Beauty And The Beast is my all time favorite Disney princess movie. It probably has had a significant impact in my love for enemies to lovers, monster romance, and a lot of my comfort genres. In the rabbit hole surrounding this epic movie, my mythology obsessed childhood self stumbled upon the myth of Cupid and Psyche. If you didn’t already know, this myth is the origins of Beauty And The Beast. Some of the best retellings of the story incorporate aspects of the original myth. The first book of this series is one of those kinds of stories.

I honestly cannot even tell you how many times I have reread this book. Each and every time I do, I find new things to love about it. Tamlin is a great adaptation of the Beast. Feyre’s love of art is a great deviation from the typical bookworm mold of Belle. And a large reason for this is how much this story references Cupid and Psyche.

We have three sisters, although the birth order is different. Psyche is placed on a mountain to await her husband. The villainess, Venus (aka Aphrodite), gives Psyche trials to perform to prove her love. There is also the element of disguise. Feyre can’t see Tamlin’s true form due to the curse whereas Psyche can’t look at Cupid in the dark due to the capriciousness of the gods. Both women let their curiosity get the better of them which places them in mortal peril.

There are more elements that overlap with the myth, but several of these would involve big spoilers.

I personally think that Lucien is a version of Lumiere. Both names mean light. Both characters are the nice and fun male sidekick. I don’t think there is a version of Cogsworth, but let’s face it. He wasn’t anyone’s favorite anyway.

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