paulawind 's review for:

Circe by Madeline Miller

5.0

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Her final act, the act of “becoming herself” being becoming human and a mortal is so powerful. She never sat well with the other gods, her heart was too big for that. Drinking her potion was an act of defiance, taking her own destiny into her hands, I felt so happy for her when I read the last words. Perfect ending to a nearly perfect book

I am a Greek mythology hoe so of course I loved this book. Feminist story set in the canon which diminished women mostly to tools for heroes to chase their glory. Miller doesn’t strip away achievements of men but rather shines light on the women who were always in the background of these stories, giving them the centre of the stage. At last.
Circe is written with such an intense amount of compassion to women in general, not only the ones from myths. Circe starts off as an innocent soul, with heart of her sleeve - life is beating that out of her but never fully succeeds. She learns to guard her heart and those she loves, seizing power for herself and you can’t help but think “good for her”.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism