A review by reclusivebookslug
Circe by Madeline Miller

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Madaline Miller has quickly become one of my favorite writers. The writing is beautiful, the pacing is perfect, it immediately sucks you in, and you develop such an emotional intimacy with her narrators. I have no inherent interest in mythology or Homer, and yet I am obsessed with all she writes about it. I read this shortly after The Song of Achilles and was worried that nothing could match it, but Circe hit me just as hard, just differently.

The first half of the book I found the most personally relatable. Circe is punished for her virtues of kindness and honesty in a social structure that values power and prestige above morality. She is cast out because she disobeyed senseless rules that were never explained to her. So much of social interaction in hierarchical culture is about having to assimilate without question and with no instruction.

Miller's characterization of Prometheus made me very interested in him and I was a little disappointed that he was never reintroduced after his brief appearance at the start of the book.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings