RATING: 4 STARS
2018; Little, Brown and Company

Circe is one of those novels you probably have on your shelf, but have put off for no real reasons. As soon as you start reading it, you will ask yourself, "Why did I wait so long to read this one?!" It is a beautifully written novel, that you can tell has been researched well. Circe is a strong and interesting character. I would recommend this one if you are looking to get lost in another world for awhile. It was great company as I work from home.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

The Greek myths of Circe retold from her perepctive. Well-written but long. I set this aside and read other novels for a while twice before finishing, but I'm glad I did.

Anyone interested in the classics – and I mean the classic meaning of that word – will know about Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles. Heartbreakingly beautiful and tragic and wonderful, that book solidified Miller has one of the foremost bards of the classics. Anticipation for her follow up to Achilles, Circe, has been rife with speculation and expectation. Will she be able to bring the same brand of honesty, humanity, and heartache to the story of Odysseus’ Witch?
Short answer: Witch, please. Of course she can.

So if you like books with …
… Complicated heroines …
Circe is narrated from start to finish by the title character, and she is nothing if not complex. Her story begins as the least-loved child of the great titan Helios (ie The Sun) and explores how she navigates her father’s court, the politics of her mother’s people, the river nymphs, and the family dynamics of her siblings. She meets Prometheus on the eve of his infamous punishment. She lives on the outskirts of everyone’s notice, unloved and unwanted and unremarked upon. And then she discovers that she loves a mortal. And she might lose him. So she makes him like her, and in doing so creates a creature who no longer looks her way.

But in the process, she discovers that she is not just a goddess-nymph like everyone else. She is something more: a witch.

“When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist.”

She finds power and purpose and eventually expulsion in her witchcraft. And it is fascinating to watch her hone it.

… Greek mythology …
You will see so many of your favorites in Circe, recrafted for the witch’s perspective. You will see Pasiphae, the mother of the Minotaur and Circe’s older sister, in the most intimate of moments. Selene, Circe’s aunt, and the all-important Moon goddess. You will meet Athena in one of the only scenarios where she is rendered impotent. Hermes, at his tricksiest. A super-hot, craftsman version of Daedelus. And one of the most richly drawn portrayals of Odysseus that I have ever read.

The war did not break him; it made him more himself.”

… Monsters and motherhood …
Fear and trembling are not the proscriptive reactions for Circe. She is not fearless, but as she becomes more and more herself over the centuries, the fear others have of her diminishes each monster’s ability to unsettle her. Much like I mentioned in my review of A Quiet Place, it is the terrifying newness and impotence of motherhood that scares Circe the most.

"I did not go easy to motherhood. I faced it as soldiers face their enemies, girded and braced, sword up against the coming blows. Yet all my preparations were not enough."

Circe makes monsters, fights monsters, begs of monsters, is considered a monster, and yet we read the most human of realities in this immortal’s tale. She tells the reader, “Witches are not so delicate.” That is, until they love. Until they create life. Oh, motherhood.

… Feminism …
Circe’s story is mostly about her exile on the island, Aiaia, those who visit her there, and those who fear to. But from her perspective, it becomes a story about how the tales are told by men, and how they change when they are relegated to the heart of a woman.

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

Everyone has an opinion on Circe, and while at first she languors over them, she realizes her own strength the more she bucks up against their expectations and biases. In her last conversation with her father, she tears asunder the chief worry of her long life – his approval.

‘You have always been the worst of my children,’ he said. ‘Be sure you do not dishonor me.’

‘I have a better idea. I will do as I please, and when you count your children, leave me out.’

… you have to read Circe.

This book was unlike any that I had read before. Readers will see Circe grow in spirit as the classical heroes wash on her shores before leaving her alone again. It’s beautiful and I ended up loving how little I knew about how the story would be told. This is my favorite book to recommend right now, but I wouldn’t give it to readers looking for a fluffy read. This book will stick with you.

My students read this book. They felt it was just an ok book. They had trouble with the deviations from the original myth. I'm not sure why as they were hesitant to tell me what their issues were with the novel.

I was unfamiliar with Circe's story before this book. However, Miller lives up to her stellar reputation and spins a wonderful story. Circe's voice is haunting and amazing. Very highly recommended.

This book is just as amazing on the inside as it is pretty on the outside 😭😍 I’ve read and loved The Song of Achilles and I was ready for another heart wrenching Miller retelling. And just like my last experience reading her work, I found myself in awe of her capability to write such captivating, intertwining stories of gods and humans. Circe deserved her own story and Miller wrote it beautifully, not shying away from the flaws, weaknesses, and tragedies of her mythology, and taking these parts of her life and making Circe a force to be reckoned with, full of rage sometimes, but also compassion and courage.
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This is a story of a goddess scorned, and it’s fun to read about Circe as she grows and learns not to take shit from anyone anymore, but my favorite parts of the book come in the quiet, powerful moments of the value in connection to others, shared tenderness, and inner strength. It’s stunning all around. I loved all of it. Miller has crafted yet another spellbinding tale that I am sure to revisit one day. 5/5🌟

Miller does it again with her beautiful writing. She does a wonderful job weaving Circe's story, not rushing her lifetime and everything that happens.

Thus is truly a girl power novel. Circe is a character shown to honestly feel for humans and overcome the games of the gods. Highly recommend anything Miller writes.

Loved this book so much. I loved Greek mythology as a kid and this book reminded me why I can still love it today. It was so empowering to have a such a badass woman at the helm of stories I've been familiar with for years.

I was surprised and delighted that the story elaborated so fancifully and so well on the original Greek myth, making this a very enjoyable fantasy. Excellent writing and plotting.

I loved this author's first book, Achilles, so much, that to be honest, I was slightly terrified to read anything else by her. The hype. The expectations. It seemed I set her an impossible goal. I shouldn't have been worried. This lived up to all of my hopes. It was an incredible book that I finished in a single sitting and, like Achilles, is one that I will return to again and again throughout the years.

I just had a hard time getting into this book at this time and will definitely keep it on my kindle and try to finish it at a later date.

I think this is one of those books that doesn't grab you at first, but once you get into it is very good. I'm just not there right now.

CIRCE by Madeline Miller was among one of the most talked-about books of 2018. After I read her debut, SONG OF ACHILLES, I dove into CIRCE with delight. You don't have to read the previous book to enjoy CIRCE--it's a stand-alone novel all about the goddess-witch of Aiaia. Circe tells her own tale, revealing her difficult childhood in her father's halls (the Titan Helios). As a reader, we're taken carefully through her relationships with her parents and siblings, her first mortal love, and with the various sailors who visit her on Aiaia, including the famed Odysseus. As in SONG OF ACHILLES, Miller does an exceptional job of demonstrating how a person's experiences shape them, and how a cruel witch may gain such a reputation.

Madeline Miller has surpassed my expectations, and they were pretty high after The Song of Achilles. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, and jumped at the opportunity to read Circe. I've always loved stories about Greek mythology, so her books have been perfect for me!

I've heard about Circe, but I wasn't really familiar with her story. I think I would confuse her and Calypso, though now I can see there is no comparison. Circe wasn't like the other gods, or even the other members of her family. She was soft-spoken, didn't draw attention to herself, and was mostly left to her own devices. She wanted to find love and be loved, though her efforts tended to backfire or not work out.

I liked watching Circe grow throughout the book, even though it took her centuries to come to the same conclusions others only have a few decades to discover. She was oblivious to the outside world and how it worked, so her exile was an eye-opening experience. Most of her knowledge came from secondhand stories, and the majority of those were embellished or lies. She lived alone, which wasn't too terrible, but her first few interactions with humans taught her their behaviors the hard way. She had to learn how to defend herself, and all of her magical abilities were self-taught.

I wasn't a fan of Odysseus in The Song of Achilles, and he didn't do himself any favors in Circe. He was a very calculating man, and despite having a family at home waiting for him, he chose to seek more glory for himself. He cost men their lives, he was cruel and at times physically abusive, and dangerously smart. He was able to think of creative ways out of unfavorable circumstances, although it rarely kept everyone alive.

I've really enjoyed listening to the audio versions of Miller's books. Frazer Douglas and Perdita Weeks were brilliant and perfect! I could listen to them all day, which is what I did with Circe. It was the book I listened to while we were driving to the new house, and even the children enjoyed the story. I have no complaints about this book, and I'm looking forward to whatever Madeline Miller writes next!

Originally posted at Do You Dog-ear? on January 3, 2018.

It is the end of the year and I can say with certainty that Circe soars above the rest. Miller spellbinds with a tale that is catnip for mythology lovers and anyone who appreciates richly drawn characters. Most gods and goddesses are unchanging, but Circe spends her thousands of years learning and evolving. Prometheus would be proud.

I'm a sucker for mythological retellings. Miller had little plot to work with w/r/t Circle so it's admirable what she did with it.

Doing for Greek mythology what Wicked did for Oz, Circe lets its titular witch tell her side of the story. While Circe’s most famous for turning men into pigs in The Odyssey, Miller’s book starts well before Odysseus lands on her shores, chronicling her pampered but neglected childhood as a daughter of the titan Helios, fraught relationships with her immortal family, discovery of her magic, and first interactions with the mortal world. Classic myths like the war between the gods and titans, the torment of Prometheus, the minotaur’s labyrinth, and the death of Icarus provide a familiar backdrop, but Miller beautifully embellishes them to show the cruelty of men and gods alike, weaving them together to build a coming-of-age story that explores the price of power and how legends are made.

O..M..G.. The best book that I have read this year!

This book was amazing.

Madeline Miller's Circe comes to life and jumps off the page. And she is a fantastic, strong character.

Granted, I didn't know a great deal about Circe (other than the whole turning Odysseus's men to pigs thing), but she always struck me as an interesting character. Little did I realize just how complex she was. Miller's Circe is a headstrong and proud creature who has always been looked down on by the gods and her own family. And when she discovered her powers, she was banished. But in her banishment, she found freedom to live as she pleased. Miller did a lot of research when writing this book and pulled together Circe's complete history from her birth as the daughter of the titan Helios to her complex relationship with Odysseus and his family.

Most people today only know Circe as the villainous witch who turned Odysseus's crew to beasts. But they might not realize that she also bore Odysseus's son, and, after Odysseus's death, took in his wife, Penelope and the son he had with her.

Despite her status in mythology as a lesser goddess and witch, Miller gives Circe a very human voice. She is easy to relate to and sympathize with (When that whole turning people to pigs thing is completely understandable once you know why she does it. Trust me, she tried to target only those that she thought deserved it.).

In short, I absolutely loved this book and have no stopped recommending it to my friends. Truly one of the best of 2018.

While I admire the scholarship and imagination of this book, it never really grabbed me and pulled me in. Reminded me a bit of Better Call Saul as a story that leaned on another story.

In general, I like books with a touch of mythology in them. Circe is a great sort of re telling of the Circe story, with lots of appearances by well known creatures of mythology. Beautiful, magical writing.