Circe, by Madeline Miller was as delightful as anticipated. I read this book on my Kindle Oasis, and it was a fast read at roughly 400 pages. It’s one of those books you read and tell the readers you know, “Oh! Read this—you’ll love it.” But when they ask you what it’s about your description strongly misses the mark. So you try to regroup and resell because it’s not what Circe’s about that makes it such a joy to read (although it’s rich in that area). I didn’t know much about Circe prior to reading this and made a point of not googling anything. If you want to brush up on your mythology you’ll find brief bios of all the key players in the back of the book.
This book is an intimate character portrait of Circe. It’s perfect for people who wanted to know the gods better but just couldn’t connect with them. The gods always felt unrelatable. Their bigger than life personas made them feel flat somehow. I wanted more than their lessons, envies, and rages—I wanted to see them turned out from the inside, their hesitations and anxieties.
Miller paints Circe in the fiercest of golds. She’s the heroine we wanted, ladies. Circe carves her own fate out of the ages. She pushes against everything that holds her down, but she’s not entirely dauntless. It’s the bruises and scars of her past, her humanity, that make us love her. Miller’s gift to us in this book is Circe’s humanity. We get to know her as she navigates the world, her divinity, passions, gifts, family, and embraces her power as a witch, a goddess, and a woman. It’s a beautiful book, and when Circe comes into her own you’re cheering for her so hard you forget you’re not with her holding up the sky against Athena. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a strong female heroine, appreciates strong character development, or mythology.
