Review: Orphia And Eurydicius

Orphia And Eurydicius by Elyse John
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

Snuffing out the voices of women. It was how they set up the game so that we would lose, even as we convinced ourselves that it was our fault. If we could shout for help, then we might take the hands of our sisters, swim ashore, and manage to win. 

Orphia and Eurydicius was a gender swapped Orpheus and Eurydice myth reimagining that had Orphia battling her father Apollo, men (gods and human), and systematic sexism. The beginning shows us an early twenties Orphia as she was taken by her father and placed on the Whispering Isles to learn combat and battle the men. This has lead to Orphia being looked at with some sneer in regards to, what is perceived in their society, as a more man like build, features, and mannerisms. Told she won't be able to leave until she beats the Prince, Orphia does have one friend Jason, who then introduces her to Eurydicius, a shield maker. 

What I was looking, I realised, was a man who appreciated my manner. The desire in his eyes mangled with awe and something surprisingly soft. 

Respect. That was the word. 

It's instant attraction between the two and he gives Orphia some confidence to explore her wanting to burst free poetry side. Even though it's one of her father's powers, Apollo has forbid Orphia to take up the lyre, so when she does, she understands the danger but can't contain that part of herself any longer. Apollo, of course, finds out and it's godly anger, he whisks Orphia away to Mt. Olympus and destroys the Isle, leaving Orphia to think Jason and Eurydicius are dead. With a new setting of Mt. Olympus, numerous gods and goddesses come into scene and it becomes apparent that the goddesses also live in a sexist world, their stories, only told by men, are skewed and told through a lens of sexism. Orphia learns her mother is Calliope, Chief of the Muses and Orphia was not given up by her but taken. With some help from Hera, Orphia gets her wish to tell poetry and goes to live with the Muses. 

The thrill of expressing myself had driven me into fresh imaginings, until I could not see the risk I took. 

The middle of the story was a lot of Orphia spending time with different Muses and learning from them, always discussing how sexism comes into play. It's then learned that Jason and Eurydicius did not die on the Isle and we get some romance interludes, focuses on how Eurydicius likes to be lead by Orphia, exploring the general societal gender swapping, which eventually leads to them quietly and hurriedly married. While the story was mostly focusing on Orphia and introducing other characters through her journey, the second half begins with Orphia being betrayed into going with Jason on his quest (Argo, Golden Fleece) and separating from Eurydicius. I thought some of this veered a little bit too much into “see how much mythology research I did” and it felt less like Orphia's story. 

I wanted to tell stories of men who were soft when they were supposed to be hard; of women who were loud when they were supposed to be docile; of people of every nature who felt scarcely visible, and wished to make themselves whole through my stories. 

The ending brought us back to more of the love story and we get Orphia trying to rescue Eurydicius from the Underwold, the Underworld providing some good atmospheric setting. The vast majority of this followed the traditionally known myths, some events mixed around here and there but all told through a focus on sexism. A gender swapping adds some new angles and layers to this myth and if you're interested in some goddesses getting their due, some righteous anger, and challenging of sexist norms, then this could be a new one to pick up.

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