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Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read.
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Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold by Stephen Fry
Expected publication: October 29th 2020
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Pre-order Stephen Fry's bewitching retelling of the legend of Troy - a tale of love and war, passion and power - following his sensational bestsellers MYTHOS and HEROES
'Troy. The most marvellous kingdom in all the world. The Jewel of the Aegean. Glittering Ilion, the city that rose and fell not once but twice . . .'
The story of Troy speaks to all of us - the kidnapping of Helen, a queen celebrated for her beauty, sees the Greeks launch a thousand ships against that great city, to which they will lay siege for ten whole and very bloody years.
It is Zeus, the king of the gods, who triggers war when he asks the Trojan prince Paris to judge the fairest goddess of them all. Aphrodite bribes Paris with the heart of Helen, wife of King Menelaus of the Greeks, and naturally, nature takes its course.
It is a terrible, brutal war with casualties on all sides. The Greeks cannot defeat the Trojans - since Achilles, the Greek's boldest warrior, is consumed with jealousy over an ally's choice of lover, the Trojan slave Briseis, and will not fight . . .
The stage is set for the oldest and greatest story ever told, where monstrous passions meet the highest ideals and the lowest cunning.
In Troy you will find heroism and hatred, love and loss, revenge and regret, desire and despair. It is these human passions, written bloodily in the sands of a distant shore, that still speak to us today.
Troy is a myth in which we seek the truth about ourselves, which Stephen Fry brings breathtakingly to life for our modern age.
PRAISE FOR MYTHOS AND HEROES:
'A romp through the lives of ancient Greek gods. Fry is at his story-telling best . . . the gods will be pleased' Times
'A head-spinning marathon of legends' Guardian
'An Olympian feat. The gods seem to be smiling on Fry - his myths are definitely a hit' Evening Standard
'An odyssey through Greek mythology. Brilliant . . . all hail Stephen Fry' Daily Mail
'A rollicking good read' Independent
I just found out about this book yesterday and I am so so so soooo very excited for it. I'm a super fan of retellings that are about or in some way involve the siege of Troy and on top of that I've highly enjoyed Stephen Fry's previous books, Mythos and Heroes. So I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on this book. I'm sure it's going to be another brilliant read. And I also really love the cover so I'll need to get myself a hardcover copy of it. ♥
Title: Psyche Unbound
Author: Zenobia Neil
Publication: February 2nd 2020 by Hypatia Books
Genre: Adult, Mythology, Retelling, Romance
Purchase it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: 3.5/5★
Neil’s retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche is a sensuous feast. Mesmerizing! --Mia Hopkins author of Thirsty.
The writing is lyrical and descriptive, while still managing to be seductive. Reminiscent of Anne Rice's erotica work as Anne Rampling. I love the way she blended mythological history with fantasy, which I found so sexy.—Patricia Rae Amazon reviewer
For fans of The Song of Achilles and Hotter than Hades comes an unforgettable story of sacrifice, sensuality and monsters, both seen and unseen…
A princess of Rome, Psyche is celebrated for her great beauty until she provokes the jealousy of Venus, the Goddess of Love. Soon Psyche finds herself naked and abandoned on a beach, awaiting sacrifice to an unknown monster.
Cupid, the winged son of Venus, arrives to bring Psyche to the palace of the monster. As he carries her, she looks into his eyes and makes the grave mistake of falling in love.
Blindfolded and tied to a bed, Psyche bravely awaits her fate. Instead of offering her death, the monster offers her marriage on one condition: she must never see his face. After many dark nights together, Psyche comes to love her shadow husband. But she still can’t stop thinking about Cupid, the God of Love.
One night, consumed by curiosity, Psyche breaks her promise. Her husband, enraged, banishes her from the palace. To get back what is most important to her, Psyche must complete three impossible tasks and outwit Venus herself. If Psyche succeeds, her true love will return. If she fails, she will lose everything—including her life.
When I found out about Psyche Unbound I just knew that I had to buy it. The story of Cupid (Eros in Greek mythology) and Psyche is my favorite myth ever. Perhaps because it reminds me on certain well known fairytales. So of course I didn't hesistate to read it and at only 194 pages it also didn't take me very long to finish it either. It was quite a captivating story.
Was it the best mythology retelling I've ever read? No. But that didn't take away most of my enjoyment of the story. As I'm pretty well known with the original myth I knew how the story would unfold but I could also appreciate everything the author added that made it more unique.
The writing was beautiful but I wasn't totally sold on some of the characters, especially the various of gods appearing through the story. I know it's probably hard to write about Roman gods. Every author has their own specific take on it, which is of course totally fine, but I have to admit that with this book the gods and goddesses were a bit too archetypal. This, however, is my only minor point with the story and characters. And to be totally fair one goddess I ended up liking a lot was Proserpina (Persephone in Greek mythology).
I should also add that this was quite a sexy and seductive story. I hadn't exactly expected this but I wholly approve of it. Some of the scenes were super hot so yay for that!
Psyche Unbound by Zenobia Neil was an erotic reimagining of the Cupid and Psyche myth. I'm sure that romance as well as mythology lovers both will enjoy this enticing and beautiful story.
About the author:
Zenobia Neil was born with a shock of red hair and named after an ancient warrior woman who fought against the Romans. She spends her time imagining interesting people and putting them in terrible situations. The Queen of Warriors is her third novel.
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Title: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Publication: May 29th 2018 by Washington Square Press
Genre: Historical Fiction
Purchase it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 3/5★
Reclusive Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant to write her story, no one is more astounded than Monique herself.
Determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career, Monique listens in fascination. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s - and, of course, the seven husbands along the way - Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. But as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
Written with Reid's signature talent for creating "complex, likeable characters" (Real Simple), this is a mesmerizing journey through the splendour of Old Hollywood into the sobering realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means - and what it costs - to face the truth.
I'm quite torn up about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. On the one hand it was a good read and it was easy to just keep turning the pages to continue the story but on the other hand it wasn't that good, you know. And to be honest, I was a little disappointed by it in general. I had just expected more from this book, I guess.
I thought I would've loved this book, that it even could've been 5 star material. It also wasn't the worst book I've ever read. See how I am torn up? If anything, I was more disappointed by the writing style than the story. I did enjoy the story and reading about Evelyn's life. It also took me a good 150 pages to get into the story and I wanted to be hooked from the start. So that was unfortunate as well.
Almost none of the characters were very likable. Evelyn certainly wasn't and from her I didn't really mind it because it was her story. If there was one character I just couldn't stand it was Monique, the woman Evelyn was telling her story too. She just kinda bugged me. Also some of the story was starting to get to be a little of the same thing over and over again towards the end.
I do want to say one more thing, though. In some less possitive reviews I've seen reviewers mention that they were blindsided by the LGBT themes which seems like a weird thing to say, in my eyes. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, of course but would those reviewers say the same thing about a book with straight romances? I think not. I'm sorry but that just kinda made me mad. The LGBT themes is exactly what made this book enjoyable to me. I'm sure that otherwise it would've been a 1 or 2 star read for me.
About the author:
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, One True Loves, Maybe in Another Life, After I Do, and Forever, Interrupted. Her novels have been Indie Next Picks, chosen by Book of the Month, and featured in People, US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Good Morning America, and more. Her newest novel, Daisy Jones and the Six, is a New York Times bestseller. She lives in Los Angeles.
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