“A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess’s story,” this #1 New York Times bestseller is “both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right” (Alexandra Alter, The New York Times). In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child — not powerful, like … strange child — not 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 the mortals she has come to love.
With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man’s world.
#1 New York Times Bestseller — named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, the Washington Post, People, Time, Amazon, Entertainment Weekly, Bustle, Newsweek, the A.V. Club, Christian Science Monitor, Refinery 29, Buzzfeed, Paste, Audible, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Thrillist, NYPL, Self, Real Simple, Goodreads, Boston Globe, Electric Literature, BookPage, the Guardian, Book Riot, Seattle Times, and Business Insider.
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A well written book on a Greek mythology lesser goddess. The posted reviews lead me to give this book a try as this is not something that I would not have selected. I was pleasantly surprised! I liked the way the immortality of the Gods was viewed vs mortals. Easy to read and understand. I loved the story of Circe.
Even the children of the gods live at the whims of the gods…
This was a lovely page-turning beach read in the best sort of way, a good book to have read during a stressful week. Retells several of the stories from The Odyssey from Circe’s point of view, being neither too wicked nor too nice. I liked it.
Recommended for “UGH THIS WEEK I CAN’T EVEN.” Everything is so clearly written, and Circe has a can’t-even life (from which she recovers), so she gets you 🙂
I love mythology regardless of the pantheon. This is Greek mythology with a lesser known character. Cerce is a witch and a Goddess. Daughter of Helios and his nymph wife, she’s the black sheep of her family, but that’s a good thing since her family is the worst. Being banished to her own island is probably the best thing that could have happened to her. There she discovers her powers and nurtures them through witchcraft. Best of all, she has plenty of adventures for a woman who is supposed to be alone.
I only have one major criticism, the characters of Olympus, and Circe herself, were too predictable and formulaic. Circe was miraculously the only one with a conscience, with no explanation with how this was so. All others, shallow, selfish, spoilt, and cruel (though that is appropriate to the history of these myths).
I feel the other characters of Olympus needed more variety and depth, and there needed more explanation for how Circe had escaped this personality fate.
Otherwise, I Loved It!!
So original, easy to read, fascinating, with true depth, in both story and characters.
One of the best books I’ve ever read.
“A Golden cage is still a Cage”.
Circe is definitely one of my most favorite book I read last year. Not only did I fall in love with the character CIRCE, I started to like Greek Mythology and I want to read more about them this year.
Circe born naive less known nymph daughter of Helios, the God of Sun. She has no special powers like her siblings. She longs to be accepted and loved by her family. All her life she showed herself sitting at feet of her father or behind her brother. But when she falls I love with a mortal, she realizes her hidden power to play around with herbs and concoction for her benefit. And soon she is banished to an Island Aiaea, as her new found power can be threat to the God’s.
“They do not care if you are good. They barely care if you are wicked. The only thing that makes them listen is power”.
Her banishment to the lonely island soon became a paradise of freedom. Where she can practice her powers. Being a woman in am abandoned island her days were not at peaceful. But her life was adventurous. Now she is left all alone, she have risk everything in order to protect her loved ones.
“”YOU are wise”, he said. “If it is so”, I said, “It is only because I have been a fool enough for a hundred lifetime””.
I am totally in love with the character CIRCE. She is badass, strong, fearless and everything. The way she protects her loved ones blows my mind. At the same time her craving to be loved by her family breaks my heart.
Circe Overall this is a brilliant work by Author Madeline Miller. Enchanting, beautiful written with the hint of feminism. I loved Circe for being Circe.
Possibly my favorite book ever, and one that I read each year. Beautiful and seductive writing with a thoroughly relatable main character (immortal and divine though she is) and a plot that is constantly moving through the treasure trove of fascinating myths left to us by the ancient Greeks. I cannot wait for Miller’s next novel.
its nice to read it…many facts about greek mythology…
Madeline Hunter has quickly become one of my favorite writers! Circe is her best book, imo, though I also loved Achilles. Highly recommend!
Actual Rating 3.70
I will be completely honest, I was not impressed with this book and the hype surrounding this book and the author. The only reason I kept reading this book was because I love mythology and the story of Circe is one I didn’t know as well as others. The thing that turned me off was the fact this book read like a history book. It felt too textbook for me, even though it was told from Circe’s pov.
Don’t get me wrong, the story was interesting and I enjoyed her story. I see the parallel of her story to those of others like The Odyssey. The reason why I ended up giving this book that extra .70 rating is because I actually started really enjoying this book at about the 60% mark. Things started to get really good and I ended up liking Circe. The turn the story takes and the new way I end up seeing Circe was something that I really enjoyed. It was probably the best and most interesting part of the book. So that’s why I ended up rating this book higher than how I initially felt through half of the story.
In the end, Circe was a nice retelling of the story of Circe. It can be boring and not what you may have been expecting, but I did find something redeeming about it.
Of late, much has been made of Madeline Miller’s Circe, a first-person retelling of the story of the Witch of Aiaia from The Odyssey. After checking it out, I can see why. The novel has a dreamlike quality that carries one along for a ride to another time and place, an effect that works especially well with stories of the mythic past.
Circe has always been a figure of moral ambiguity, like so many mythological entities, but most traditional tales of her often cast her as more villain than anything else. As one would expect in such a retelling, the novel shifts to a portrayal rather of a victim of circumstance and admirable freethinker among the Greek pantheon.
Circe suffers under the misogyny of her people. A nymph whose sole purpose is to marry whoever her father demands and never to talk back to any real deity. Within this framework, we also see an interplay of the post-war strife between the Olympians and the titans. Miller makes a point–one so often lost in interpretations of Greek myth–that these two peoples are, in fact, exactly the same race. The Olympians are titans who gave themselves a new title to lord their victory over their forebears.
I also appreciated her depictions of the vast majority of immortals as amoral beings who revel in petty cruelties and give absolutely no regard to mortal lives. I wouldn’t call the novel grimdark, but it sure approaches it because of this mythologically accurate portrayal of the deities, and even the desperately flawed portrayal of the human heroes.
Miller makes numerous adjustments to the myths in order to involve Circe in a multitude of tales, from the minotaur, to Daedalus, to most prominently, the curse of Scylla. Such changes are only to be expected, and all work fairly well alone. Collectively, it sometimes felt her connection to all these other stories might have been taken a bit far. This is a minor quibble, however, as everything ties together well enough.
I thoroughly enjoyed my journey with Circe and I highly recommend everyone check it out.
One of my favourite reads from 2019. I adored Song of Achilles so had high hopes for Circe, and it did not disappoint!
Took me a While to get into it, as i don’t know all the gods and goddesses but it got better and better the farther I got into her story, Great writing.
Circe binds a spell woven of the well-known mythology and the unknown character of a woman. Circe has come through time as a witch, transformer of men into pigs, aunt of Medea, entwiner of Odysseus. Miller transforms the mythology by giving us the history of the little girl, most reviled daughter of Helios, the sun god, and his wife Perse; ignored by her parents and mocked by her siblings.
More: https://daeandwrite.wordpress.com/2019/09/29/circe-by-madeline-miller/
Well researched and realistically imagined. Complex, fascinating characters. Good tight read.
A masterpiece.
“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.”
Madeline Miller’s Circe weaves a tapestry of familiar tales in a manner that is fresh, inventive, and thoroughly engrossing. The narrative follows the experience of Circe, exiled daughter of Helios, as she finds connection and love with mortals rather than with gods.
The way that Miller chooses to depict Circe is beautifully done. I felt empathy as she desperately searches for meaning. I also enjoyed the manner in which Miller chooses to portray Greek mythology. Her ending is perfection, and I can’t wait to read more of Miller’s work.
I adored this book! I loved how Miller put such a heart wrenching story into a character who was supposed to be seen as invincible. It was an incredible read
A wonderful and masterful novel that breathes life into an easily overlooked character from the Odyssey. Like a behind-the-scenes of Greek mythology from a woman’s point of view, it’s fun for fans of classical epics but also for anyone who loves a good book.
Love her take on Greek Mythology! Wonderful story!