Never Look Back by Lilliam Rivera is a modern Afro-Latinx retelling of the Eurydice and Orpheus tale. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this book! I loved our main characters, Eury and Pheus. Pheus is a musically gifted young man who is living his best life wooing the ladies and hanging out with his friends in the Bronx. Eury is visiting her cousin, Penelope, for the summer in the hopes that a change of scenery can help her heal from the trauma and anxiety of surviving Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and moving to Florida as a result. She is also followed by a menacing spirit, Ato, whom she desperately wants to be rid of.

The book starts off rooted in reality, so I was a bit up in the air about whether this was a loose retelling or not. But, about halfway through the book, the tone changes and we are immersed in the mythical. I loved the latter part of the book because of that! Rivera has done an excellent job of updating this classic story. The way elements of our modern world are literally and metaphorically intertwined with the themes and elements of this Greek myth is fantastic. Mental health, religion, spirituality are intertwined and balanced in a way that I appreciated. People can be haunted by demons, real or imagined, and I thought that the way that was addressed was very well done.

Rivera’s writing style is very straight-forward and doesn’t often lean towards the lyrical. Since this book is full of metaphor and mythical, I would have loved to see a bit more “show-not-tell” writing. However, that is just my personal preference of writing style, so I don’t really see that as a negative, just something that didn’t align with my preferences. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys myth reinterpretations.

*I received a free digital ARC from Bloomsbury YA and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*