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A review by elderlingfool
Circe by Madeline Miller
Did not finish book. Stopped at 42%.
I gave up on it at the end of chapter 14, page 167. I read half of the book, but I decided not to continue because it was a struggle to get here.
This is not a case of the book being bad, but instead of me being the wrong target audience for it. This book made me realize that I don't like Greek mythology. What I like is some of the ideas in those myths in a way that I can enjoy it in works that are inspired by it, but that omit a lot of the things a modern audience wouldn't appreciate.
I admire the author's work of trying to stay loyal the original Greek myths while still changing things a bit to make them fit in a connected story. Even so, I still felt like I was reading snippets of Circe's life because she lives for so long that I got the feeling that most of her days didn't matter at all. There are a lot of timeskips, that I am generally not a fan of.
The characters are the main problem I have with this. The gods and all around them are like selfish overpowered toddlers. This is true according to the Greek myths, but it doesn't make for a pleasant read when it's all there is. The only character that has more emotions is Circe, but she is still not human and I always felt like she was lacking in that department while at the same time I admire that the difference between mortal and immortal beings is so noticeable. Most characters in this book are jealous, selfish and concerned with power. This alone and with no balance of other emotions makes for a boring painful read to me.
I read "The Song of Achilles" and I loved it so I can pinpoint that the main difference between that book and this one is the perspective of a mortal vs an immortal being. Patroclus was a very kind hearted human being with a much bigger range of emotions that made it easier for me to sympathize with his struggles. Also, the gods thankfully don't appear much in that book.
While reading Circe I couldn't help thinking how idiotic everything and everyone was because they spent 99% of the time doing things out of spite and just because they could as if they were babies with a temper tantrum.
The writing is still great and there were some good moments and quotes in here. But, overall, it's just not my kind of read, even though I appreciate this being a retelling close to the original myths it was inspired by.
I prefer to give up on it and not rate it instead of forcing myself to finish it and give a rating that the book doesn't deserve because, in the end, there is an audience for it. I am just not it.
This is not a case of the book being bad, but instead of me being the wrong target audience for it. This book made me realize that I don't like Greek mythology. What I like is some of the ideas in those myths in a way that I can enjoy it in works that are inspired by it, but that omit a lot of the things a modern audience wouldn't appreciate.
I admire the author's work of trying to stay loyal the original Greek myths while still changing things a bit to make them fit in a connected story. Even so, I still felt like I was reading snippets of Circe's life because she lives for so long that I got the feeling that most of her days didn't matter at all. There are a lot of timeskips, that I am generally not a fan of.
The characters are the main problem I have with this. The gods and all around them are like selfish overpowered toddlers. This is true according to the Greek myths, but it doesn't make for a pleasant read when it's all there is. The only character that has more emotions is Circe, but she is still not human and I always felt like she was lacking in that department while at the same time I admire that the difference between mortal and immortal beings is so noticeable. Most characters in this book are jealous, selfish and concerned with power. This alone and with no balance of other emotions makes for a boring painful read to me.
I read "The Song of Achilles" and I loved it so I can pinpoint that the main difference between that book and this one is the perspective of a mortal vs an immortal being. Patroclus was a very kind hearted human being with a much bigger range of emotions that made it easier for me to sympathize with his struggles. Also, the gods thankfully don't appear much in that book.
While reading Circe I couldn't help thinking how idiotic everything and everyone was because they spent 99% of the time doing things out of spite and just because they could as if they were babies with a temper tantrum.
The writing is still great and there were some good moments and quotes in here. But, overall, it's just not my kind of read, even though I appreciate this being a retelling close to the original myths it was inspired by.
I prefer to give up on it and not rate it instead of forcing myself to finish it and give a rating that the book doesn't deserve because, in the end, there is an audience for it. I am just not it.
PS: I forgot to mention that for someone that lived for way longer than I did or ever will Circe sure is a slow learner. In that the other characters were right. She is completely unaware of everything and making wrong assumptions all the time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape