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necrologist's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Body horror, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma, and Confinement
sassyshark's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Drug use, Grief, Miscarriage, and Medical trauma
laurajeangrace's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, and Medical content
Moderate: Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War, Child death, Death, Rape, and Confinement
Minor: Sexual content and Slavery
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, and War
tinybluepixel's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Pregnancy, Rape, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Confinement
Moderate: Infidelity, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, and Violence
toorsdenote's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Toxic relationship, and War
columnclub's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
"Circe back as superwoman ... Miller's Me Too-era, kickass portrait of a woman trying to defy the men arrayed against her."
So from the beginning, the publishing choices made here posited this as a Feminist Novel. Circe is a Hashtag Girlboss. And that felt kind of jarring to me, because Miller also knows full well that the experiences of goddesses and mortal women are so different as to be incomparable, which is kind of a major idea in Greek mythology and especially the epic cycle, and in a few ways this could be seen as not a particularly feminist novel at all. So applying very watered-down feminist terminology in that ill-fitting context didn't exactly make me excited to read it.
That doesn't at all mean that Circe's story here isn't interesting – it is, and it's well told pretty much throughout. So I wish Miller's writing was what everyone had focused on here, because really, the expectation that centring the women in Greek myth has to result in a novel where the characters are "kickass" does a disservice to everyone involved.
I'm struggling not to review it in terms of how feminist it was, mostly because of that ridiculous quote and others like it. So is it particularly feminist? Yes, in the sense that there are several highly nuanced female characters, and the relationship between Circe and Penelope, though initially quite disappointing, ends on a really interesting and thoughtful note. But also, no? Circe is so different here to the Circe in myth: the fact that her characterisation largely includes a rejection of her divinity sums up a lot of that, and my biggest objection personally was the reason given for why she turns men into pigs.
But, as above, I didn't want to evaluate this on the basis of how feminist was. I don't think anyone really should do that, including the marketing team at Bloomsbury, honestly. So Circe as a more sympathetic character is a perfectly valid choice, and the closing pages, for me, were one of the absolute highlights.
The reason it's three stars for me largely comes down to structure: it feels very episodic and slow in a way that's initially charming, and becomes a little wearisome in the second half. It has about three different endings. And in terms of how it employed myth, I loved the presentation of characters like Prometheus, Pasiphae and Daedalus – others less so. Telemachus is probably my least favourite character from the Odyssey, so I was a little baffled at how he's used here. I also, like pretty much everyone else, hate the Telegony and what it does to the epic cycle, and wasn't really convinced that using that material made this a better narrative.
Overall, though, this was written in an evocative and compelling voice (of course), with a wealth of interesting things to say. I especially liked the first half, and the way Circe's powers are written and used as a narrative device was a highlight. It started to fall down for me when it began following the events of the epic cycle more closely, but perhaps those closing pages made up for it.
Graphic: Animal death, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Incest and War
ka_ke's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Rape, Violence, and War
celery_chickenstorm's review against another edition
- 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
Heartbreak pops up early. While the challenges Circe faces all follow a similar theme, they are written from different angles so it does not feel all that repetitive.
I was someone who read "Song of Achilles" and really loved Miller's writing style so I was very excited to read this one as well. As much as I loved that book, I love this one more.
Minor: Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence
tvaia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Bullying and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, and Vomit