Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Circe by Madeline Miller

33 reviews

carlycormier_'s review

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

 When I purchased this book I was excited to read a “spinoff”/“retelling” of a classic piece of literature through a feminist lens. However, after reading it I don’t feel that it was everything I was lead to believe and was hoping it would be. As a college student studying classical/ancient history maybe this is my reasoning for not loving it(?) I had to take a long pause and put this book down because 1) it felt too much like more of the same in regard to my academic focus, 2) certain sections required me to muster up the desire to keep reading (pace, plot, etc).

Miller has a lot of potential which is what excites me the most after reading this. Her mastery and deep knowledge of classical history and mythology truly shines, but that’s also the downfall of Circe. This could have been a contemporary masterpiece, a new mythological epic in its own right, but it just sort of fell flat to this. Arguably, a lot of fat could have been trimmed off this book and it would have been more intriguing and enjoyable. I expected Circe to be this wild ride of a story, but in the end it was too much of a hyper-slow burn for me. I did , however, really enjoy how Circe is a complicated character. She is multi-faceted and flawed. This is the big success with this retelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Gaslighting, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

ally1994's review

adventurous dark emotional fast-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

I personally loved Circe better than The Song of Achilles. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the Song of Achilles but I just related more to Circe.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Infidelity, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

momma_needs_to_read's review

• 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

4.0

This was such a good book. I absolutely love Madeline Miller’s writing. She is able to perfectly describe settings and characters to a point that I was really able to picture it in my head. This book made me want to live on a deserted island with the animals and my own little garden outside a cottage.

I love Greek mythology and I’ve been wanting to read this for so long and I’m glad that I finally did. The book starts with Circe’s younger days and continues on as she explores and finds her true self. Anyone familiar with Greek Mythology will recognize most of the characters and their stories. This is such a great retelling. However, there were a few parts that kind of crept by and felt less interesting than others. Other parts had me completely enthralled, but then it would get to a slow part and start to lose me a bit.

Overall, I loved this book. I definitely recommend it to all Greek Mythology lovers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Gore, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Murder, Death, Gaslighting, and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Sexual content, and Slavery

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

wet_towlette's review

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

4.75

Circe is so real, I love her. I wish she was able to get some better revenge or something though. It was kind of lacking in the action sense. Not that I really minded it, it's just that this story is marketed as an epic and usually with epics there's a lot more action.

Spoiler

I'm happy she got her happy ending I just wish it wasn't with her son's brother 😭 that is so weird.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Animal death, Rape, Violence, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, Alcohol, Body horror, and Sexism

Minor: War, Grief, and Child death

mxpringle's review

adventurous challenging reflective sad 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

3.5

The first 90% of the book? Amazing. Immaculately written and enthralling. The last 10% of the book? What in the

Spoiler

stepmother/stepchild relationship

was that... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Torture

Moderate: Death, Blood, and Death of parent

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Blood, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Animal death, Murder, Violence, Death, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore

Moderate: War, Torture, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, and Vomit

Minor: Suicide, Sexual content, Ableism, Self harm, and Child death

meeklovestoread's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I was warned beforehand that this book was no p just vibes, and although I do value books that are more plot driven I thought I'd enjoy this since I liked her previous book. And while I did appreciate her writing it did get kind of confusing sometimes and sorta complicated to understand. The book did have numerous dull parts as well. I almost put it down numerous times. The book was still nice. I understand why people may love it, but sadly it just wasn't for me.

Spoiler

I never read the original tale so maybe this is just me. But Circe getting with her son's half brother when she also had sex with his father was well ws kind of disturbing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

gabydoesgrowth's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-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

4.25

Circe was the second book I read after coming out of a 5 year slump where I didn’t read anything that wasn’t assigned to me by a syllabus. I think it was a great place to start.

As a kid, I really loved Greek mythology. As I got older, I started to read less sanitized versions of those stories and had a hard time sticking with it.

Spoiler

Turns out I really don’t like reading stories where rape and sexual assault are just something that happens.

Circe, however, sucked me in ever since I saw it being talked about on TikTok. 

While the misogyny of it all is both infuriating and exhausting, I enjoyed watching Circe grow into her own as she carves out a space for herself in the world that rejected her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Confinement

luminifera's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I absolutely loved it. What a beautiful retelling of the myth. So many details!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Animal death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Bullying, Child death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Torture, Child abuse, Cursing, Rape, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, War, Self harm, Infidelity, Addiction, Incest, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Xenophobia, and Alcohol

It's a heavy book. However, very much worth the read, and

Spoiler

it has a happy ending!