Reviews with content warning for War - O Grande Círculo

Reading this started as a marathon, but finished in a sprint! I enjoyed learning every little tidbit I could from every scrap of text about Marion. The switches in POV and time kept the story fresh and added to the momentum for me. I found myself the least interested in the modern actress Hadley who is portraying Marion in a film, but loved the way that she was tied in more meaningfully towards the end and couldn’t put the book down for the last 150 pages or so.

If I’m being honest, it dragged at times for me, but that can also be attributed to me reading it towards the end of this semester of grad school.

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sophiegs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense

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

4.5

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ojreadsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.75

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btodd12's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Great Circle takes the top spot for the longest book I’ve read in a while (608 pages/25 hours!) but the author absolutely deserves every award it has won!
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Nothing short of an epic saga, Great Circle spans multiple generations and reaches (literally) around the world. Marion Graves attempted to fly a great circle from pole to pole in 1950, but disappeared during the last leg of her journey. ✈️ Yes, this is a story about flying but it is also so much more. It’s the lengths to which Marion would go to achieve her dream of being a pilot during a time when women generally couldn’t hold such a career. It’s her struggles against her controlling husband and her attempts to find true love. It’s her twin brother Jamie’s journey to becoming an artist. And fast forwarding 60 years, it’s actress Hadley Baxter’s experience playing Marion in a movie about her astonishing feats. And I’d be remiss not to mention the shipwrecks, LGTBQ, bootlegging, WWII, brothels, and Great Depression that all add to the myriad of plot lines. Summed up in a line from the book, “Hope shouldn’t be so expensive.” 💔
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I was admittedly intimidated by the size, which is why this signed copy of the book has sat on my shelves for over a year. I eventually listened on audio during a long road trip & loved it. The only parts I didn’t care for were the early chapters of Hadley Baxter & the sexual abuse. (Definitely look up or DM me for trigger warnings, because there are several but they relate to spoilers so I’m not listing them here) While the beginning can be confusing, stick with it.

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knkoch's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

This is a long, epic story on the scale of some of the Dickens books I’ve read. I like that you go on quite the journey with the central set of characters, covering the full span of lives and beyond. Marian Graves is at the center, the pilot forcing the rest of the Earth to cycle around her, and she lives through many different lives.

I struggled mightily with settling into this one at the beginning, especially with the scant chapter or two about Marian and Jamie’s parents. Once I got ahold of the characters sticking around, it improved for me. In fact, the whole book felt like a gradual but continuous improvement all the way to the end. I even liked the modern perspective Hadley’s story added. Overall, it was highly worthwhile seeing this to the end.

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swaanderer'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? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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afion's review against another edition

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3.25

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kierstyn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

this book is poetry in the sense of words strung together beatifically but also in the sense of the expanse of a single human life and what we choose to make of it.

this book captivated me, although i did find some parts a little slow and boring during the war; and the parts i wanted to be dug into the most were often glossed over. for example, Marian flying around the world was only in the last 60 pages or so when i expected it to be half the book worth. i also wished we got to see more emotion from Marian so we can connect with her more. i would have loved to see a deeper romance between her and Caleb, although i know that is not the point of the book. i also wish that Marian and Hadley's connection was deeper than it was with more of a shock factor. we do go into some parts of Hadley's life that are unnecessary, like the mushroom trip for example — i hated reading through that.

i have a discovery pilot flight tomorrow :)

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