Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Circe Excerpt: The First 3 Chapters by Madeline Miller

46 reviews

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I was warned beforehand that this book was no p just vibes, and although I do value books that are more plot driven I thought I'd enjoy this since I liked her previous book. And while I did appreciate her writing it did get kind of confusing sometimes and sorta complicated to understand. The book did have numerous dull parts as well. I almost put it down numerous times. The book was still nice. I understand why people may love it, but sadly it just wasn't for me.

I never read the original tale so maybe this is just me. But Circe getting with her son's half brother when she also had sex with his father was well ws kind of disturbing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

gabydoesgrowth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

Circe was the second book I read after coming out of a 5 year slump where I didn’t read anything that wasn’t assigned to me by a syllabus. I think it was a great place to start.

As a kid, I really loved Greek mythology. As I got older, I started to read less sanitized versions of those stories and had a hard time sticking with it.

Turns out I really don’t like reading stories where rape and sexual assault are just something that happens.

Circe, however, sucked me in ever since I saw it being talked about on TikTok. 

While the misogyny of it all is both infuriating and exhausting, I enjoyed watching Circe grow into her own as she carves out a space for herself in the world that rejected her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Confinement

luminifera's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-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

I absolutely loved it. What a beautiful retelling of the myth. So many details!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Animal death, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Bullying, Child death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Torture, Child abuse, Cursing, Rape, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, War, Self harm, Infidelity, Addiction, Incest, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Xenophobia, and Alcohol

It's a heavy book. However, very much worth the read, and

it has a happy ending!

triangular_pascal's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cannibalism, Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Grief, Incest, Murder, Animal death, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, and War

itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed Greek mythology so this was pretty interesting but overall it was just average. I found myself really interested and attached at times and really bored at other times. It gets a 3 star review since I flip flopped so much!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Death, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Grief and War

Minor: Cannibalism and Gaslighting

eule's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

The first half is gorgeous (5 stars). The next part is meh (3 stars). 
The thing is, I love Circe as a strong character. She is an independent women proving determination and strength against every hater of hers. Her father. Her siblings. The gods and titans. She brims all hate, loneliness, humiliation and especially sexual and emotional abuse. That’s what I admire most about this book. Furthermore, the writing is very lyrical and highly enjoyable. 
On the other hand, the story line of the second half of the book simply is boring to me. It just goes on and on about certain characters and their relationships. 
All in all, enjoyable and recommended by me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Rape, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, War, Animal death, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Murder

dropkickmechanics's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence, Confinement, Incest, Physical abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

marena02's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexism

naomi_k's review against another edition

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: Sexual violence, Sexism, and Rape

Moderate: Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Confinement

seanml's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

Madeline Miller evolves her craft with Circe in a way that is both a spiritual continuation of the Song of Achilles, while also being a completely independent narrative on its own. The pantheon and characters of Greek legend are all written very well, beginning as their one-note idealized selves, and turning into multi-faceted characters by the novel's end. A pleasure as always. 8/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Torture, Violence, War, Alcohol, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Sexism, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail