Genre: Fantasy
Similar to: Well, it’s a retelling, so…
Could be enjoyed by: Greek myth nerds (there seems to be a lot of you out there)
Publication date: 10th April 2018
Book Riot Read Harder Challenge #15 Read a book of mythology or folklore
These are my uneducated thoughts on Greek Myths:
The Minotaur (big scary sheep thing that lives in a maze)… Poseidon (was he in the Little Mermaid? God of the sea, held a big fork)… Morpheus (know him from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman)… the muses (Salma Hayek in Dogma). Ummmm…
So, I’m probably not the ideal target audience for a Greek myth retelling.
HOWEVER
If you’re like me, don’t be put off from reading Circe. Sure, it would have added to my reading experience if I’d been familiar with some of the characters who popped up in the book (I occasionally had trouble keeping track of who was who – Telemachus and Telegonus, come on…) but it’s a great book nevertheless.
Circe is a kind of neglected middle child (despite being first-born), standing in the shadows of her cleverer, more beautiful siblings. After a few hundred years of largely avoiding her family, being ignored and low-key bullied in her father Helios’ halls, she engages in a spot of rule breaking, gets herself banished to a remote island and starts working on finding her own power. After several mortal lifetimes worth of quietly observing the Gods, Circe realises that it is their vanity, their deceptions and their dismissal of her as nothing more than an irritating child that she can use to her advantage. She explores the land that will hold her captive and uses her infinite exile to enhance her burgeoning skills in witchcraft, finding her power in the lowly domestic setting to which she has been relegated. Along the way, Circe encounters a range of other Gods and powerful mortals, plays them at their own games and forges a life for herself, despite their incessant power plays.
I loved seeing Circe coming into her own. At first, she’s a clueless child, quietly trying to fit in with the other Gods and desperate to find her place within the family. Very slowly, she begins to wake up to her family’s scheming ways and starts to question their behaviour. But it’s her discovery of witchcraft that really sees Circe finally obtain some power. As a gardening nerd I was familiar with many of the plants that she used in her potions and was pleased to see the level of research that Madeline Miller had put into discovering their natural properties.
I was really pleased to see a female protagonist who wasn’t perfect – despite being a Goddess Circe was seen by the Gods as ugly, with a high thin voice and very little power. I loved seeing her find her strength in areas other than her looks and forging ahead with her own plans. However, I did find that the middle of the book rambled a bit. I felt like there was a very loose narrative arc and honestly, in some places I got a bit bored. But then the storyline picked back up and I was a happy little reader again.
Overall, I really enjoyed Circe. I loved the beautifully written prose, the flawed main character and the cleverly interwoven myths. I just wish she had found something more interesting to do than have a casual love affair for 100 pages!
Four “THAT’S why it’s called Hermes!” out of five.
Epic, meticulously researched fantasy. Highly recommended!
Great review! I’m very excited about this book. I’ve only been hearing positive things and it’s on Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist.
Besides.. the cover is BEAUT! 😀
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It’s SO PRETTY! Thank you! 😊
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This is a book that I fully intend to read – I really enjoyed this author’s first book and so this was on my radar but it’s always encouraging to read a favourable review.
Lynn 😀
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I think her writing might be a bit of an acquired taste but if you liked the first book I’m sure you’ll love this one! 😊
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Fab review! I’m the only person who didn’t enjoy this book. I appreciated the powerful writing, research and the strong woman theme… but I need a bit of humour in my reading, or failing that, a good pace, and this had neither.
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I struggled a bit with the pacing, especially in the middle section. You’re right, there’s absolutely no humour and at times I did find Circe quite unlikeable. I still think it’s a fantastic, epic book and for the first third I was thinking “definite 5 stars” but I knocked a star off for the middle bit.
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hehe I definitely agree that this is good for Classics fans 😉 I’m so glad you ended up liking this as well! And I loved seeing circe come into her own as well. And I especially appreciated that she wasn’t a perfect, flawless heroine. I think that’s fair about the pacing- I’ve seen a lot of people less pleased with it on that front (though I think I have a higher tolerance for slower books tbh) Great review!
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Thank you! Yes, I did get a bit bored mid book but other than the I really enjoyed it! ☺
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Love your review! I had the opposite problem. I’m a huge fan of Greek mythology and retellings, and I just couldn’t get into Circe. More often than not, I was upset with Circe and wished I was just rereading The Odyssey.
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Thank you! Oh, that’s a shame 🙁
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It’s ok. I still want to try more books by her because her writing is beautiful, I just couldn’t connect to the plot.
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You’re right, I loved her writing too – and Circe can be quite unlikeable as a character. Have you tried Song of Achilles?
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I have this to read I just haven’t gotten round to it yet, I must bump it up the TBR pile. Great review.
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Thank you! Hope you enjoy it! 😊
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Omg I just finished this and loved it so much!
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Yessss!
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Wonderful review! Made me laugh 🙂 I just downloaded a sample of this on Sunday and now I feel more inclined to read it soon!
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Thank you! Haha, I hope you like it!
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on my tbr list. cant wait to read!
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Yay!!!
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Excellent review! I do love Greek Mythology, and this is on my TBR.
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Thank you! I’d highly recommend it 😊
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😊 😊
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