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A review by loxeletters
Circe by Madeline Miller
adventurous
emotional
fast-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
This was a fun read! Definitely very enjoyable. I read the last half in two sittings over 12 hours lol.
I feel this is a superb kind of retelling: it really captures the feeling of reading the Odyssey and Iliad while conforming, at least in the later chapters, more to our modern taste in storytelling. The beginning certainly had strong narrative resemblance to the old classics.
My main gripe with this book is that, for being marketed as a feminist retelling, it really focuses so much on men and Circe's relationship with them. There's no female friendship or relationship in this book that is given as much space or development as her relationships to her lovers, her father, Telegonus, and her brother.
That being said, I did really enjoy exploring her complex relationship with Telegonus, and even shed a few tears there. She went through so much and still would give everything for him. That really touched something in me.
Important ideas explored here are immortality and divinity, needless cruelty, motherhood, loneliness, and death. Regardless of my complaints, this was a lovely read.
I feel this is a superb kind of retelling: it really captures the feeling of reading the Odyssey and Iliad while conforming, at least in the later chapters, more to our modern taste in storytelling. The beginning certainly had strong narrative resemblance to the old classics.
My main gripe with this book is that, for being marketed as a feminist retelling, it really focuses so much on men and Circe's relationship with them. There's no female friendship or relationship in this book that is given as much space or development as her relationships to her lovers, her father, Telegonus, and her brother.
That being said, I did really enjoy exploring her complex relationship with Telegonus, and even shed a few tears there. She went through so much and still would give everything for him. That really touched something in me.
Important ideas explored here are immortality and divinity, needless cruelty, motherhood, loneliness, and death. Regardless of my complaints, this was a lovely read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual violence, War, Pregnancy, Grief, and Misogyny