Oath of Fire

Riviera (the Ascendant trilogy) brings a fae aesthetic to this chaotic sapphic reframing of the Eros and Psyche myth. After therapist Psyche loses her clinic job, her long-distance gaming friend Bondi convinces her to accept a mysterious party invitation hiding in her Instagram messages. She ends up in another world, at a debauched revelry full of masked gods who cannot lie, but are still far from straightforward. Zephyr, her patron for the night, requests that Psyche help his friend Eros, the goddess of passion. Though Eros refuses Psyche’s attempts to act as her therapist, she binds Psyche to her as an Oathsworn, sealing the deal with a fiery kiss before sending her home. While Psyche researches a way to see Eros again, people on both sides of the veil take issue with her involvement with the Wine-Dark Court of Gods. Real-world aspects of the story—like Psyche’s longing to escape her sisters’ shadows—get lost before the end, while on the mythological side, the worldbuilding feels fuzzy. Despite some mature themes, the story often reads like a YA quest novel. Still, the thrill of encountering the unknown comes through clearly, and Psyche’s emotional arc gets a satisfying resolution. It’s rocky, but there’s plenty here to appeal to fans of Sarah J. Maas. (Aug.)