Review: Soul in Darkness by Wendy Higgins

Here's a little bit about Soul in Darkness

Add on [goodreads]

People travel from afar to the small isle in the Aegean Sea hoping for a single glimpse of Princess Psyche. Their adoration for the mortal woman is so all-consuming that citizens begin to shower her with the very gifts and offerings they once left at the alter of Venus, goddess of love and beauty. 

But gods are known for their jealousy. 

Cupid, the god of love, takes pleasure in causing strife and mischief in the lives of humans. He uses love as a weapon, humoring in the weakness of people at the whims of their feelings. When his mother Venus approaches him about punishing the human girl who dares to steal her offerings and affections from the people, Cupid gladly accepts. 

Psyche's punishment is to be given to a mysterious creature who only comes to her in the dark of night under the pact that she will never lay eyes on him. She is terrified of this stranger, who the oracle described as a serpent. Her mate, however, is masterful in his dealings with his bride. He takes his time, morphing her fears into different sensations completely. 

Based on the Roman/Greek mythology of Cupid and Psyche from Lucius Apuleius, New York Times bestseller Wendy Higgins brings the tale to life, weaving layers that show exactly how a sacrificial lamb can be enchanted by an unseen monster.

Read from: January 10 to January 31, 2019

Read on: eARC

Review:

Starting this book, I wasn’t sure where it was going to take me. I just knew that I love Wendy Higgins’ writing so I was really excited for this book.

The book is a Greek mythology retelling story and I really enjoyed it because it wasn’t like most retellings I read before. I will admit that I wasn’t familiar with the story of Psyche and Cupid, but after reading this book, I will admit that I’m intrigued to find more about them.

Psyche is a character that you can’t help but root for. She’s a strong girl who has accepted her fate even if it meant to suffer at the hands of an unknown creature. She’s also a sweet person who enjoys the simple things in life. As she grew up, her people more often than not only saw her at face value as if she couldn’t be more than that which will bring them to their demise once the Goddess Venus decides to punish them for turning their backs on her.

Cupid was an interesting character too. He was charming that’s for sure, but he’s also quite good too even if his reputation seems to say the opposite from time to time. He wants Psyche to find love with him and he’s ready to do just about anything for her in hope she will finally trust him enough.

But since I didn’t know much about the tale of Psyche and Cupid, the whole book was a surprise each time I started a new chapter because I didn’t know what would happen next. I liked that a lot, but I am sure that even if you are familiar with this tale, you will enjoy Wendy’s retelling of it because she just has a way with the words.

Other Gods appear in this and I wanted to know more about them because that’s how good Wendy is. The story isn’t about them, but she makes you want to read about her secondary characters.

I won’t lie, sometimes I felt like the story was taking so long to get to a point and sometimes, it went too fast. But overall, this was really a great read and I recommend it highly.

I know this is a standalone, but I feel like Wendy Higgins could easily write more stories in that world because they are many ways to go with Greek mythology.

I was given an advanced copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.