Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Circe by Madeline Miller

14 reviews

kwichris's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

Circe is a cleverly written novel about the goddess herself and the experiences she endured from her perspective. This novel spans centuries in time with both well-known and new mythological events and experiences Circe must navigate. Circe is shown as a more fully-developed person than in the minor roles she's played in other grand masterworks of classical literature. She perseveres through more hardships than can be imagined and her shere ingenuity and life-experience guides her actions through each trial and tribulation. Through it all, Circe demonstrates how many of us feel at different points in our lives despite never being bestowed with divinity as she has. Just as Circe is more fully realized in this novel, so too are her accompanying characters often the focus of the story when they encounter Circe. All in all, Madeline Miller has crafted a wonderfully detailed novel encompassing more mythology and the human experience than one might expect. If you're a fan of Greek mythology, history, and novels that really flesh out their characters, then I would highly recommend this book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Torture, and Incest

Minor: Physical abuse, Infidelity, Classism, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Slavery

gabriella_'s review

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I read most of this book on a round trip train ride and someone’s front lawn. My god this book was gripping. I preferred The Song of Achilles for the romantic overtures but I think Madeline Miller really comes into her own as an author writing prose in this piece. The depth of the way she characterizes has compounded exponentially in this book. It’s such a refreshing spin on Greek mythos that I couldn’t put the book down.

This book made me laugh and cry within mere lines. I love the way Madeline Miller writes structures of misogyny without relegating women to damsels, and while writing all her characters as multidimensional with their own agendas. She captures the essence of Greek mythos without letting it choke out her own artistic vision.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Rape, Child death, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Cannibalism, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Sexism, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Violence, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Medical trauma, Medical content, Misogyny, Incest, Sexual harassment, War, Child abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

kirstemma's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring relaxing medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.0

Welcome to Αἰαία, see the pigs transform from humans. Welcome to Αἰαία, hope you like Circe you ain’t leaving. Caroline Polachek would love it here 4🏝️

I love how intricate names in Greek mythology are: Helios, Pasiphaë, Minos, Aeëtes & then there’s literally Jason!💀

NB Fuck, marry, kill: Odysseus, Achilles, Paris (in that order) 🏛️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Drug use, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Torture, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, and War

romancebookslover's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment

maren_hemsath's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Abandonment, Torture, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol and War

olia_k21's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Abandonment, and Sexual assault

horizonous's review against another edition

adventurous reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Blood, Animal death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Torture, War, and Death

Minor: Bullying, Child death, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Vomit

◦ Death = incl. father, husband, lover
◦ Mental illness = Depression
◦ Pregnancy = Child birth
◦ Sexual content = incl. zoophilia

sonlight21's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.75

This book was full of beautiful prose and written in a way that is unusual and I have not seen before but enjoyed immensely!!!! 

I really enjoyed the retelling of a classic character from a different view point. It showed the horror and injustice of the original tale. Warning if you are interested in reading this book there are many content warnings and triggers that you should take the time to look into. It is not a lighthearted book and deals with some very heavy topics.
It also has a strong feminist voice.

It was a very interesting, enjoyable and much needed retelling but do not jump in without doing the research and making sure it is something you can read :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

Minor: Rape

aditi_801's review

adventurous emotional informative reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I LOVE this book so much. It took me forever to read as my tbr is only growing bigger day by day but I just enjoyed it so thoroughly. Our baybe Circe was actually the sweetest and bravest. Sure she liked to turn men into pigs for a period of time but who wouldn't do the same? The stories of the people she encountered were just so entertaining. Meeting Medea, Daedalus, baby Icarus, and Ariadne were such shocks to me and I loved how Circe grew everytime she experienced more of life. The ending was also just so good. Expected but also not expected. Seeing her grow from someone who was constantly stepped on when she lived with her family to a powerful and independent woman was my favorite part. She was alone for so long, but she grew with it. This book was just so filled with life, the writing was beautiful, and I was honestly never bored. It took me a few days to read because I was annotating it but I bet I would have devoured it otherwise. This book did so much justice to Circe's character in Greek Mythology that is known as beautiful but seductress witch who decievingly turns men to pigs. The way she was displayed in Circe made her human.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Pregnancy, Death, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape