Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Circe by Madeline Miller

112 reviews

janethevirgin46's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

4.75

When comparing this to Madeline Miller’s more famous novel, the Song of Achilles, I believe this book was not written as well. Not to say it was poorly written, but TSOA felt more delicately crafted. I love the story of Circe as well, Miller did a wonderful job of retelling it and adding her interpretations. If Circe was written at the same level The Song of Achilles was, it would probably be one of my favorite books. Circe was overall very enjoyable and was a great illustration of female rage. It was a beautiful read and I am glad I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexism, Animal death, Body horror, Rape, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide, Kidnapping, and Cannibalism

buffy87's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.75

I found myself bored while reading this. I truly felt like it dragged. This is how I felt when I was also reading Song of Achilles. Once I only had a third to read, I was wishing super-reading skills so I could just plow through it. I do like Greek mythology, so the only reason this gets close to 3 stars is because of that. I wish the timeline was more visual (as in maybe the chapters) so it could help me keep track of which of the 1000 years of her life we were in.

There is a lot of descriptive writing, and the wording flows with the content. I found a lot of times getting stilted on the structure of some sentences that it took me out of the reading flow. But this is pretty minor. It felt like a bunch of stories crammed together and despite it being her life, it felt very even.

One thing that bothered me was how Circe became the vessel for the stories of males. It irked me that I was reading a novel that was supposed to be HERS...but then she spent (what felt like half of it) telling me about the stories of these dudes. Instead of it being a story about her, it became a retelling of the stories of heroes - or her in relation to a dude. I got tired of it. This novel has been brandished as a feminist novel and in my opinion, it falls short of that. Where feminism shines is the relationship between Penelope & Circe. It's complicated and well-written. But again, their lives as characters are intertwined in relation to the men they know. Circe's naivety and obedience was also interesting to read through a feminist lens.

Oh, and this book is hella white.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, War, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Rape

handful_of_frogs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Murder, Alcohol, Bullying, Gore, Blood, Confinement, Child death, Death, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, War, and Violence

elizlizabeth's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

I was hooked by the beginning, but the pacing went all weird to the point I kept thinking it was about to end but no, it kept going on and on and on. If you're a fan of Greek mythology I guess it's a fun fanfic type of story but I honestly felt it needed a bit of editing. Circe as a character had good insight but imocould've used some more unhinged-ness. It's like the plot kept trying to justify her actions and in doing so, judging her with a human sized scale which got me rolling my eyes at one point tbh. Better than TSoA, which I realize now, falls in the same pit with the justifying and rationalizing totally unjustifiable (but entretaining) decisions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Rape, and Torture

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

bessmonet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Pregnancy, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Death, Incest, and Violence

thereadinghammock's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.75

I think if I had tried to read this book as a physical or e-book, I would have put it down after a few chapters. Circe's early life was harsh, demeaning, and lonely feeling constantly othered by her family for her powerlessness. Perdita Weeks made this story engaging, heartfelt, and empowering as Circe grew in her power. I was overall pretty unfamiliar with her mythos and was able to enjoy how her story fit in with so many other classic Greek myths that I did grow up hearing about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Abandonment, and Confinement

Moderate: Rape, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, Violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Death

sylkie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective relaxing sad 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? Yes

4.5

Madeline Miller truly never misses! Once again she returns with her beautiful prose and amazing, complicated characters. Circe is a character in Greek mythology who has definitely needed exploration and Miller delivered. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual assault and Incest

kt2e56's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

• 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

5.0

This was such a beautiful piece of literature to read both in its language and how images were painted for us but in how it made such an epic scope of stories we’ve heard time and time again feel so personal and intimate. Ugh, I already want to read it again and I’m already wishing I can read it for the first time all over again. I hope this one remains a classic and as integral to Circe’s story as the original myths themselves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, Body horror, Rape, Confinement, Gore, Abandonment, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Animal death, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Slavery, Incest, Blood, Child death, Pedophilia, Torture, War, and Xenophobia

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

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

4.75

Sofia, if you're reading this please infodump to me about how close it matches the myth. Just as enchanting as SoA, but it felt more familiar, more intimate. Something about a woman, even a divine one, making her way and building her home and herself is always going to resonate with me. I think Penelope got a pretty sweet deal, I would also like to be given a beautiful island home and a pride of tame lions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Bullying, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Abandonment, Blood, and Violence

tabea_hg's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Torture, Pregnancy, Bullying, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Blood