THE PALACE OF EROS by Caro De Robertis is a unique pleasure to read. As a feminist retelling of the Greek myth of Psyche and Eros, it portrays Psyche as a queer (egg) cis woman and Eros as an AFAB genderfluid/nonbinary/GNC/something-in-the-cloud-of-queerness person. (I also got trans femme vibes, as well as potentially intersex.)

When mortal Psyche is proclaimed by cis men to be more beautiful than Aphrodite, Aphrodite gets pissed. She orders her child, Eros, to carry out the prediction of the Oracle: Psyche must be sacrificed to something monstrous. But when Eros sees Psyche, she falls in love. Instead of letting Psyche be sacrificed, she swoops in and takes her to an idyllic palace she’s built just for them. Or rather, just for Psyche. Eros is only able to visit her under cover of darkness, away from the prying eyes of the other Greek deities, who disapprove of Eros’ gender identity. Thus begins the struggle; Psyche is never allowed to see what Eros looks like. While Psyche originally accepts this, as time going on, she becomes increasingly doubtful. (Queer) secrecy can only last so long before it begins to weigh on the, well, psyche.

It’s difficult to review PALACE without giving away too much, but I will say that the book contains much more than you may think. It contains rich setting and lush language. The prose is poetic, and PALACE contains arguably some of the loveliest sex scenes that I’ve ever read. It’s also a wonderfully slow burn of a book, encouraging readers to bask in a given moment, to pay attention. The story is also told in impressive detail and weaves in snippets of other Greek myths, deities, and tales.

Throughout the book are themes of power and gender, monstrosity and queerness, and a blurring of the lines of captivity and freedom. Does imprisoning someone suddenly become okay if the potential alternative was something worse? Does a gilded cage make any difference? Can anybody ever truly fall in love under such circumstances or is it just Stockholm Syndrome?

The answers, it turns out, are messy and complicated. Eros in particular is also a messy and complicated queer. (One of my favorite things to read.)

Psyche struggles at first to acclimate to her new existence, but just when Psyche’s enjoyment of her new life pokes through, the power dynamics come roaring back. De Robertis isn’t afraid to remind us of the reality Psyche is dealing with, as well as presenting several harsh truths. Great sex isn’t enough for a relationship to survive. Sometimes abuse is accidental; or rather, just because it wasn’t intended to be abuse doesn’t make it not harmful. Queers can be toxic, too. AFABs can be toxic, too. Privilege and power can make someone unaware of their actions, even when they meant well.

Yet despite the struggles of Psyche and Eros, De Robertis simultaneously creates hope. Within the literal and metaphorical shadows of shame, hiding, and staying safe as queer, PALACE shows that coming into the sunlight—of being seen—is worth the struggle.

THE PALACE OF EROS comes out August 13th. Get it here.