Reviews with content warning for War - Circe

Reviews tagging 'War'

Circe by Madeline Miller

440 reviews

lanna2000's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow. This one took a while for me to finish but I am so glad to have read it. Even tho it felt intimidating to start the story elegantly flows for a span of centuries. I am very interested in Greek mythology but admittedly don’t know that many stories but reading this gave an interesting twist and context to the existing stories of Circe and Odysseus, as well as the other characters. While there were those painful, sad moments Circes triumphs had me rooting for her happy ending. Def gonna read more on Greek mythology and not just fiction books like this but actual lore intrigues me now, although I read the odyssey in high school. I loved the growth and depth of the characters and how they mimicked much of today’s reality as well with war, bloodlust, and lust for power. Even gods have their faults I guess. Will be reading songs of Achilles now! Also kinda a dope pick for Halloween season! I mean, witches right?? Circe highkey THAT girl and I love it for spooky season!

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brooklynbroke's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective

5.0

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aleyajo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious

Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

Miller does an excellent job at humanizing Circe and giving characters believable personalities.

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l6zarras's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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brogan7's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

3.75

So usually 4 is my cut off, meaning 4 and up, I recommend it, 3.75 and below, I'm just shy of recommending it, (or less than that, if a lower number).
Circe has me on the fence, because initially, I loved it. I thought it was absolutely brilliant, how she portrayed the gods' world with the per pective gods would have. She describes Glaucos being made immortal as a wholly horrible transformation, the man sounds physically repulsive, but Circe is still attracted to him because... gods' standards of beauty are not human ones!

She makes this different world come to life in such a magical way, from the very first pages.

And then. A few things happen: triggers beyond what this reader wants to read, and, a fracturing of plot that is hard to follow. It feels like Miller is faithful to Greek mythology (I didn't know that much about it going into it, so I'm surmising this is the case)...but it feels like she's doing exactly what she is: hopping from story to story without a single story really linking them together.
This is a creative plotline, but it makes for some difficulty in staying motivated to read, in the middle parts (especially if you don't like the gory bits, because there are lots of them).

I can't resolve some parts of what I feel about this book. She does the horrors of war well, but does that mean you want to read that? I don't want to ... I really don't want to.

She's all over power dynamics...again, hard to read though. How people use other people (or gods) for their own petty self-aggrandizement. It's how some people are, yes. It doesn't make me want to know about it in detail...unless they were to learn something, and other than Circe, no one really does. (Zeus, her brother, her father, Odysseus....how many fail to learn.)

I want a little more hope in my literature than that.

However, then she comes with the climax, the dénouement and the end of the story....I don't know if that's even what all those parts are called, but the end of the book pulls magic again, and I do think it's such an amazing book.

Hard call on this one. I'm glad I read it. I can't whole-heartedly recommend it.

Oh yes, and the relationships...ok the men are either pure fantasy or pure hell. I lost my capacity to believe in the romantic stories, I felt myself losing interest in that altogether. So it's hard to say....when that's a big aspect of the book...why did it start to fall flat?

(Which made the ending a little flat as well.)

So overall: a very strong medium? I rarely feel so conflicted over a book.

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bearbutch's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

One of the rare books I read in a day. I fell so in love with the speaker, and Miller’s characterisation always feels so vivid and emotional. She balances the accuracy of ancient Greek myth with the excitement and freshness of new angles. I only wish it went on forever.

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h_andreanne's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

A homecoming tale for a character who was never once welcomed and had to define home before she could even believe to deserve one. Feminism and mythology.

Miller aptly, but also beautifully writes the stories of characters who lived in the shadows of heroes. She is a master at building character's motivations around tales told by many.
Elle insuffle la vie à ces personnages par sa compréhension des motifs humains.

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