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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- everything that Madeline Miller writes is a certified banger
- super fast paced like I managed this entire thing in a day and a half
- I love the prose like it’s so beautifully written
- super fast paced like I managed this entire thing in a day and a half
- I love the prose like it’s so beautifully written
3.75 stars
I was like OBSESSED reading the first 75% of this?? Stayed up late and everything. And then I just stopped for like two weeks and had to force myself to finish it.
I read this for book club so this isn’t usually what I read but I still enjoyed it for the most part. Definitely more of a “her journey and growth” kind of story rather than “this majestic, dramatic plot”.
I don’t know how to feel about the ending. It’s a bit cliche??? I predicted it from the mid way mark that it’d end like that. A classic ending for one of these types of characters and I feel like it was a bit weak. But that’s fine, maybe it’s just not for me.
Overall, a fun delve back into Greek mythology but I’m not sure it’ll be very memorable in a few months.
I was like OBSESSED reading the first 75% of this?? Stayed up late and everything. And then I just stopped for like two weeks and had to force myself to finish it.
I read this for book club so this isn’t usually what I read but I still enjoyed it for the most part. Definitely more of a “her journey and growth” kind of story rather than “this majestic, dramatic plot”.
I don’t know how to feel about the ending. It’s a bit cliche??? I predicted it from the mid way mark that it’d end like that. A classic ending for one of these types of characters and I feel like it was a bit weak. But that’s fine, maybe it’s just not for me.
Overall, a fun delve back into Greek mythology but I’m not sure it’ll be very memorable in a few months.
First book I really loved and connected to the MC for a while. It started off a bit slow but once I got into it I was really blown away!
i expected cool, flashy, feminism, powerful stuffs in this book and i just get islands... and more islands
IT WAS OK LOL AHHAHDJAHAH i thought i will like this more than TSOA bc at first, it was so gooooood. the writing and the story, then it became so dreadful and boring so ended up liking TSOA more
IT WAS OK LOL AHHAHDJAHAH i thought i will like this more than TSOA bc at first, it was so gooooood. the writing and the story, then it became so dreadful and boring so ended up liking TSOA more
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:
Yes
4.5☆ Review:
“𝑯𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒐𝒆𝒕𝒔. 𝑨𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒑.”
Madeline Miller, you can do no wrong.
I loved Circe’s story.
P.S. Since The Song of Achilles is one of my favorite books, I feel obligated to leave these two here so I can return to reread them when I please:
“𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑨𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔? 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓, 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅. 𝑪𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍.”
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕. […]
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕?”
“𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔. 𝑯𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐. 𝑨𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒅; 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚.”
Miller has woven a beautiful narrative out of the fragmentary tales of Greek and Roman mythology. She brings a modern psychological sensibility to draw out the yearnings, joys, and sufferings of the characters while staying largely true to the mythology. Other reviewers have said her Song of Achilles is even better. I'm adding it to my list.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautifully writing. I liked the way it followed her life. I did not like how bitter she became, how old (mentally). While I understand why, I wished for her to be able to find happiness. Even in the end, I did not feel like it was a real happy ending. I had wished that the book had been a more positive one. This is most likely my own fault as it is Greek methodology, which is usually tragic. Further, there were some inconsistencies. Why would she make a random lover (Glaucos) into a god but then not her son?
The book had its lengths. I wish the beautiful writing had continued to paint a more positive, stronger story. It got a little lost in the tragedy that every second seemed to be for her.
The book had its lengths. I wish the beautiful writing had continued to paint a more positive, stronger story. It got a little lost in the tragedy that every second seemed to be for her.
A sprawling story of mythology that simply wasn't my cup of tea.