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brogan7's review against another edition
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.
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?
So overall: a very strong medium? I rarely feel so conflicted over a book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and War
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Incest
neuroqueerfae's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexual harassment
bearbutch's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Misogyny and Rape
Minor: Animal death and War
catesaav's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
joey_estrada's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It was cool to see so many different myths from Circe's perspective. Her character development was very interesting. At certain points, it almost felt like each chapter was a short story told by Circe. The ending was very poetic and I think it wrapped everything up nicely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, and Grief
Minor: Child death and War
snarkycrafter's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
I will admit that I am not very well-versed in Greek mythology, so there were a lot of things that I had to look up while I was reading this book. And I’m sure that there are still a lot of things that went over my head. However, I found it a really enjoyable read, especially in the second half. The first half was a little slow and it took me a little while to get into it… Probably because I wasn’t familiar with Circe’s story to begin with.
It was interesting to see how she was treated by her father when she admitted to being a witch. And no surprise, she was excommunicated and exiled. It was beautiful to see her come into her own power and become more and more confident in her abilities.
Very enjoyable Greek mythology retelling.
It was interesting to see how she was treated by her father when she admitted to being a witch. And no surprise, she was excommunicated and exiled. It was beautiful to see her come into her own power and become more and more confident in her abilities.
Very enjoyable Greek mythology retelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Abandonment
xvicesx's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It wasn't horrible, but it was slow and I failed to see why everyone raves about this. Circe was, I guess, relatable to some degree, but she wasn't interesting and she really took forever to show any agency.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, and Sexism
Minor: Death and Death of parent
bubblebot's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.25
happy ending we likey
this showed a lot of interesting humanly issues even though the characters were mostly gods lmao. although we're made in the God's image, but that's only in the bible for my knowledge.
there was child neglect, relationship issues cause welp it's ancient greece(what did u expect). they may have come up with the word for logic, but these gods for sure didn't use it and are behaving like spoiled children.
this showed a lot of interesting humanly issues even though the characters were mostly gods lmao. although we're made in the God's image, but that's only in the bible for my knowledge.
there was child neglect, relationship issues cause welp it's ancient greece(what did u expect). they may have come up with the word for logic, but these gods for sure didn't use it and are behaving like spoiled children.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
olive_ia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This was a wonderful book full of stories from Greek Mythology from the perspective of the minor goddess Circe. Circe is a very likeable, powerful, and incredibly well written character, this book made me want to research more about Circe's story in Mythology. The book is fast paced and made me want to keep reading more, I very highly recommend Circe!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol
uselesspirateraven's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Abandonment
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Deportation