Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Circe by Madeline Miller

214 reviews

wogslandwriter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

The epic and endless life of a goddess distilled into a beautiful story that makes sense to us mortals. Miller does an amazing job communicating complex emotions and complicated topics without preaching. The first person narration lends the story an intimate feel and Miller leans heavily on the idea that Circe, herself, is telling us the story of her past to excellent effect and emotional impact. The novel feels and reads like an intimate literary novel while still being solidly founded in the fantasy and mythology of the Circe mythos. Overall, it was an excellent read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Sexism, Gore, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, War, and Slavery

Minor: Torture, Animal death, and Xenophobia

Circe is raped at one point by sailors who visit her island. It is not described in explicit detail, but it is not actively shied away from either. Immediately afterwards, she murders the man who did it and his friends.

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed this book! I think getting to know Circe more intimately and engaging in her story as one piece instead of the fragments created an engaging and creative 400 pages. Circe is both likable and unlikable, blunt and evasive, rude and considerate, caring and unfeeling, and selfish and selfless. She evolves from a naive doormat into a strong and wise witch. I wish I could give this 5 stars but it falls flat for me. I didn't need a battle or a death but I feel like the disconnect from other characters and how flat everyone else seemed made it hard to care about the ending. I dislike comparing books (especially when they aren't actually connected) but, after reading Millers other greek retelling, this feels like an emotional let down. Not sure if my expectations were too high or if this just didn't deliver. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, War, Medical content, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Gore, and Toxic relationship

vvabecca's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, War, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Bullying, Incest, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Torture

bnuuy12's review

adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Pregnancy, and Rape

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Body horror, Grief, Confinement, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gore, Torture, Mental illness, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Sexual content, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Slavery, and War

lilureads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.0

Such a fascinating story

I loved reading about Circe’s life, or rather Madeline Miller’s version of it. Miller has a wonderful writing style and weaves her retellings in a refreshing and captivating way. The story’s pace is very slow and it took me a while to get through the book but I still found myself thoroughly enjoying it. Although

I did have some grief with the choice of making Circe smash her stepson… they don’t share blood and he’s like 30 but it’s still weird to me…

I loved Circe’s humor, it comes up on rare occasions but they were very fun additions.

How she talks to her father at the end is truly wonderful such a girlboss

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent

cozyfantasyfaetay's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Body horror, Grief, Gore, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, and War

kiwianakilljoy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Gore and Violence

hevlav's review

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

5.0

This is a re-read for me. Circe is one of my favorite books, offering a beautiful retelling of classic Greek myths from a different point of view. It is reflective without re-inventing old lore, and challenges the common narrative surrounding “heroes” of Greece. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Rape, Gore, and Misogyny

Moderate: Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

haveyouseencass's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Blood, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Gore, Grief, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Torture