Electric Idol is a 2022 fantasy romance by Katee Robert, who uses she/they pronouns. Robert is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. She is known for writing romances in which the exploration of sex and sexuality is central to the plot. Electric Idol is the second work in Robert’s Dark Olympus series, a modern retelling of Greek myths that features extensive political intrigue and family drama as well as romance.

This guide refers to the Kindle e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of sexual content, emotional abuse, child sexual abuse, death, substance use, and cursing.

Language Note: While some characters in the text use the word “fat” as a pejorative, the protagonists reclaim it as a neutral descriptor. The guide’s analysis and some quoted material use the term in this neutral sense to reflect the author’s intent to normalize all bodies as valid and worthy of respect. This rhetorical choice honors the author’s exploration of Self-Acceptance as a Source of Power.

Plot Summary

At a reception for the “Thirteen” (the leaders of the Olympian oligarchy) and their families, Psyche Dimitriou, daughter of Demeter, dodges her mother’s efforts to introduce her to Zeus, who wants to marry her. (In the world of the novel, “Zeus” is a hereditary title for the leader of the Thirteen; the name of the current Zeus is Perseus Kasios. His father, the previous Zeus, died during a struggle with Hades in Neon Gods, the first novel in the series.) 

Now, as Psyche retreats from the new Zeus’s advances, she encounters Eros Ambrosia, the son of Aphrodite, one of Demeter’s enemies. Eros is obviously injured, and although Psyche suspects that he has recently murdered someone on his mother’s behalf, she helps him bandage his injuries. They are caught by a paparazzo while in close conversation, and the photograph soon leads to rampant speculation that they are in a relationship against the wishes of their parents.

Aphrodite is incensed about the rumors about Eros and Psyche, and she is particularly angry to realize that Demeter now has more status in Olympus because Persephone (one of Demeter’s daughters) is Hades’s wife. Aphrodite therefore orders Eros to murder Psyche. Eros is tired of committing violent acts to suit his mother’s whims, and he finds himself regretting the fact that Psyche’s generous gesture toward him will now bring her harm. He nevertheless asks Hermes, Olympus’s messenger, to deliver a message to Psyche, asking her to meet him. Psyche agrees to meet Eros and asks Hermes to stage a night out with a woman who looks like her, providing cover for her rendezvous.

Psyche meets Eros at a bar and is stunned to discover that he has lied; he has no intention of discussing strategies to end their predicament. Instead, he reveals that Aphrodite has ordered him to kill her. She tries to persuade him that Demeter’s wrath is not worth the risk, but he insists that his mother is too vengeful to care about the political implications of her vengeful actions. Full of regret and turmoil over his mother’s order, Eros suggests that he and Psyche marry and promote a narrative of a secret romance. This political move will force Demeter to protect Eros from his mother and use her influence to save Psyche’s life, as they will both become public darlings due to the popularity of the viral photo and subsequent marriage. Psyche reluctantly agrees to the arrangement.

Psyche moves to Eros’s penthouse apartment to reinforce the plausibility of their marriage of convenience. He tries to persuade her that they should have a sexual relationship, and the attraction between them grows, especially after a staged kiss for her social media turns heated. 

Persephone reluctantly accepts Psyche’s invitation to the wedding, but Psyche’s other two sisters, Callisto and Eurydice, refuse to participate. Psyche is touched when Eros buys her a wedding dress from her favorite size-inclusive designer. She resolves to have sex with him to intensify the narrative of their public chemistry, and he surprises her by performing oral sex.

Persephone arrives for the wedding, sheepishly confessing to Psyche that she has also brought their mother. Demeter tells Psyche that she trusts her motivations and judgment. Helen and Eris Kasios, Eros’s close friends, attend as witnesses. A furious Aphrodite discovers the marriage and renews her threat to kill Psyche. After the wedding ceremony, Eros finds himself increasingly focused on Psyche’s happiness and well-being.

Psyche gives in to her attraction for Eros, and the two spend their wedding night having intense and passionate sex that deepens their connection to each other. Psyche begins to be afraid of the emotional vulnerability that she feels, as the prospect of falling in love with Eros seems both impossible and risky. As they spend more time together, Psyche realizes that Eros’s life of violence is the result of his mother’s emotional abuse. While she still holds him responsible for his past, she also views him with more empathy.

Psyche and Eros take a walk in the university gardens and visit his favorite bar. As they talk, they realize that they are both adept at maintaining public images that conceal their vulnerabilities and true emotions. As they kiss passionately, Aphrodite enters the bar and interrupts them, insisting that she will pursue her plan to destroy Psyche. Eros is furious, but Psyche reassures him that their social media strategy may still work.

Psyche and Eros attend a party at Helen’s apartment and begin to relax together, but their calm is shattered when an assassin sent by Aphrodite nearly shoots them in the parking garage. Later, Eros and Psyche have passionate sex, and she tells him that he is a better person than he knows. She is aware that she is falling in love with him. They visit Zeus to discuss the assassination attempt, but he reminds them that Eros now risks exile for betraying his willingness to assassinate a family member of one of the Thirteen, even if he has now repented. He tells Psyche that he would have married her himself, as Demeter had arranged, but he now refuses to act.

Psyche tries to enlist the help of her mother and other allies, but only Hades is willing to support Demeter against Aphrodite. Psyche confronts her mother for trying to arrange a marriage to Zeus without her consent. Callisto promises Psyche that she will act to save Eurydice from marriage to Zeus. Eros, desperate to protect Psyche, tells her that he will kill his mother. Eros and Psyche confess their love for each other.

After Eros leaves, Psyche sneaks out to enact a plan of her own. She contacts Aphrodite with Helen’s help and arranges a meeting, pretending that she is desperate to leave Olympus and indicating that she trusts Aphrodite to help her. Meanwhile, Eros realizes that a gun is missing from his mother’s home, and when Helen calls him to report that Psyche and Aphrodite are meeting soon, he races to the university gardens.

During their confrontation in the gardens, Aphrodite threatens to shoot Psyche. Once Aphrodite has stated her entire plan, Psyche reveals that she has recorded the encounter, thereby exposing Aphrodite’s plot to all of Olympus. Zeus summons them and upbraids them both for adding to the scandals that he now faces. He adds, however, that his forthcoming marriage now protects them. Callisto enters with an engagement ring on her finger, signaling that she will be the next Hera.

In an Epilogue set one month later, Eros and Psyche prepare for their first family dinner with Demeter and her sisters. Eros is struck by the warm atmosphere and sees that Demeter has hung one of their wedding photos on the family portrait wall. He joyfully accepts his new life with Psyche.