A review by merle_bookdragon
Circe by Madeline Miller

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • 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

“I would say, some people are like constellations that only touch the earth for a season.” 

What can I say, I simply loved reading this book. 
Between Madeline Miller's books I read Song of Achilles first, which I absolutely adored, and so I was anticipating what I would think of Circe. I had also heard people say before that they did not enjoy it as much.

I think I simply enjoyed the two books in very different ways. SoA is a heartbreaking love story peppered with the horrible reality of war and it broke me into many different pieces. Circe is a story of being pushed down 100 times but getting up again 101 times. I loved seeing her character develop, how she learned and improved and persevered. I especially admired that perseverance. I also really appreciated that her character development made her both harsher in softer in different ways. She had to learn so many lessons and while she obviously made her fair share of bad decisions, I think she learned the lessons well and bore the consequences when needed. 

I love that she didn't apologize for her power once she grew into them and that she didn't hesitate using them, both for good and for (perceived) bad. I must admit that I am not very familiar with the myth of Circe outside of this book, so I cannot say how close these events are to what the myth says but either way I think Miller gave Circe the voice that she deserves.

Also, witchcraft!! Yeah, that's all I'm gonna say.

“Humbling women seems to me a chief pastime of poets. As if there can be no story unless we crawl and weep.” 
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