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A review by reader_in_the_meadow
Circe by Madeline Miller
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The 2018 novel Circe by american novelist Madeline Miller tells the story of the misunderstood Circe, witch of Aiaia and how she became to be one of the most well-known women of ancient greek myths, but takes the story from a whole other point. It is the spiritual sequel to Miller's 2011 novel Song Of Achilles.
The plot of this book revolves around Circe, daughter of the sun titan Helios and the nymps Perse and sister to Pasiphäe, Perses and Äetes. This book tells the story of how she became the witch of Aiaia and all the things she discovered about herself and the people and gods around her. It is a beautiful story filled with powerful women.
However, the set of characters in this book is not necessarily diverse if you ask me. We do have strong female figures but that's just about it.
But even though there aren't many characters, the characters that are there are just perfectly written. Even if they just show up for a short time, you can tell that Miller really went out there and tried to give them as much personality as possible.
The writing in this book mainly focuses on describing details. We learn so much about the plot and the characters just from the somber and very atmospheric writing style that Miller used in this book. It makes it possible for the reader to completely immerse themselves in the story by not rushing but also not being too slow.
The way the story is told, through the eyes of Circe herself, gives the reader a whole other feeling of being a part of it. We learn so much about the main character just from the way this is written and that is beautiful.
Going forward, a thing that I especially liked was how Miller took many well known ancient greek myths and changed them just a bit to fit into the story she created and that shows how talented she is.
There are not really things that I did not like, but somthing was just missing for me to give it 5 stars.
To conclude, Madeline Miller's novel Circe is a very good and well-written story that I can only recommend to everyone who loves anvient Greece, greek myths, powerful women and beautiful and atmospheric writing.
Still, please take a not of the content warnings for this book, as you always should.
The plot of this book revolves around Circe, daughter of the sun titan Helios and the nymps Perse and sister to Pasiphäe, Perses and Äetes. This book tells the story of how she became the witch of Aiaia and all the things she discovered about herself and the people and gods around her. It is a beautiful story filled with powerful women.
However, the set of characters in this book is not necessarily diverse if you ask me. We do have strong female figures but that's just about it.
But even though there aren't many characters, the characters that are there are just perfectly written. Even if they just show up for a short time, you can tell that Miller really went out there and tried to give them as much personality as possible.
The writing in this book mainly focuses on describing details. We learn so much about the plot and the characters just from the somber and very atmospheric writing style that Miller used in this book. It makes it possible for the reader to completely immerse themselves in the story by not rushing but also not being too slow.
The way the story is told, through the eyes of Circe herself, gives the reader a whole other feeling of being a part of it. We learn so much about the main character just from the way this is written and that is beautiful.
Going forward, a thing that I especially liked was how Miller took many well known ancient greek myths and changed them just a bit to fit into the story she created and that shows how talented she is.
There are not really things that I did not like, but somthing was just missing for me to give it 5 stars.
To conclude, Madeline Miller's novel Circe is a very good and well-written story that I can only recommend to everyone who loves anvient Greece, greek myths, powerful women and beautiful and atmospheric writing.
Still, please take a not of the content warnings for this book, as you always should.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Minor: War