Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Circe Excerpt: The First 3 Chapters by Madeline Miller

125 reviews

sas_ram's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Review will most likely follow soon

It is beautifully written and that's what makes it stand out. First and foremost it's a greek mythology retelling of Circe. This is a rather niche story. The plotline is basically just her mythic life. Yes it's not all accurate based on greek mythology but what do you expect when you read a modern "retelling". There are other myths mixed in to fill the story and make it more interesting.
But it is actually quite interesting with how different she was treated, who she became etc. 
Some parts tend to drag on a bit especially those nothing really happens in. Those parts with a more straight forward plot tend to be cut short where as I would have loved to dive deeper into those scenes.

Now I have high hopes for The Song of Achilles knowing how beautiful her writing style is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Violence, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual assault, Incest, Sexual harassment, Torture, War, and Rape

bossesbooks's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, and Sexual violence

abbeyroad1410's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.75

The character of Circe is so compelling that it makes up for a lot of lack of action. Circe herself sees internal growth and changes over the course of the book, keeping her empathy but growing based on life experiences that understandably would harden a woman. One of the most interesting parts of this story is that Circe is an unreliable narrator and realizes that due to her isolation, she is unable to get a full picture of the world around her that would allow her to complete a story. 
Additionally, the supporting characters are also well-developed. Despite Telemachus' very short time in the book, he is one of the most complex and likeable male characters I have read.
If I had to give some criticisms of this novel, the large expanse of time makes it drag in places. The drag is needed to show how large this expanse is, but it can be tedious to read. Additionally, because the Greek mythology is so accurate, there are some strange relationships addressed which you kind of have to take as a product of the mythos.   

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Animal death, Sexual assault, Rape, and Death

Minor: Incest and Infidelity

pigeonpersona's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective relaxing 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

4.5

In this novel, Madeline Miller manages to create whole new character out of Circe. In Homer's Odyssey, Circe is essentially a vengeful temptress who acts as a conduit to continue Odysseus's journey; and her island is just one of many stopping points. But in this story, she's the focus, she has a deep internal dialogue and a complex emotional journey. And being an ageless goddess, she essentially acts as an anchor as the timeline of Ancient Greek mythology passes her by. I saw myself in her, her loneliness, her joy, and her troubles. No god has felt so human until now.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Sexual violence, and Death

Minor: Body horror, War, and Violence

emmakvc's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, War, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual violence

alicelalicon's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Violence, Pregnancy, War, Toxic relationship, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual violence

read_by_gee's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Incest, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Pregnancy

sofi237b's review against another edition

reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Beautiful story, but the ending kind of bugged me a little bit tbf. 
Love seeing her rise into her power, and I am a huge sucker for Greek mytholog  <3 
Madeline Miller is an excellent author!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

scarlettskyes's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-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

Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Pregnancy, and War

tearslikejewels's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual harassment and Sexual content