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To be candid, I was never a big fan of Greek mythology. I nevertheless loved this book. Circe, daughter of Helios and Perses, is exiled to an island alone because of her witchcraft -- even though her sister and two brothers are also versed in the craft and are not punished. Parts of the Odyssey (including Odysseus himself) and other myths are woven into this story, but it is told in a rich, modern prose that is eminently more palatable to 21st century readers -- and, one might argue, told with a
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I love me a good kick-ass heroine. Mythology has always fascinated me, how we as humans try to make sense of the world by inventing these elaborate supernatural stories. Miller does a fantastic job of "humanizing" these larger-than-life characters, making their stories more relatable, more palpable. And, well, who among us hasn't thought about turning someone into an actual pig?
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Just like one of the other reviewers I had this book on my Kindle for months and just couldn't get into it in print. When I tried it in audio, though, I could listen to it for stretches of time and actually get into the story. By the end of the book I did have an understanding of Circe and enjoyed the stories of Odysseus especially. And I did enjoy the feminist perspective. It was just that this kind of myth/fantasy genre is not one of my favorites, but by the end I had let myself go enough to r
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This book took me about as long to read as Circe was exiled on her island. I still liked it, and I especially liked the ending, but the book certainly dragged. Maybe that was on purpose to give you a better sense of her immortality.
