Shimmering Splendor

This is Bk 2 of the Greek myth series that Gellis has been rewriting (for a list, see my review of Dazzling Brightness or my list "Gellis's Greek Myths"). Shimmering Splendor is the story of Eros (or Cupid) and Psyche, and how Psyche became Eros's bride. While this was a fascinating read in some respects and the transformation of Psyche through the book is very credible, I found this book unsatisfying in some respects.For one thing, I have always had problems with the way in which Psyche is made to pay over and over for her curiosity about Eros/ Cupid's appearance. Like other reviewers, I was struck by some of the parallels with Beauty and the Beast - from the fact that Psyche is condemned to be the bride of a monster because of her father's foolishness to the fact that her sisters are jealous of her good fortune. However - I had problems firstly with the whole set-up as to why Psyche was rejected by Aphrodite's priest. Supposedly, she hated Beauty and Love. There is no explanation why. My guess is that she distrusted Beauty and Love after seeing the way that people reacted to her as she grew into a beauty from a plain child. But this is not addressed in the book. I also had questions, like others, about Eros's origins and why he had been condemned by the other Olympians with so dreadful a curse. His relationship to Aphrodite was also highly ambiguous, and she behaved more like a spurned ex-lover than as a friend and as a partner. Knowing a bit more about Eros's background would have helped.I did like the way in which Gellis retold the way in which Pysche broke Eros's disguise, although I could not understand the nature of her Gift. She apparently possessed the ability to do Magic, but she had shut off her ability to tap power within her through fear or ignorance. Again, an explanation would have helped here.At the end of the book I was hesitating between a 3 and a 4. I finally settled for a 3.9 (rounded up to a 4). The low grade reflects my frustrations about Eros's background, Psyche's abilities and curse, and about their romance which seems decidedly one-sided at different times.A final note - there are hints as to what will happen in BULL GOD (the story of Dionysus and Ariadne, and Theseus and the Minotaur) and a neat rounding-up of the mother-daughter relationship in Dazzling Brightness.[written September 16, 2002]

Roberta Gellis is an author I buy "blind", I don't need reviews or ratings, I just know she's good - and she's never disappointed me yet. Her characters are always well-defined, their actions believable or well explained, so that even seemingly strange choices make sense in the context. And her stories are good, exciting, well-written.My one complaint with this book, and that is the only reason I don't give it a ten, is : I would really like to have a bit of explanation what happened to Eros with his family and in which way his beauty was so unbearable to those around him - how exactly was he punished and for what. It is not central to the story and maybe I should know my mythology better, but that was my one complaint. Apart from that, wonderful, I reread it occasionally because it is such a good book!