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A review by buffy87
Circe by Madeline Miller
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I found myself bored while reading this. I truly felt like it dragged. This is how I felt when I was also reading Song of Achilles. Once I only had a third to read, I was wishing super-reading skills so I could just plow through it. I do like Greek mythology, so the only reason this gets close to 3 stars is because of that. I wish the timeline was more visual (as in maybe the chapters) so it could help me keep track of which of the 1000 years of her life we were in.
There is a lot of descriptive writing, and the wording flows with the content. I found a lot of times getting stilted on the structure of some sentences that it took me out of the reading flow. But this is pretty minor. It felt like a bunch of stories crammed together and despite it being her life, it felt very even.
One thing that bothered me was how Circe became the vessel for the stories of males. It irked me that I was reading a novel that was supposed to be HERS...but then she spent (what felt like half of it) telling me about the stories of these dudes. Instead of it being a story about her, it became a retelling of the stories of heroes - or her in relation to a dude. I got tired of it. This novel has been brandished as a feminist novel and in my opinion, it falls short of that. Where feminism shines is the relationship between Penelope & Circe. It's complicated and well-written. But again, their lives as characters are intertwined in relation to the men they know. Circe's naivety and obedience was also interesting to read through a feminist lens.
Oh, and this book is hella white.
There is a lot of descriptive writing, and the wording flows with the content. I found a lot of times getting stilted on the structure of some sentences that it took me out of the reading flow. But this is pretty minor. It felt like a bunch of stories crammed together and despite it being her life, it felt very even.
One thing that bothered me was how Circe became the vessel for the stories of males. It irked me that I was reading a novel that was supposed to be HERS...but then she spent (what felt like half of it) telling me about the stories of these dudes. Instead of it being a story about her, it became a retelling of the stories of heroes - or her in relation to a dude. I got tired of it. This novel has been brandished as a feminist novel and in my opinion, it falls short of that. Where feminism shines is the relationship between Penelope & Circe. It's complicated and well-written. But again, their lives as characters are intertwined in relation to the men they know. Circe's naivety and obedience was also interesting to read through a feminist lens.
Oh, and this book is hella white.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Rape, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and War