Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Circe by Madeline Miller

98 reviews

starryeyedlover's review

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Classism, and Cursing

Minor: Incest

loxeletters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

This was a fun read! Definitely very enjoyable. I read the last half in two sittings over 12 hours lol.

I feel this is a superb kind of retelling: it really captures the feeling of reading the Odyssey and Iliad while conforming, at least in the later chapters, more to our modern taste in storytelling. The beginning certainly had strong narrative resemblance to the old classics.

My main gripe with this book is that, for being marketed as a feminist retelling, it really focuses so much on men and Circe's relationship with them. There's no female friendship or relationship in this book that is given as much space or development as her relationships to her lovers, her father, Telegonus, and her brother. 

That being said, I did really enjoy exploring her complex relationship with Telegonus, and even shed a few tears there. She went through so much and still would give everything for him. That really touched something in me.

Important ideas explored here are immortality and divinity, needless cruelty, motherhood, loneliness, and death. Regardless of my complaints, this was a lovely read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual violence, War, Pregnancy, Grief, and Misogyny

eliotadrift's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury 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

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

kmtaylor002's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Body horror, Confinement, War, Violence, Misogyny, Mental illness, Bullying, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity

Minor: Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, and Incest

torismazarine's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Confinement, and Infidelity

zauet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Self harm, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Abandonment, Animal death, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Toxic relationship

a_libra_library's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Grief, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

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