Thanks to NetGalley and HaperCollins for the ARC!! From the first line of this book, I was hooked: “I sharpened my sword with poetry and hardened my arm with the memory of lyre strings.”

Orphia and Eurydicius is a gender-flipped retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, one of my personal favorite Greek myths. Orphia is the daughter of the god Apollo and the muse Calliope. A warrior-turned-poet, she strives to tell the stories of women, from Medusa and Hera to the washerwomen of the Whispering Isle. She meets Eurydicius, a gentle shield-maker, and the rest is history.

First, the writing in this book is beautiful. It made the scenery of Mount Parnassus and the Whispering Isle come to life. I also enjoyed how the author positioned Orphia as a multifaceted woman, it felt very real and relatable to me. Orphia desires to hone her craft and gain fame through her work, and is strong enough to lift grown men and beat renowned warriors in duel. She is also open to love, and eventually uses her love for Eurydicius as inspiration for her poetry, which makes her work even more powerful. She doesn’t have to choose between fame and love, she is able to find a way to have both.

I loved her relationship with Eurydicius, and thought that the representation of their unique gender roles within their relationship was powerful. Orphia’s grief over Eurydicius’ death (spoiler if you don’t already know the Orpheus myth) also touched me deeply. I was brought to tears and the way she grieved also felt very relatable.

I wish we had gotten to know Eurydicius a bit more. Sometimes it seemed like he was just there as a foil to Orphia, and we didn’t get to know much about his history or what Orphia saw in him other than his support of her and her craft.

The only other thing that kept me from giving this book 5 stars was that sometimes the writing felt a little bit heavy-handed in its theme of telling women’s stories. It was repeated time and time again that Orphia wanted to tell women’s stories, and some of the twists were easy to predict because of that repetition. And when Orphia came up with a poem about a woman, we only got a stanza or so. I feel like I missed some of the impact of Orphia’s work because the author described her mission more than actually sharing what she had come up with. In the same vein, I felt that some of the female characters in the story were a bit underdeveloped, though I understand that the side characters weren’t the point of the story.

Overall, this was a great read! I loved the emphasis on female agency, the writing style, and of course, the twist on one of my favorite Greek myths. 4 stars!

I am sobbing. This book is so beautiful and sweet, I went through a range of emotions.

I received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love Greek retellings. Something about hearing a different version of things intrigues me, especially when the stories in question are already legend and mystery. This one did not disappoint.

The plot is entirely based on Orphia and Eurydicious’s love and their journeys in love. I appreciate the swapping of gender roles, especially in Ancient Greece. We follow Orphia through life and love and death, and each chapter is beautiful and poetic.

The characters. THE CHARACTERS. Orphia is strong willed and resilient and lyrical. Eurydicious is soft and kind and gentle. The Muses each have their own personality and quirks. Most men in this novel are trash, but in mythology most of the Gods are… well…. Trash. There’s representation of all walks of love in this book as well.

The writing style is flowy and poetic and lyrical. It is a mood read, and not a fast read if you want to absorb the truth and meaning behind every word. I wouldn’t consider this easy reading, but it most certainly is beautiful reading.

I can appreciate a book that brings me to tears multiple times. I loved the journey I embarked on reading this book. 4.75⭐️

Good writing and an inventive take on a mythological story. Overall, I really enjoyed the prose, which leans a bit flowery. but not to the point of being annoying. If there is a mythological retelling out there, I am likely going to read it, and this ranks pretty highly in the list of re-tellings I have come across.

I truly do love a good Greek retelling. I also love when Greek retellings flip the story on its head and give it a new perspective, which is exactly what this book did. I think it is so interesting to flip the genders of Orpheus and Euridice, given what their myths are about. This was truly a clever tale, and my hungry eyes devoured it right up.