A review by solitaryandunsustained
Circe by Madeline Miller

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

I really enjoyed circe as a character and was excited leading up to her exile on her island of lions and witchcraft. I was really hoping that there would be some main conflict for her to face, but miller took things in a different direction in which circe observed others face many conflicts over a long span of time. In the end circe's biggest conflict was the curse of her immortality as a divinity and her attachment to various mortals through the span of her life, who would ultimately leave and die away. Much of this book reminded me of the invisible life of addie larue, in how circe had been trapped and cursed by higher divinities and forced to live many lives from afar never truly achieving what she wanted in her relationships.  I thought her relationship with her son was most touching, and i almost wished her son leaving had been one of the final scenes to wrap up her life and story. I felt the development of a romantic relationship between her and her son's half brother in the final chapters (although expected through various conversations) was rushed and a little weird to include, even if it is from the source material (which i am not sure because i have not read the iliad or the odyssey). Overall it was a very atmospheric  and well written book, but i wish it had been structured differently to create more impact.