Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Circe by Madeline Miller

161 reviews

camille_llv's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, and Slavery

mya_jt's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad 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

4.5

I really enjoyed reading this. I loved how huge the story was, since it is about an immortal character. I learned a lot about Circe’s story, but it was also very inspiring in terms of the representation of power and feminism. I took away .5 of a star bc  I didn’t love the beginning but overall: highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexism

reclusivebookslug's review

emotional reflective 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

4.5

Madaline Miller has quickly become one of my favorite writers. The writing is beautiful, the pacing is perfect, it immediately sucks you in, and you develop such an emotional intimacy with her narrators. I have no inherent interest in mythology or Homer, and yet I am obsessed with all she writes about it. I read this shortly after The Song of Achilles and was worried that nothing could match it, but Circe hit me just as hard, just differently.

The first half of the book I found the most personally relatable. Circe is punished for her virtues of kindness and honesty in a social structure that values power and prestige above morality. She is cast out because she disobeyed senseless rules that were never explained to her. So much of social interaction in hierarchical culture is about having to assimilate without question and with no instruction.

Miller's characterization of Prometheus made me very interested in him and I was a little disappointed that he was never reintroduced after his brief appearance at the start of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

vannielou's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

ts_anne13's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, and Pregnancy

beamingviolet11's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, and War

skrulls'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A bit of a slog in the beginning for me, but I'm really glad I stuck with it. it was moving, raw, healing, and messy in good ways. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and War

lunaticloverpoet's review

emotional hopeful reflective 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

I’ve had friends begging me to read this book for upwards of over a year, and I am so glad that I finally did. As someone who has been a fan of Greek mythology since childhood, a good retelling will always hold a special place in my heart, and Madeline Miller consistently knocks it out of the park. For a story about ancient all-powerful gods, Circe’s story is so undeniably human—awful and messy but beautiful in the way that it always comes back together. Not only that, it is such a uniquely well-rounded female perspective that is very rarely shown in literature, let alone Greek mythology. My singular gripe with this novel is the endgame romance (should’ve been Penelope smh), but it is something that I’m willing to overlook for a tale this beautiful. Miller’s writing style feels like a fairytale and the are so many quotes and lessons from this book tug at my heartstrings. It is a treatise on what it is like to fall in love with mortality, and more than that, it is an in-depth look at the trials and tribulations of a broken woman who puts finds herself and puts herself back together all on her own. This is the story Circe deserves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse

bri__'s review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Such divine writing, the book has a story that thoroughly flows and it does a fantastic job at 'showing and not telling' when describing things. It is quite slow paced but I really enjoyed it and some things are a bit graphic. Circe's story was so raw and heartfelt, I was wholly enraptured with its events. Trigger warnings should be checked and im not sure why i was surprised about the incest in Mythological times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Animal death and Blood

Most content is not major as explicitly outlined. However, most were put as major due to no specificity regarding the triggers of the individual who decides to read.

dropkickmechanics's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting