too must be divine." Page 3
It's clear by the second page that Psykhe has albinism and it was interesting to read an historical fiction novel featuring a main character with the physical traits of albinism; white hair, low vision and extremely sensitive skin which can burn and blister in the sun. It's a topic that has interested me for years and you can read my review of Beyond the Pale: Folklore, Family and the Mystery of Our Hidden Genes by Emily Urquhart for more on albinism in history although I suspect there are better books on the topic.
I can't comment on how Psykhe having albinism compares to the original myth, however I did find it a stretch to believe that an albino woman would be considered a great beauty at the time. Usually albinism is accompanied by fears of curses, dark forces or magic.
Psykhe learns the healing properties of herbs and plants and becomes a midwife, also drawing attention to herself as a potential witch. These early years are where the book excels and it's clear the author loves writing about potions and tonics and the many uses for plants known at the time.
Psykhe's relationship with a cruel and absent father highlighted the complete lack of agency she and her sisters experience as young girls and later young women. Psykhe falls in love with an immortal, referred to as Cupid or Eros in ancient mythology and a romance ensues.
When introducing the Vestal Virgins of Rome - which I just learned about watching Those About to Die with Anthony Hopkins - the author describes the Roman temple:
"The round temple to Vesta, where virgins dressed in white tended the everlasting flame of the goddess of the hearth. Taken when only children, they would never know the touch of a man's hand, the deep kiss of desire, the swelling of a child in their womb, the suck of a babe on their breast." Page 103
Readers familiar with Greek and Roman mythology may have issue with some of the author's choices in the novel but I don't know my history well enough to pass judgement. I did find several elements a bit of a stretch (a caesarian section, mouth to mouth resuscitation and the albinism) but largely enjoyed the narrative. While unconvinced by the romance element, I enjoyed the challenges presented by loving a mortal, the supernatural and fantasy elements and the lengths Psykhe goes to for love; including her quest to the underworld.
Psykhe by Kate Forsyth is a feminist re-telling that will appeal to lovers of mythology, fantasy, romantasy and historical fiction.
June 3, 2024
This was a compelling and well-written retelling, but I felt that it lacked a little depth. This is the first book I’ve read by Kate Forsyth and I really enjoyed her writing style! I was very impressed by her descriptions and overall creativity, which can often be lacking in mythology retellings.
Unfortunately, not every aspect of this book impressed me. I was quite underwhelmed by the lack of complexity in our main characters. Not everyone will agree, but personally I believe that the myth of Psykhe and Eros is largely a love story, and while I loved the way that Forsyth brought more of a focus to Psykhe’s independence and womanhood, I felt that the relationship between the two characters was neglected.
Don’t get me wrong, I was a huge fan of the themes of feminism, sexuality, and empowerment, I just felt that the substance of the original myth was somewhat lost. I didn’t connect at all with Eros’ character and thought that he came across almost as an afterthought or accessory, which isn’t inherently an issue, but didn’t work for me in this case.
I still very much enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to both Greek mythology lovers and readers of women’s fiction. I would say that it has a lush but raw feel to it that makes the writing style really stand out despite the book’s flaws. Make sure to check trigger warnings before reading. 3/5
Unfortunately, not every aspect of this book impressed me. I was quite underwhelmed by the lack of complexity in our main characters. Not everyone will agree, but personally I believe that the myth of Psykhe and Eros is largely a love story, and while I loved the way that Forsyth brought more of a focus to Psykhe’s independence and womanhood, I felt that the relationship between the two characters was neglected.
Don’t get me wrong, I was a huge fan of the themes of feminism, sexuality, and empowerment, I just felt that the substance of the original myth was somewhat lost. I didn’t connect at all with Eros’ character and thought that he came across almost as an afterthought or accessory, which isn’t inherently an issue, but didn’t work for me in this case.
I still very much enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to both Greek mythology lovers and readers of women’s fiction. I would say that it has a lush but raw feel to it that makes the writing style really stand out despite the book’s flaws. Make sure to check trigger warnings before reading. 3/5
December 7, 2024
If (like myself) you haven't read/don't know the Eros and Psykhe myth don't read the back of the book summary as there is a major spoiler that isn't revealed in the text till well into the second half of the book. Fortunately, I was only a few pages away from the reveal when I happened to glance at the back of the book and saw the spoiler. I really enjoyed the story, especially the beginning when Psykhe was working with Nocturna - I'd have been happy if the book had just been the two of them working together, looking after the health of the people of the village.
August 27, 2025
*DNFing at like 25% of the way through.
I got to part 2 of this book and I just kept thinking to myself, do I actually care? And the answer is, of course, no, I dont care, so why am I continuing to read this. And thus I'm moving on to something I (hopefully) care more about.
I got to part 2 of this book and I just kept thinking to myself, do I actually care? And the answer is, of course, no, I dont care, so why am I continuing to read this. And thus I'm moving on to something I (hopefully) care more about.
July 11, 2024
***4.25*** Really enjoyed this. My fav Greek mythology style so far. Definitely preferred it to Song of Achilles. Could be a 4.5
July 16, 2024
It started off so strong but then I noticed the main character was always tired. It then became a constant thing. Take some herbs and have a good night's sleep.
I loved the apothecary and the retelling of a romance.. but Eros is weak and hardly a main character.
I loved the apothecary and the retelling of a romance.. but Eros is weak and hardly a main character.
June 30, 2024
Greek mythology / retelling is really not my thing. I dislike immensely these gods' fickleness and cruelty. YET, being a favourite author, this was an auto buy and having listened to her at Sydney Writers Festival last month as she spoke of her inspiration and all her research for this book, I was keen as a bean to read it.
Within the first 2 chapters, I knew I had to put the book down to save it for when I have a BIG chunk of time so I can just read without having to put it away. I felt that I was going to love it and would need to be able to just sink into the sofa and be immersed in this wonderful world. It felt very much like a bedtime story; that feeling that you are safe and warm and tucked up in bed and having that loved person telling you a story. It is a cocoon that held you safe and loved.
As usual, Dr Kate Forsyth always find a unique way to retell these fairy tales. This time, she has placed Psykhe, a barbarian daughter with albinism, in the middle of the Roman Empire right on the precipice of the fall. The first half of the book is all about Psykhe, on her childhood and how she grew to be the woman she is. The second half of the book is the story we are familiar with. Psykhe is a love story with a mortal woman who dares to defies the gods.
In one of her earlier books, I was traumatised by the violence perpetrated against women. And while it was mentioned in this book (which world does not have any violence against women!), I was ever grateful that there was no description at all; no witnessing of atrocious acts. And if I ever reread a Greek mythology retelling, this is it! Although, I am now curious to track down the book that started Forsyth on this journey, Till We Have Faces
BWF - Team Sassy Sisters - Letter P - NIL tag
Within the first 2 chapters, I knew I had to put the book down to save it for when I have a BIG chunk of time so I can just read without having to put it away. I felt that I was going to love it and would need to be able to just sink into the sofa and be immersed in this wonderful world. It felt very much like a bedtime story; that feeling that you are safe and warm and tucked up in bed and having that loved person telling you a story. It is a cocoon that held you safe and loved.
As usual, Dr Kate Forsyth always find a unique way to retell these fairy tales. This time, she has placed Psykhe, a barbarian daughter with albinism, in the middle of the Roman Empire right on the precipice of the fall. The first half of the book is all about Psykhe, on her childhood and how she grew to be the woman she is. The second half of the book is the story we are familiar with. Psykhe is a love story with a mortal woman who dares to defies the gods.
In one of her earlier books, I was traumatised by the violence perpetrated against women. And while it was mentioned in this book (which world does not have any violence against women!), I was ever grateful that there was no description at all; no witnessing of atrocious acts. And if I ever reread a Greek mythology retelling, this is it! Although, I am now curious to track down the book that started Forsyth on this journey, Till We Have Faces
BWF - Team Sassy Sisters - Letter P - NIL tag
July 19, 2024
I will say that this is clearly a well researched, and Forsyth has a great knowledge of the world she is writing about. But I found the writing style didn't work for me. So often it felt like scenes would abruptly end and move on, or they would play out in predictable ways. Psykhe was prone to bouts of asking herself many reflective questions in a row. Other characters often felt like caricatures, rather than having their own idiosyncracies. Enjoyed the overall story, but it missed the mark for me. I didn't enjoy this in the same way that I've enjoyed other mythological retellings have.
October 16, 2024
Psykhe is a beautifully told story. I was taken to ancient Greece with ease and was drawn into the story with beautiful writing.
This was a story I was not familiar with so this was a book of discovery for me. I enjoyed learning this myth, the story of Psykhe and Eros.
There are hints of Circe's character in Psykhe, she is strong and willing to do whatever it takes if she thinks it is right. She is often downtrodden, misunderstood and abused, but has the strength of character to overcome every obstacle thrown her way.
I enjoyed this story and the love story it told. If Greek mythology retellings are your thing, this story is a fitting shelf mate to any you have read.
This was a story I was not familiar with so this was a book of discovery for me. I enjoyed learning this myth, the story of Psykhe and Eros.
There are hints of Circe's character in Psykhe, she is strong and willing to do whatever it takes if she thinks it is right. She is often downtrodden, misunderstood and abused, but has the strength of character to overcome every obstacle thrown her way.
I enjoyed this story and the love story it told. If Greek mythology retellings are your thing, this story is a fitting shelf mate to any you have read.
December 26, 2024
This was a beautifully written retelling of the myth of Psyche and Eros. It is everything I wanted out of a myth retelling and it absolutely succeeds in its aim of highlighting female strength, celebrating female desire and empowering women in a believable way. I also liked the ways in which this book explores difficult topics - sexual assault, slavery, injustice, oppression, abuse - never gratuitous and never shying away from shades of grey, while always holding perpetrators to account. Excellent stuff!
May 22, 2025
3.75 ⭐️
It is not wise to anger the gods ... or to fall in love with one.
I love retellings of Greek mythology, but this was my first centred around Psyche and Eros (you may know him as Cupid).
Psykhe is a very likable character. She is shunned and mistreated yet she is strong and determined.
Kate Forsyth is a beautiful storyteller. With a vividly descriptive setting, Psykhe celebrates female strength and empowerment. It has just been released in the smaller paperback format, perfect size for traveling.
Thank you Penguin Aus for a gifted copy to read.
It is not wise to anger the gods ... or to fall in love with one.
I love retellings of Greek mythology, but this was my first centred around Psyche and Eros (you may know him as Cupid).
Psykhe is a very likable character. She is shunned and mistreated yet she is strong and determined.
Kate Forsyth is a beautiful storyteller. With a vividly descriptive setting, Psykhe celebrates female strength and empowerment. It has just been released in the smaller paperback format, perfect size for traveling.
Thank you Penguin Aus for a gifted copy to read.
July 10, 2024
4 Stars
Solid retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche set amidst the Rise of Rome and the time of the Etruscans.
I really liked the way this was written and how much of a well-rounded, powerful character Psyke was. I do think the love story very much took a backseat though and I didn’t really like Ambrose much.
Solid retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche set amidst the Rise of Rome and the time of the Etruscans.
I really liked the way this was written and how much of a well-rounded, powerful character Psyke was. I do think the love story very much took a backseat though and I didn’t really like Ambrose much.
December 23, 2024
i mean it was enjoyable, but it's more so a fantasy story that's loosely inspired by the myth of eros and psyche rather than a retelling. also the whole thing was randomly roman-ised despite it originally being a greek tale, and im pretty sure the only reason for this was that the author randomly wanted to name drop caesar
Read
October 2, 2024I usually like retellings, but this one missed the mark for me.
DNF'd at 52%.
DNF'd at 52%.
September 5, 2024
Mythological retellings and I don’t always gel.
I’m not sure why.
Maybe because I’m not a huge mythology scholar and I can’t appreciate what the author is doing?
Here again I found myself mostly “meh” while reading and it really wasn’t until the very end of the book where we got to Psyche’s trials that I found myself more interested.
Perhaps I was expecting more from the author as here again is another love story of a woman who has to sacrifice for her man… I’m not sure what I was expecting in a retelling other than a bit more to this simplistic trope.?
I’m not sure why.
Maybe because I’m not a huge mythology scholar and I can’t appreciate what the author is doing?
Here again I found myself mostly “meh” while reading and it really wasn’t until the very end of the book where we got to Psyche’s trials that I found myself more interested.
Perhaps I was expecting more from the author as here again is another love story of a woman who has to sacrifice for her man… I’m not sure what I was expecting in a retelling other than a bit more to this simplistic trope.?
July 2, 2024
5 stars for the first half of the book and 4 stars for the second. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I absolutely loved the first half of the book. Etruscan Italy and Rome in the time of the last kings was beautifully portrayed. I found Psykhe’s trials and her growth during this time to be captivating. The writing was lush and beautiful.
Unfortunately the story started to lose momentum once she traveled to the Pale Mountains of the Gauls. The writing is still compellingly beautiful but the love story is left undefined. Eros/Ambrose, the love interest, is something of a cypher that the story never resolves. I would have loved to learn more about him and his own background to better understand him as a character and Psykhe’s love for him.
The ending felt rushed and underdeveloped, which is disappointing considering this is the grand finale, and the mythological tale, the story hangs on. As readers we needed to be led more slowly through the events in the Underworld to match the pace of the earlier parts of the book. We also needed to meet Venus, the antagonist, again at the end. She is part of a great deal of the narrative of the book and to not revisit her at the end in some way was unsatisfying. It would have been nice to see Ambrose have a scene with his mother at the end of the events.
The first part of the book slowly unfolds at a lovely pace to reveal a coming of age tale of complexity and wonder. Sadly this same care hasn’t been applied for the climax or the ending and I’m not sure why. Maybe it was a word count issue with the publishers or maybe I was just greedy to read more of Kate’s exquisite pose.
Ultimately though it was a gorgeous read despite the rush at the end. I would recommend it far and wide for the wonderful sense of place and magic Kate has created here. She is an unparalleled storyteller.
I absolutely loved the first half of the book. Etruscan Italy and Rome in the time of the last kings was beautifully portrayed. I found Psykhe’s trials and her growth during this time to be captivating. The writing was lush and beautiful.
Unfortunately the story started to lose momentum once she traveled to the Pale Mountains of the Gauls. The writing is still compellingly beautiful but the love story is left undefined. Eros/Ambrose, the love interest, is something of a cypher that the story never resolves. I would have loved to learn more about him and his own background to better understand him as a character and Psykhe’s love for him.
The ending felt rushed and underdeveloped, which is disappointing considering this is the grand finale, and the mythological tale, the story hangs on. As readers we needed to be led more slowly through the events in the Underworld to match the pace of the earlier parts of the book. We also needed to meet Venus, the antagonist, again at the end. She is part of a great deal of the narrative of the book and to not revisit her at the end in some way was unsatisfying. It would have been nice to see Ambrose have a scene with his mother at the end of the events.
The first part of the book slowly unfolds at a lovely pace to reveal a coming of age tale of complexity and wonder. Sadly this same care hasn’t been applied for the climax or the ending and I’m not sure why. Maybe it was a word count issue with the publishers or maybe I was just greedy to read more of Kate’s exquisite pose.
Ultimately though it was a gorgeous read despite the rush at the end. I would recommend it far and wide for the wonderful sense of place and magic Kate has created here. She is an unparalleled storyteller.
July 17, 2024
4!!
Okay, I DEVOURED this book, which I haven't been able to do for a while. The story was so gripping!!! Cupid and Psych is my favourite Greek/Roman myth!!! I loved Psykhe in this story. Love her agency, love how she loves, love how compassionate she is, and I love how she's a healer 💕.
I'm taking half a star off because I feel like there were lots of descriptions that either fell flat or didn't exist and could have been there to enrich the story. Don't get me wrong. There were many beautiful descriptions and moments (the Oracle, meeting the goddesses, any scene with Ambrose, etc). The story had many moments that never lingered, when that sort of lingering would have added more character and more depth to the descriptions around them. There are several times we never get to sit with Psyckhe and her emotions (usually a sentence of how she's feeling and then quickly moving onto the next part of the plot). Or we build up to Psykhe journeying to another town/place, but there's no mention of the journey, and in the next sentence, she's at said place. Maybe I just loved this book so much and wanted more 🥹💕.
Overall an excellent story with a wonderful lead 💕 I would've loved an extra hundred pages to be honest.
Okay, I DEVOURED this book, which I haven't been able to do for a while. The story was so gripping!!! Cupid and Psych is my favourite Greek/Roman myth!!! I loved Psykhe in this story. Love her agency, love how she loves, love how compassionate she is, and I love how she's a healer 💕.
I'm taking half a star off because I feel like there were lots of descriptions that either fell flat or didn't exist and could have been there to enrich the story. Don't get me wrong. There were many beautiful descriptions and moments (the Oracle, meeting the goddesses, any scene with Ambrose, etc). The story had many moments that never lingered, when that sort of lingering would have added more character and more depth to the descriptions around them. There are several times we never get to sit with Psyckhe and her emotions (usually a sentence of how she's feeling and then quickly moving onto the next part of the plot). Or we build up to Psykhe journeying to another town/place, but there's no mention of the journey, and in the next sentence, she's at said place. Maybe I just loved this book so much and wanted more 🥹💕.
Overall an excellent story with a wonderful lead 💕 I would've loved an extra hundred pages to be honest.
April 12, 2025
Kinda nice? I dunno, I’ve vaguely heard of the story of Psykhe and Eros before, but I don’t know I could say I really know it. The current top rated review on Goodreads by Marquise (1*) gives a lot of examples of how off from the source material this was, with most striking being how author tries to make Psykhe have always been in love with Eros (Ambrose here) before he abducts her and sleeps with her multiple times. I get the desire in a modern viewpoint, but at the same time, by slotting that in before his whisking her away to a magic castle for fucking angle from original story, felt kinda jarring. Also, even with that supposedly initially being in love, I can’t say I actually ever once felt any real love between the two. Which, as this was kinda a love story at its core, seems kinda a big deal?
A lot of other points raised in mentioned other review feel super heckin valid. But also, you know, it was kinda nice to just listen to an impressive woman do some cool stuff in a typical hero’s journey format. Fun enough. Probably somewhere between 2.5-3*, but rounding up as this was engaging enough if you don’t think too hard.
A lot of other points raised in mentioned other review feel super heckin valid. But also, you know, it was kinda nice to just listen to an impressive woman do some cool stuff in a typical hero’s journey format. Fun enough. Probably somewhere between 2.5-3*, but rounding up as this was engaging enough if you don’t think too hard.
August 7, 2024
Psykhe
“It’s not wise to anger the gods… or to fall in love with one”
My goodness what a breath of fresh air. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to pick up a book like this. This book is Lit-Fic.. and it was amazing re telling of Pyskhe & Eros.
The details and information that you’re given and need to remember are breathtaking and yet gut wrenching in the same. It is so vivid and you feel like you are walking along side however there is a void that starts to creep over also! It is like there is a full compulsion that pulls and pulses while you read.
Add this to your TBR, it’s not only beautiful but amazing
“It’s not wise to anger the gods… or to fall in love with one”
My goodness what a breath of fresh air. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to pick up a book like this. This book is Lit-Fic.. and it was amazing re telling of Pyskhe & Eros.
The details and information that you’re given and need to remember are breathtaking and yet gut wrenching in the same. It is so vivid and you feel like you are walking along side however there is a void that starts to creep over also! It is like there is a full compulsion that pulls and pulses while you read.
Add this to your TBR, it’s not only beautiful but amazing
February 28, 2025
This was absolutely fantastic. I felt so drawn to it and often couldn’t put it down. Kate Forsyth is a marvelous storyteller and I felt completely absorbed in Psykhe’s trials and tribulations, I was rooting for her the entire time. At the time I started reading this novel, I didn’t know much about the myth of Psykhe and Eros, but I just loved how at the end of it all it was a love story. The entire time I just wanted Psykhe and Ambrose to get their happily ever after, and the final chapter made me so happy! Reading this and previously Elektra by Jennifer Saint has opened up my reading world to the myths and magical realism associated with Greek and Roman tales. This was an incredibly well-researched novel and the Author’s note was the perfect bow to tie it all together.
December 21, 2025
I loved this retelling of Psykhe’s story. It’s told through a very feminist perspective in a time when women are property. Though the love story becomes the main plot point by the end, the journey to get there is so meaningful and I loved that overall the story wasn’t just a romance. I was so invested in her relationships with the different female characters throughout the book, particularly her sisters.
June 8, 2024
Book 21: PSYKHE
This is a really unique book and I still feel a little heavy after reading it – but in a good way. I guess it is the burden, or weight, of knowledge. Realising things about Gods and culture that I have not paid enough attention to before.
There’s so much to love:
🇮🇹 Learning about Rome: centuries ago, in fact over 2,500 years ago, and how real the Gods felt to society. The sacrifices, rituals and payment in return for a life or some favour. The superstitions. The manipulation. The cleverness of it all.
🐐 The importance of guides and helpers: I loved Nocturna, Nera and Silviano so much. So old, wrinkled and wise. Kind, but brutal.
💘 The power of love: Both the good and the bad. The benefit of hindsight. How innocent mistakes – usually naivety – could curse you forever and beyond.
⚖️ Balance: Death and life. Love and spite. Family and lovers. Masters and slaves. Women and men. Gods and their representation. So many pairs, parallels, pain. So much wisdom. There is always a price to be paid if you keep striving for what you want most. Material or emotional. Strengths that can be taken away to drain, test you.
✍️ The writing, of course: It’s evocative, powerful, sage. Nature, and the environment, are as critical to the story as the characters. Music, poetry and riddles. The weather. Herbs for good and evil, cure or kill. All so beautifully brought to life on the page. Like a magical cauldron!
Thank you @kate_forsyth_ for writing yet another masterpiece, for building a new kind of story that has never been told before.
9.5/10
#bookreview #psykhe #lovestory #venusanderos #penguinbooks #kateforsyth #historicalfantasy #historicalfiction #amreading #amwriting #australianauthor
This is a really unique book and I still feel a little heavy after reading it – but in a good way. I guess it is the burden, or weight, of knowledge. Realising things about Gods and culture that I have not paid enough attention to before.
There’s so much to love:
🇮🇹 Learning about Rome: centuries ago, in fact over 2,500 years ago, and how real the Gods felt to society. The sacrifices, rituals and payment in return for a life or some favour. The superstitions. The manipulation. The cleverness of it all.
🐐 The importance of guides and helpers: I loved Nocturna, Nera and Silviano so much. So old, wrinkled and wise. Kind, but brutal.
💘 The power of love: Both the good and the bad. The benefit of hindsight. How innocent mistakes – usually naivety – could curse you forever and beyond.
⚖️ Balance: Death and life. Love and spite. Family and lovers. Masters and slaves. Women and men. Gods and their representation. So many pairs, parallels, pain. So much wisdom. There is always a price to be paid if you keep striving for what you want most. Material or emotional. Strengths that can be taken away to drain, test you.
✍️ The writing, of course: It’s evocative, powerful, sage. Nature, and the environment, are as critical to the story as the characters. Music, poetry and riddles. The weather. Herbs for good and evil, cure or kill. All so beautifully brought to life on the page. Like a magical cauldron!
Thank you @kate_forsyth_ for writing yet another masterpiece, for building a new kind of story that has never been told before.
9.5/10
#bookreview #psykhe #lovestory #venusanderos #penguinbooks #kateforsyth #historicalfantasy #historicalfiction #amreading #amwriting #australianauthor
July 28, 2024
I love Greek mythology and this is a beautiful retelling of Psyche and Eros. Psyche is a woman of great strength and determination propelled by love - romantic love and love of family. It was wonderful to be immersed in Psyche’s story and teleported into another world. Nothing beats a good book.
July 10, 2025
A cute retelling of the Greek myth. Overall Forsyth has done a good job of blending history, myth and fiction, but my one issue is that she has created a love story around a relationship which I found to be a bit icky and problematic. Still, a fun read.
June 10, 2024
I loved it.
July 7, 2024
Loved this book !!!! Mind boggling and a delight to read ! Magical journey !
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