Circe by Madeline Miller
Genres: Greek retelling, Historical Fiction, Magic
Pages: 393
Cover: Paperback
Age rating: 14+
Buy on: Amazon, Barnes and Noble
​
​
​
​
​
​
A daughter is born into the household of Helios, the sun god and strongest Titan. However, Circe is an odd child—not as strong as her father, nor as ferociously attractive as her mother. She finds that she does have power when she turns to the realm of mortals for company. This power is the power of witchcraft, which can turn enemies into monsters and threaten the gods themselves.
The Minotaur, Daedalus and his fatal son Icarus, the ruthless Medea, and, of course, the cunning Odysseus are among the most well-known characters in all of mythology that she encounters while honing her occult skill and taming wild beasts on a barren island after Zeus banishes her there out of fear.
​
However, a woman who stands by herself is also in peril, as Circe unintentionally attracts the fury of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself up against one of the most ferocious and fearsome Olympians. Circe must use all of her strength to defend what she values most and make a final decision about whether she belongs with the gods from whom she was born or with the mortals she has grown to love.
General Opinion
I am obsessed with Madeline Miller's writing. It's just so beautiful, exquisite, and poetic. This book made me feel all kinds of emotions: sadness, joy, and relief.
Characters and Plot
Circe is a fantastic character, and this book sheds light on her story. I am a huge fan of Greek Mythology, but rarely heard of Circe, besides the fact that she's a powerful witch and turns men that come to the island into pigs :))
​
This book shows me Circe's struggle, how she was neglected as a child by all the gods and goddesses around her, especially her family. Hundreds of years later, because of a confession, Circe was banished by her father, Helios, to an island. However, instead of becoming miserable, Circe began to learn witchcraft, and became stronger than ever. But she was alone, until, one day, a ship landed on her shore, and after that day, more ships came in, and her divinity traveled.
​
We get to see Circe's growth, who started as a shadow, fearful of the powerful gods, shrinking in the back, to something that the gods fear, even the Olympians. Circe wasn't like most of the Gods we know in the Greek story, instead of being selfish and self-centered, Circe hated her immorality, hated the Gods and how they played with the fate of morals.
What I love the most about this book is how it presents immortality as a curse, instead of a gift through Circe's eyes. She stopped herself from falling for mortals, knowing that they will die one day, and she will live on forever, alone. We witnessed her longing for an eternal companion, which was why the ending of the book was satisfactory.
​
There was a little mention of Achilles and Patroclus in this book, hitting me a bit too hard, like why, I haven't healed, so why reopen the scar???
​
This book also shed a lot of light on who Odysseus really is, before, I thought of him as a clever man, a decent person, who was faithful to his wife and was a loving father to his son. But in this story, Odysseus was clever, ambitious, violent and cruel.
​
I love Odysseus's wife so much, Penelope, if Odysseus can't even be faithful to her, I can have her :)) Penelope was intelligent, strong, faithful, and a single mom to her son, we love an independent queen.
​​​​​​​​Conclusion
The Circe story was certainly less depressing than Achilles and Patroclus, but it isn't a pretty one. That's what made this book so beautiful, it highlights her struggle, her fear, her trauma, and how she overcame all of them. Recommend this book, keep in mind, there are mentions of r*pe, so make sure you are comfortable with that topic.