Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Circe by Madeline Miller

229 reviews

peregrinwho's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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

4.25

Absolutely incredible read. To span so much time and so many events is a great feat. I understand the direction it took halfway through to the conclusion was not made for me, and it was the best way to round out the character's arc, so don't take the fact this isn't 5 stars as a sign the story is flawed in any significant way. Glad I got to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Bullying, and Infidelity

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Pregnancy, Slavery, and Medical content

captnmorgan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

I wish there were more! Circe grew so much, yet down to her core, remained the Circe we were initially introduced to. It was a hard book to put down, even at the worst moments, the writing was captivating. I felt charmed by the writing, similar to how I felt gods and goddesses charm those around them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gore, and Murder

moraina's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

5.0

Circe is a twist on how women are represented in Greek mythology, giving them power and wit. Although it is a slower read, Circe interacts with a variety of characters and learns lessons from each of them, while imparting some wisdom of her own and trying to fix her past mistakes. She learns that she is capable of more than she and her family realize and sticks true to her moral compass even when it is contradictory to what godhood entails.

Madeline Miller has a great writing style and conveys relationships between characters in a way that I don't find in books often. I do think this is a slower read than The Song of Achilles, but both books are fantastic and I highly look forward to reading more from her in the future.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, War, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, and Child death

tashaxkate's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

I am heartbroken to have finished this book, I feel emptier knowing there’s no more story to read but fuller for having read through its pages. One of the best books I have ever read and it deserves every piece of hype and praise it gets.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Grief, Violence, Medical content, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, and Slavery

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

The writing was beautiful and I loved how to themes are subtle yet significant throughout. I really enjoy Greek mythology and how the more I read, the more names I recognize. Circe really came into her own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Abandonment, Body horror, and Sexism

Moderate: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, Rape, Death, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Alcohol and War

clovetra's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

oh that was delectable.

ok so i will admit. i am a baby greek mythology consumer. before this i knew barely anything - i knew of the minotaur, and “read” the odyssey last year (no i didn’t i got 30 pages in and closed it and then pretended i read it for my year 12 literature class…. i ate that essay up)

anyways i can solemnly say this book has actually turned me into a greek mythology lover. wow did i love the way miller wrote.

her writing seems to have this lyrical quality of it that seems like she herself is immortal, like circe. honestly i could read her work for days.

also the way she made some stories beginner friendly? chefs kiss.

i was so enthralled in circe’s life, i couldn’t stop thinking about her. granted my insanity for the twilight series was unmatched, but i have banned myself from twilight for a while. and in the meantime circe has taken its place in my noggin.

god i cant gush about this book enough

now the question is…. why is it only a four star?

i found this so ooo ooo o fucking hard to read for like the first 150 pages. not because it’s boring! oh no! because it reads like i’m trying to read an untranslated bible. granted it works for the book! if it was written any other way i would be a little bitch about it! but the reason i dnf’d the odyssey wasn’t because i was bored, but because the writing style was like trying to read 30 layers of subtext in one sentence. this book had less of that, but i would spent ages reading a page. i’d say i’m a quick reader, but genuinely i would spend 5 minutes on each page. like just having to wrap my head around some of the phrasing being used made my noggin want to explode. i think over time i will get used to it if i keep reading books in this same style (is style the right word idk), but for this being my first book of its kind it was a doozy!

anyways shout out to medea what a bad bitch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Moderate: Incest, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Blood, War, Infidelity, Child death, Misogyny, and Medical trauma

jodean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Sexism, Murder, Body horror, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Sexual content, War, and Gore

Minor: Slavery

bel017's review against another edition

 CW for rape (but she had a reason to turns men to pigs, so what did you expect?). I know very little of Greek mythology, so the story was news to me. It was great to see a woman at the center of her own story, and that Miller didn't shy away from the difficult parts. There's a fierce kind of joy in the attempt to take ownership of her own life. Well written, intense and engaging. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Misogyny

Moderate: Infidelity, Bullying, Abandonment, Murder, Death, and Body horror

bookstackbecca's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this Greek tale a lot. It was beautifully written. A character I had never truly known much about came to life, her story had me standing alongside her mixing herbs for her spells, understanding her griefs and her triumphs. Circe was such an outstanding read. Definitely worth it, it may seem slow to some but the pacing was spot on for a book that tells a classic greek tragedy is such a fresh way 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, and Grief

freddie_o's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Death, War, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity