Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Circe by Madeline Miller

564 reviews

laurrreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

“Humbling women seems to be a chief past time of poets. As if there can be no story unless we crawl and weep.” 

Circe was the first greek mythology retelling I’ve read and for just dipping my toes into the water of this genre, I thought it was very well written and overall a beautiful story. Madeline Miller’s portrayal of Circe lets the reader see her character in a different light. Circe’s story is told primarily through her emotions and focuses heavily on her inner dialogue and conflicts. 

My main gripe with this book was the length. While i can appreciate a long book, this book felt unnecessarily long at times. The chapters were almost episodic, covering large spans of her life and at times jumping years if not decades from one chapter to the next. This aspect of the pacing I actually enjoyed as I enjoyed how much of Circe’s life and lore was crammed into each chapter. Overall though, the book just didn’t need to be 400+ pages in my opinion, hence the 4 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Violence

el_wheel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Violence, Body horror, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Alcohol, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gore, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abandonment and Rape

kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing and Violence

Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual content

lydderbox's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual assault, Death, Violence, and Rape

moonysraccoons's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Death

rjbedell's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Beautifully written, equal parts brutal and empowering in its epic sweep of a life across a thousand years.  Occasionally bogged down in dark tensions, or whisked along by a revolving door of side characters that Miller usually succeeds in making relevant.  Ends on hopeful, inspiring notes as a testament to humanity, love, and mortality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Rape, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Animal death, Body horror, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: War, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicide, Incest, Death of parent, Terminal illness, and Child death

taracloudclark's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

If you’ve ever dreamed of hiding away from the world as a cottage witch but still a goddess in your own right, this may become your favorite book. 

Things happen, but this isn’t an action or plot based narrative for sure. It’s a woman figuring herself out and where she fits in the world, even though she’s completely isolated from most of it. 

I’d call it cozy, but it’s not simple or happy. It hits in the warm parts of the body and imagination, and validates those hidden parts of us like our urges to destroy men (and hoes) but also love them. 

Would have loved more spice as the author provided in Achilles. 

Narrator Perdita Weeks was excellent. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Murder

swanuponsleda's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Violence, and Pregnancy

Moderate: War, Torture, Grief, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent and Animal death

jacobethank's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

madeline miller doesn't miss! this was a stunning retelling of one of the most prominent characters in the odyssey, done with so much tact and heart. time will tell if it will sit with me as much as TSOA did, but this is a beautiful read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Violence

coreym9's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, War, Torture, Confinement, Incest, Rape, Blood, Sexual violence, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Pregnancy