Circe | By Madeline Miller | Book Review
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Title- Circe
Author- Madeline Miller
Publisher- Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre- Fantasy / Mythology retelling
Links- Book Depository | Goodreads | Amazon
My Rating- ★★★★★
Contents
Synopsis
My Review
About the Author
This book was one of my top reads of 2019 and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy and mythology. The story told, is that of Circe, the witch in Homer’s Odyssey. It is a refreshing and unique take on Greek Mythology while maintaining the nostalgia of the classics.
Synopsis
Circe grows up in the dark obsidian halls of her father, Helios’s, palace. Born to the Naiad Perse and the Titan Helios, Circe is not like her cousins and siblings. As a small child she wanders the dark palace alone. As she grows up, she remains isolated from her divine family who do not see her as an equal.
Circe finds comfort in mortals and soon learns of her true powers, the gifts of witchcraft. But with her new discoveries come consequences. Circe is banished to a remote island, yet again alone. On her new island home, Circe refines and discovers the true nature of her gifts. We follow Circe’s journey across hundreds of years and watch as the world changes around her. We see her discover and develop her powers, tame wild beasts, meet heroes, and deal with irrational and dangerous gods.
But in a world of vengeful gods there is always danger. To protect those that she loves, Circe must decide where she belongs; in the land of mortals or back with the gods who cast her out.
“I watched her dance, arms curving like wings, her strong young legs in love with their motion. This was how mortals found fame, I thought. Through patience and diligence, tending their skills like gardens until they glowed beneath the sun. But gods are born of ichor and nectar, their excellences already bursting from their fingertips. So they find their fame by proving what they can mar: destroying cities, starting wars, breeding plagues and monsters. All that smoke and savor rising so delicately from our altars. It leaves only ash behind.”
Circe by Madeline Miller Book Review. Photo by Jenny Sandiford.
My Review
I really loved this book. It is one of the most captivating stories I’ve ever read and will tell anyone who asks me about it to just go read it! It is refreshing, unique, and offers a new angle to view Greek Mythology.
Plot
Circe has the feeling of an epic. The plot covers a timeline over hundreds of years, yet I was impressed with how time passed so naturally. The story kept us close to Circe and her day-to-day life and still portrayed hundreds of years going by.
As we follow Circes story, it seamlessly weaves known mythology into a new tale. We step into the myths of Prometheus and his downfall, of the Minotaur and his mother, of Icarus and his father Daedalus, and of course Odysseus. I had a soft spot for Daedalus and his story. I really liked this character, but it was sad knowing what would happen to his son. Of course, Odysseus held an important role in this story, but with a fresh view. He is a new take on an old character, and I enjoyed seeing this from Circe’s point of view.
Setting
I particularly liked the setting. Her island home with all the lions, pigs and wild animals had a magic and wild, but also comforting feel about it. The island becomes her sanctuary as we see her going about her daily activities in mixing up potions and discovering new magical properties from nature. You can almost smell the sea and taste the potions from all the vivid descriptions. It is interesting seeing her trapped in a world that is both prison and refuge, reflecting a constant battle in her mind for what she truly wants.
Characters
Circe is a strong character. From the very beginning we build empathy with her as she wanders the halls alone, wanting to be loved. I didn’t feel attached to her as a character, but more as a driving force in the story, and I always wanted to find out more. We follow her through trial after trial in life and see her overcome these obstacles and keep going. For a largely unimportant character in history, Circe has been turned into a hero in her own right. She is complex, flawed, and faced with many demons.
Summary
I can’t describe in words how wonderful this writing is. The metaphors the author uses are vivid and descriptive, and relevant to Circe’s life in that time. The writing is beautiful and feels very authentic to the age. It is poetic and lyrical, but also very easy to read and get caught up in. I highly recommend reading this book.
Circe by Madeline Miller. Photo by Jenny Sandiford.
“But of course I could not die. I would live on, through each scalding moment to the next. This is the grief that makes our kind choose to be stones and trees rather than flesh.”
“Let me say what sorcery is not: it is not divine power, which comes with a thought and a blink. It must be made and worked, planned and searched out, dug up, dried, chopped and ground, cooked, spoken over, and sung. Even after all that, it can fail, as gods do not.”
About the Author- Madeline Miller
Madeline Miller has a BA and MA from Brown University in Latin and Ancient Greek, and has been teaching both for the past nine years. She has also studied at the Yale School of Drama, specialising in adapting classical tales to a modern audience. The Song of Achilles is her first novel and was the winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2012.
Check out Madeline Miller’s Website
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“One of the things about Greek mythology that’s so interesting is just how horrible the gods are. The gods are really not exemplars. You might aspire to have the kind of power that they have, but, for the most part, they aren’t virtuous. They’re petty and selfish. The fact that they have achieved this ideal situation of having all the power, eternal life, the ability to fulfill every desire has not made them good people. If anything, it has done the opposite.”
About the reviewer- Jenny sandiford
Hi I’m Jenny. I am passionate about promoting new authors and sharing any amazing books I find with the world. I am a book blogger, bookstagrammer, YA fantasy writer and travel writer.
I’m also a lover of nature, hiking, Harry Potter, cats, fantasy lands and quiet places.
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