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hannahbaird2023's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Madeleine Miller has an incredible talent for narrative. Like Song of Achilles, this blew me away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery
shiyuplsloveme's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
I enjoyed this a lot more compared to song of achilles. it's an interesting story with very well fleshed out character development which I felt was lacking in Miller's previous work
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Rape, and Death of parent
Minor: Violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and War
mairiairi's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- 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
the character growth in this book is freaking unbelievable. Hated everyone up until the last quarter of the book. Worth the wait, bc once I got to the end everyone was relatable lol
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:
yk what I hate? The fact that everyone is an idiot. Absolute selfish, self-involved, narcissistic idiot. First Athena, she won't even explain anything to Circe even though if she had, then Circe would have known better and wouldn't have done all that to protect her son. Then the son, for being so bullheaded and unhappy about his place in life that he won't listen to common sense despite someone who's been around for HUNDREDS OF YEARS telling him about the prophecy. Then stupid Odysseus for being so angry that he won't even take two seconds to listen to a literal child tell him why he's landed on Odysseus' precious land, honestly it's his fault for being such a stupid guy and getting in such a rage over a little kid landing on his island, like brotherrrrr he caused that, the son wasn't even tryna harm anyone and he had permission from O's son. Like O, if that makes you mad, go take it up with your son, not your guest you idiot. Honestly that part was so insufferable, I couldn't even bring myself to care about anyone involved, they were all stupid. )
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:
Content Warnings
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
emrythequeer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Rape
Moderate: Death and Violence
phoevincent's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Infidelity and Suicidal thoughts
k1booking's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
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
rhiannon814r's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
beatriks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
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
4.75
Fantastic Read. I didn’t know what to expect, this was my first novelization of a story from Greek mythology.
The beginning was very slow, but once Circe landed on Aiaia, it was a hell of a ride and she really grew on me.
The introspection and reflection on divinity vs mortality are fascinating and well-developed.
The beginning was very slow, but once Circe landed on Aiaia, it was a hell of a ride and she really grew on me.
The introspection and reflection on divinity vs mortality are fascinating and well-developed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Death of parent
crusoe's review
challenging
dark
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
I always love the feeling of when you see how a name or story you heard of long ago fits into the greek mythos.
Like all Miller books, it took me a while to get into and Circe did not hit me as hard as Song of Achilles did. (Which is mostly because the Illiad is one of my favourite parts of Greek mythology.) However, the nuance in which Circe evolves as a character and takes back control of her own story is brilliant. It was a great read.
Like all Miller books, it took me a while to get into and Circe did not hit me as hard as Song of Achilles did. (Which is mostly because the Illiad is one of my favourite parts of Greek mythology.) However, the nuance in which Circe evolves as a character and takes back control of her own story is brilliant. It was a great read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy
zumpers's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Grief, and Pregnancy