From the Bookshelf of Book Nerds Unite…

Circe

Madeline Miller

Start date: November 1, 2021

Finish date: November 30, 2021

Discussion: BOTMs

Why we're reading this: YA BOTM for October/November
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What Members Thought

Nov 28, 2021 toointofiction rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mythologies, retellings, adult, reviewed-books, standalones, ebooks, madeline-miller

"Humbling women seems to me a chief pastime of poets. As if there can be no story unless we crawl and weep."

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (add another 0,75⭐ actually)

❗❗May contain some spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.❗❗

O M G!! I can believe I finally finished it, guys. This book was my Odyssey. Between my stupid stupid midterms and this book being a steel punch in the gut disguised as a paperback, it took me A WHOLE WEEK to finish this. It's really not the same as ten years lost at sea but whatever. My th ...more

150 likes · Like · see review

May 21, 2021 Shawna Finnigan rated it liked it

TW & CW// (view spoiler)
I’m going to start marking trigger warnings and content warnings with a spoiler tag as I’ve recently discovered that some people view these as spoilers. However I encourage all of you to read though the content/trigger warnings to check and see if this is a book that you’d be able to handle.

I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to read Circe. I knew it was somehow connected to The Odyss TW & CW// (view spoiler)
I’m going to start marking trigger warnings and content warnings with a spoiler tag as I’ve recently discovered that some people view these as spoilers. However I encourage all of you to read though the content/trigger warnings to check and see if this is a book that you’d be able to handle.

I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to read Circe. I knew it was somehow connected to The Odyssey, one of my least favorite books of all time, but it was Greek mythology and I love Greek mythology. I’m doing a readathon in a Goodreads group and this was our next book, so that settled the decision for me of whether or not to read this book.

I feel as if the descriptions of Circe don’t really capture the true nature of this story. Circe reads as a feminist retelling/biography of the Greek goddess Circe who was banished to live on an island in exile. It’s a lyrical story following her life where she endures hardships while also encountering numerous Greek mythology heroes and gods. It’s a very explicit book that falls heavily into the adult genre.

Even after reading the whole book, I’m sort of conflicted on how I feel about it. The writing in the book was very lyrical and I appreciated that the author had the skill to write this, but I often got lost in the lyrical writing and found myself confused with the story. It got easier to understand everything as the story progressed but it was not an easy book to get through. There was also tons of characters mentioned that are thrown at you all at once. Even with the guide in the back of the book to clarify who was who, I couldn’t remember who was who and it was a struggle to keep track of how each character connected to each other.

Speaking of characters… the characters were very different than other depictions of Greek heroes and gods that I’ve read. They were all inherently flawed. There was no quirky or funny god like in Percy Jackson or other Greek retellings. Instead there were gods who found pleasure in the suffering of others and they were all in it for themselves so much so that none of the gods were appealing. The heroes were no better, but I at least found Ariadne and Daedalus tolerable and even bordering into the likable range. I suppose being flawed characters just presents them as more human and more relatable, but my mind grappled with keeping the fond idea of Greek gods in my head from other books while also trying to accept this depiction of the gods.

For the Odyssey connection, there was a much stronger connection than I originally thought there would be, which brought up some bad memories for me as I read The Odyssey when I was at my lowest, but at the same time, it wasn’t as bad as I suspected. None of the confusing prose of The Odyssey was present in this book and Odysseus was not painted as a great hero, which allowed myself to be somewhat relieved that I did not have to change my thoughts on him.

I could see Circe being an award winning HBO show or movie some day. It just has that vibe of good storytelling with complex characters and deep reflections in life that would make for a good screen adaptation.

You may be wondering why I rated this book so highly given my critiques and I may change my rating in the future, but for now I found this book to be a cleverly written and thoroughly researched book that gave me more insight into some less popular Greek myths that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about. It wasn’t the most enjoyable read, but at the same time I can really appreciate it for what it is and I can understand why so many people love Circe. ...more

121 likes · Like · see review

Mar 23, 2021 Rushali Gupta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: unexpected_fav, mythology

I didn't think I would give this book more than 3 stars, but well here I am rating it 4!

This was an Experimental Read for me, I don't read Mythology books and this is the first one in the long list of books yet to be read (I am sure of this after reading Circe!)

Initially, I found this book slow for my taste but the second half of the book became interesting.
The research about Greek Mythology was brilliant and I learned a lot about Greek Gods and Goddesses from this book.
The author's writing styl ...more

37 likes · Like · see review

Jul 03, 2023 liana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-would-reread, irreversible-emotional-damage

5 stars//

circe was a book i did not expect to love as much as i did. it blew me away with its prominent characters and impeccable storytelling.

this is by far the best depiction of female rage i have encountered. madeline miller uses circe to show all the different types of emotions women face and keep down as they go through all the different chapters of life. whether it be a naive vengeful lover, or a young woman who is now discovering the patriarchy in all its worst ways, or a mother who just ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Sep 02, 2021 ☾ Nikki. ✿ SUGARVOGUE. rated it liked it

A great book !!

Three stars | ⭐⭐⭐

✉ E: nikkisugarvogue@gmail.com
✎W:sugarvoguenikki.blogspot.com/
* https://linktr.ee/Sugarvogue ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Feb 08, 2022 Paula rated it it was amazing

Simplemente perfecto. Madeline Miller lo vuelve a hacer. Su escritura es magnífica y nos cuenta la historia de Circe de una manera más feminista. La canción de Aquiles me enamoró de su escritura y Circe lo ha hecho otra vez, no puedo esperar a leer más de esta autora.

2 likes · Like · see review