Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by leduyhxxng
Circe by Madeline Miller
3.0
im a bit underwhelmed tbh. i plough thru the book not out of fascination but disbelief of sorts, because Madeline Miller's previous novel The Song of Achilles has left such a deep impression on me as a reader and a person both—it inspired and empowered me to read more, and to write, and to see the world and its history a bit more poetically and thoughtfully. but this book didnt do it, at least for me this time.
reading Circe, i found myself grow very quickly less interested in what was unraveling on the pages, and would seek a specific kind of respite from the story: manic memes that'd help explain my frustration and disappointment with the book. i dont blame Circe for pursing happiness or normalcy, in fact i love that shes human, proven many times over thru clashes with the gods, especially when her early years were marked with so much antipathy and muted friction from a place of family. that sucks balls, and to see something good come out of it is a big blast.
at first i hate seeing Circe please the men around her; it was one of the biggest reason why id wanted to DNF the book. but i grew to understand it, albeit very slowly and unwillingly.
now after seeing the entirety of this book, i still have bones to pick with the writing. i was afraid i imagined it, so i circled back to a couple of paragraphs from The Song of Achilles, and it only confirmed what i had felt. i dont like the writing of Circe; most of the time, it felt forced and uninspired, the poetic hints ever present in the previous novel stripped bare of its vigour. id get to read of plants and herbs, variations in the weather, and nuances of Aiaia (Circe's island of exile), but they fail to delight or surprise. and this neglect carries over to the plot and the characters also, and it really ruined the fleeting pleasure i had with the ending (im forever a sucker for a happy-ever-after).
i thought this would be a journey.
reading Circe, i found myself grow very quickly less interested in what was unraveling on the pages, and would seek a specific kind of respite from the story: manic memes that'd help explain my frustration and disappointment with the book. i dont blame Circe for pursing happiness or normalcy, in fact i love that shes human, proven many times over thru clashes with the gods, especially when her early years were marked with so much antipathy and muted friction from a place of family. that sucks balls, and to see something good come out of it is a big blast.
at first i hate seeing Circe please the men around her; it was one of the biggest reason why id wanted to DNF the book. but i grew to understand it, albeit very slowly and unwillingly.
now after seeing the entirety of this book, i still have bones to pick with the writing. i was afraid i imagined it, so i circled back to a couple of paragraphs from The Song of Achilles, and it only confirmed what i had felt. i dont like the writing of Circe; most of the time, it felt forced and uninspired, the poetic hints ever present in the previous novel stripped bare of its vigour. id get to read of plants and herbs, variations in the weather, and nuances of Aiaia (Circe's island of exile), but they fail to delight or surprise. and this neglect carries over to the plot and the characters also, and it really ruined the fleeting pleasure i had with the ending (im forever a sucker for a happy-ever-after).
i thought this would be a journey.