Published: April 2018
Pages: 393
Series: Standalone
Summary
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child–neither powerful like her father nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power: the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.
My thoughts
“But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me.”
When I tell you I wanted to love this book. I adored The Song of Achilles with my whole being. That book I could not force myself to put down. It ripped my heart, gripped my attention and I was there for every single sentence. Work of art. So when I also got gifted Circe I was so excited to step back into Miller’s imagination and learn more about the myths behind the Greeks that I don’t know too much about.
I was so disappointed. I know this book is well loved but sadly it’s not one that I loved.
“He showed me his scars, and in return he let me pretend that I had none.”
Miller’s writing is fantastic, I cannot fault that at all. She writes with such character and imagery, I felt like I had my toes curled in the sand feeling everything that Circe felt, even if I didn’t always understand her choices. And I loved learning about her. I found myself once finishing this book, looking up the mythology and lore behind much of what happened. Prometheus made an appearance and although he is just a glimpse, it was fun to touch onto all these individual stories and have them come to life and diverge together.
This book is focused entirely on Circe’s life. Everything she went through, all the choices she made or didn’t make, her family and some very important characters along the way. I have to admit Circe just didn’t leave an impact on me. There were characters we only saw for a couple of pages that made a more lasting impact (I’m looking at you Icarus..). Miller does a fantastic job of introducing you to characters and telling their story (or the end of their story) without coming out and telling you directly. And I think that’s why other characters just knocked me more than Circe did. I felt such sadness and heartbreak but none of it was really for her, maybe I’m just heartless but Circe felt so.. bland. Her personality was nothing, and maybe that was part of the point as at the end she gains a piece of confidence but it’s so small and it came and went it just didn’t land for me.
Giving her a bit of credit, she does start to come into herself and grow a backbone. I could absolutely relate, what wouldn’t a mother do for her child? I understand that 100% and it took bravery to do what she did. And she does attempt to right her wrongs but maybe I’m just annoyed just at how long it took her for to get to that point, I just lost how engaged I was with the book. Circe is an incredibly flawed and human character for being an immortal. She is a character that constantly compares herself and relies on others for the way she feels. She is not her own woman until she’s forced to be. Perhaps the purpose of this book is the development and perseverance over time, I could see that, but really I just saw a woman that doesn’t stop to think. Think about what she’s doing, what’s going to happen next.
“It is a common saying that women are delicate creatures, flowers, eggs, anything that may be crushed in a moment’s carelessness. If I had ever believed it, I no longer did.”
Maybe she just wasn’t destined to live as an immortal. She doesn’t fit into their world. But I was so bored through this book and the pieces of story that were interesting, captured my feelings, made me think broader were all contingent on other characters and not Circe herself. On one hand I understand, we needed to experience many things with her to appreciate her growth, perhaps it was the pacing of the book, I’m not quite sure but it just didn’t land for me how it did for others.
“I thought once that gods are the opposite of death, but I see now they are more dead than anything, for they are unchanging, and can hold nothing in their hands.”
Would I recommend?
I would yes, if Greek mythology is your thing and you want to read a different spin on Circe then I think you would enjoy this greatly. I don’t think Circe’s story spoke to me and it’s not one I’ll ever come back to.