Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Circe Excerpt: The First 3 Chapters

For a book claimed to be all about a strong female lead and all - this book can’t pass the Bechdel Test to save its life. Otherwise. Good story line, flows fast, and character growth is a major point to the story.

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lilureads's review against another edition

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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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author_d_r_oestreicher's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

5.0

Circe by Madeline Miller is the ultimate coming-of-age story. Circe, an immortal, first steps out on her own when she defies her father Helios and god Zeus to give comfort to Prometheus. Later, she offended Zeus by transforming Scylla (of Scylla and Charybdis fame) into a six-headed monster. For these forays into independence, she was exiled, where she became the witch of Aiaia. She did not learn her lesson and continued to defy the gods. She experienced the other side of coming of age when she became mother to Telegonus (her son with Odysseus). Thus, the author explores coming of age with the intertwined stories of mother and child. Caveat: It helps to be familiar with Greek mythology, Minoans, and Homer to follow this book.

For my extended notes: https://1book42day.blogspot.com/2024/02/circe-by-madeline-miller.html

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arirs's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

I loved that journey of self-discovery that Circe goes through throughout the entirety of the book. I think many people would be able to relate to that yearning of fitting in and belonging to a group but finding satisfaction in your own path. This is a wonderful feminist story about a powerful woman who comes into her own and decides to choose her own destiny. I found Circe to be so inspiring and such an interesting character. At times it did feel a little slow but it definitely didn't ruin the reading experience.

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flyingryndeer's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective 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

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