A beautifully lyrical gender swapped retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. I loved every second of this book. It was poetry. It's such a gentle read, with love at it centre. It's not, however, without its drama, the chapters on the argo, the trip to the underworld, were thrilling, but not so jarring that it felt out of place. The Muses, Hera, and Persephone were all given life in such a brilliant way. A fully gorgeous retelling, and one for everybody who loves Greek myth, love stories and strong women.

This gender swapping retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is absolutely breathtaking. Every sentence has enchanting, lyrical writing that celebrates poetry and romance and makes this a unique and compelling interpretation like none I’ve read before. I loved how Elyse John portrayed Orphia and Eurydicius in this retelling and how both characters seemed to challenge traditional representations of men and women. Reading of Orphia as a woman full of determination and strength in contrast to Eurydicius’s softness and gentleness was refreshing and I loved how they complimented and supported each other and how their relationship seemed to go against stereotypical dynamics. In the beginning I found the plot slow in pacing, however I actually think this pace suits the book perfectly as I loved the peacefulness of reading of Orphia training with the Muses and the quiet romantic moments she spent with Eurydicius. Although the romance is a major part of this myth, at the same time this novel also managed to celebrate female figures of Greek mythology like Calliope, Hera and other women I’d not read much about before like Mnemosyne and Gaia. There was a female community to this book that was truly lovely to read. Overall, Orphia and Eurydicius is such a beautiful novel brimming with poetry, creativity, love and grief and reading the last few chapters was like a gut punch. Thank you for HarperInsider for sending me a copy!

Beautiful, beguiling and at times heartbreaking, ORPHIA AND EURYDICIUS is a novel to be savoured and cherished. Rich in detail with characters that leap off the page, it kept me reading well into the night with my heart in my mouth. John has created a world that is both visceral and sumptuous, with prose that is as razor-sharp as it is lyrical. Gripping, poetic and enthralling, this novel is a testament to Elyse John's astonishing talent. Fans of Greek mythology are in for a treat!

A Gender-bend retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orphia is both a skilled warrior and a gentle poet. Eurydicius is the ultimate soft boy. The novel seeks to question “typical” gender roles in relationships and celebrating those who break free of the expectations of society. We meet Orphia during her warrior training under the supervision of Apollo, until her estranged mother Calliope brings her to Mt Parnassus to study the art of poetry under the guidance of the muses. The book is so poetically written and there are some lines that made me melt. It showcases such a deep, passionate love so strong it transcends death. The line that stayed with me the most was “Let me live again, if only for a moment, with my soul repaired”. As with many myth retellings there are strong feminist themes that I really enjoyed. In particular the criticism of men in myth become tragedy while women become a cautionary tale. I would definitely be interested to read more gender-bending myths in the future! My thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A gender-bent retelling of the take of Orpheus and Eurydice, I think this is one of the better Greek myth retellings I’ve read in a while. From the start, Orphia is a fantastically interesting and well developed character, and you really understand her motivations and her character as she finds herself forced to be a warrior rather than following her true calling of poetry. The dynamic between her relationship with her father and her relationship with her mother is very well explored and developed throughout the book, and I found the depictions of the Greek Pantheon an interesting twist on typical depictions of the Olympians, specifically Hera and he role within this story. I found the relationship between Orphia and Eurydicius to be a little too fast in the beginning, it would’ve been nice to see it develop a little slower than it had, as this left it feeling a little bit too insta-love like for my liking, but the way the relationship develops and how important to one another they become is a really interesting take on the mythology, and I liked the discussions regarding gender roles within relationships and how they subvert them. Often with myth retellings the author will struggle to tell a good story despite the audience knowing the ending and therefore knowing what is coming, but I find this not to be the case here- whilst I recognised the various story beats this book went through, I had no idea where we were going with the plot and the characters, and even as Orphia begins the lead Eurydicius out of the underworld, I truly did not know if we were going to see her fail or succeed. A fab retelling and an enjoyable book!