Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Circe Excerpt: The First 3 Chapters by Madeline Miller

136 reviews

elumpio's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

lavenderbluestories's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was an EXPERIENCE. At first, I was a bit skeptical because I could tell it was going to be very dramatic, and I was afraid the characters wouldn’t be relatable enough for me. But as I read on, I become fully enraptured with Circe’s world. 

The titular character turned out to be someone who I sympathized with a lot, and she was such a strong, independent character despite her repressive position and all the powerful men who came into her life trying to subdue her. 

I often find powerful women in books are portrayed as unlikeable and ruthless, and although Circe is certainly ruthless, her inner monologue offered a fascinating perspective that made me root for her throughout the whole book. 

The progression of the story was super unique- it didn’t follow one plot line, but instead told many different stories of people who drifted in and out of Circe’s life. It was an refreshing take on the concept of immortality. So often, immortal characters mention one or two defining events over hundreds of years, and it leaves you wondering what the rest of it was filled with. Circe dictated what it was like to watch entire generations born and gone over and over again, intertwined with stories of people who touched her life in a matter of days. The timeline was twisting and turning, and I think that was what made me absolutely smitten with this book. Definitely worth a read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Rape, and Sexual content

eb385's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

I read this book in like 3 days and I want to reread it right now. It's beautifully written and hard to put down. I'm going to internalize it.

purplelordi's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-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

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

thetainaship's review against another edition

sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Violence, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

wilkieee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and War

maurabee'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, and Sexual harassment

navya12's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Gore and Blood

alexandraor's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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: Abandonment

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Vomit, Pregnancy, and War

roseraindrops's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

 If you're contemplating reading this book...
"I f*cked the sacred bull, all right?" - (Pg. 109)

I love Greek mythology and so I already knew I was going to love the world that the story takes place in, especially through the voice of Circe. The book is very character-focused, so at about halfway through I couldn't really tell you a plotline, just a series of events only linked by the fact that Circe is witness to them, and I completely get why people DNFed it because a considerable proportion of the book is just Circe vibing alone on an island. Miller interlinks a huge amount of myths throughout, following the myths of Daedalus, Prometheus, the Minotaur, Scylla, Odysseus, Medea and Jason etc as well as Circe which I really enjoyed, but if you have no familiarity with Greek mythology and deities then this book might seem a tad complicated and wishy-washy.

'Circe' was marketed to me as a super badass witch story, and it wasn't really that. But, the book is super good in a different way exploring her gradual character development and the growth of a fully developed and characterised woman with all her flaws, dreams and thoughts. I think this book is kind of quietly powerful and feministic, it doesn't need to be in your face about it -

especially with her development by the end to see who she truly is on the inside and her appreciation for humanity's capacity for growth and change in comparison to the unchangeable immortality of Gods.

Most of the people I liked died, and soooo many of the other characters were awful and manipulative so it did get a tad depressing at points lol.

Maybe it was just me and I know that Miller is probably just remaining factually accurate to the myth but it was so bizarre that she becomes lovers with Telemachus: thinking about having kids and growing old together when she literally had sex, and a child with his father!!! Doesn't that mean his half brother is her son? I know they're not technically blood-related but it's weird.

"Monsters are a boon to gods. Imagine all the prayers" - Pg 86
The ancient Greek approach to the problem of suffering I guess?

"Then I learned that I could bend the world to my will, as a bow is bent for an arrow. I would have done that toil a thousand times to keep such power in my hands."- Pg 73
I need to put this on a poster as a motivational quote. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death