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mairiairi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Book felt like it was slogging a bit at the beginning, wasn't interesting, everyone was a completely self-absorbed, narcissistic jerk including Circe. Then she gets a couple hundred years under her belt and becomes more self-aware, growing out of the teenager stage into the young adult stage, and it's so organic and natural that I didn't even notice it until I read over the quotes I'd posted and realized there's a huge difference between the first, second, and third of the book. I def found her growing on me and ended up rooting for her by the end of the book (which is crazy considering how weak and spineless she was at the beginning). It was really really well done.
The writing kind of reminds me of Hamnet, though probably more flowery and descriptive, but definitely not as pretentious as Wolf Hall. This was subtle enough that you had to think about it and read slower than usual, but it wasn't so subtle that you felt dumb for not understanding, and not getting anything out of the book. The writing also didn't get in the way of the story at all, imo.
Had some really good morals/lessons, and some thought-provoking takes on human nature, existence of man, etc. and I wish I'd had a physical copy so I could annotate. Or a teacher to tell me to write a paper on it. Fascinating stuff fr fr
I did get a lil bit bored until about halfway - it was a bit tedious, because she's stuck on an island, but definitely not anywhere near as bad as A Gentleman in Moscow, this actually had a storyline lol it did leave me feeling like I was reading one of those multi-generational books and there's a reason I never read those. To her credit, I think it definitely sells you on the "she's centuries old, exiled on an island" without dragging or being boring like you'd expect.
Definitely want to get a physical copy, reread, and annotate everything. Too many relatable characters, but most of them see their flaws and work on it so that by the end of the story they've changed and are far healthier than where they started. Anger management, trouble with trust and vulnerability, dealing with loss or loneliness...there is so much they either grow through OR recognize in someone else as being bad, and seeing my own problems represented in a book was so encouraging to me. I don't have to keep doing this to myself and those around me, don't keep hurting people just because you're too proud to admit you're the source of the hurt - these gods suck, but I don't have to lol
So interesting that she is drawn to humans time and again. Those are the only ones she's interested in, everyone else is a side hustle. Why? Because she's drawn to authenticity and weakness, being deemed weak and naive to the family of gods that she was born into. And so much more. But I have work tmr and it's already 3:30am so imma leave it at that and if any of this piqued your interest then just go read it already (it's subtle enough that even if you're under 13 it's fine, but you won't enjoy it so wait till you're like 15+ << only saying this bc my lil sister follows me HAHAHA sup tia)
also: there were some long quotes I liked that didn't fit in the update thing, so I'm leaving them as comments under this review lol
(also also, note that I wrote right before the book gets good:
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
k1booking's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Incest
willoughby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Medical content, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
kwthor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Cursing, Death, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content
sherlene_06's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
This literary piece had such a 'Explain-To-Me-Like-I'm-5ive' sort of energy while it told the readers of the Gods; Titans and Olympians, the mortals and the demi-gods, their histories, and futures. Very easy to follow. Miller's writing style made the book even more delicious. The prose, the way Circe recounted the events of her life so poetically, and the quotes in the book were numerous, all beautifully strung together.
Circe's naiveté, innocence, trusting nature, anger, frustration, betrayals, disbelief, hopes, wishes, pains and realisations made her so relatable. While she endured the pangs of childbirth and the troubles of motherhood it only made me love her character more. Circe would do anything for her child Telegonus and that was such a powerful arch into her development.
The last few chapters wove such a masterpiece of an ending, with a certainty that we as readers would have to believe in rather than know for sure. Overall, another beautiful book by Madeline Miller.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Incest, Blood, Abandonment, and War
julia_kathleen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Classism
Minor: Incest
spookyaz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kaz_brekkerrr's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Cursing and Violence
Minor: Sexual content and Sexual violence
a_libra_library's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
passivewax's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
“I had walked the earth for a hundred generations, yet I was still a child to myself.”
Something else I want to add is that often I have trouble being able to envision scenery when reading, like following along with an author’s depictions is usually pointless for me and something I will read twice and then skip over because the description just doesn’t do it for me. Miller’s writing never once stumped me or had me reread, even in complex visual scenes. And also - it was so beautiful! The world she created and the imagery of nature and feelings was so extremely vivid. Was a nice change for sure.
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War