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Circe by Madeline Miller Book Review
Book Reviews

Circe by Madeline Miller

Kinjal Parekh 3 min read

Circe by Madeline Miller

Book – Circe

Author – Madeline Miller

Pages – 352 pages, Hardcover

Genre – Greek Mythology, Myths, Legends,  Saga, Historic Fiction

Publisher – ‎ Bloomsbury Publishing (2018)

Rating -
4.7/5

About The Book:

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 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.

Book Review:

I am in love with Madeline’s work! The way she writes, the way she narrates a story – marvelous! Absolutely loved this one! So lyrical, so consuming. I fell in love with Greek Mythology with a hunger to learn more about it just because of Miller and her two books.
 
I read The Song of Achilles last year 2021 and I just knew that I have to read Circe next.
 
The book starts right from when Circe was born, the daughter of Helios, the sun god, and of the ocean nymph Perse. Circe, after a series of unfortunate events, later than sooner found out that she was a witch. The shy little kid, always desperately looking for her father’s approval, wanting to be seen, was sent to an exile for being what she was – a witch.
 
The story takes you through sibling rivalries, love, childhood-adulthood, self-determination, toxic masculinity, self-growth, and loneliness. This is a story of a woman in a man’s world who believed that everyone was nothing but good and kind. This is a story of a woman who unlearned what she used to believe in, learned to stand up for herself, and nurtured herself and her art – witchcraft.
 
My heart was full of emotions when I finished this book. As it is rightly said, Circe by Madeline Miller is a feminist retelling of Homer’s Odyssey. It deals with Circe as the protagonist rather than Odyssey.

Would I recommend this Book?

Definately, YES! Please read Circe by Madeline Miller. Read what it felt for Circe to be a women in a man’s world. What it feels like to be one. This feminist take of de-growing and growng into a string woman is what I loved the most other then Miller’s flawless writing.Circe took her own sweet time breaking out of her shell but when she did, she needed not more than 3 pages to bottle up the one who dared to stand in her way.
 
I haven’t read any of Homer’s work yet nor do I know much about Greek mythology, except for the War of Troy and Achilles-Patroculs’ story. So, you don’t need to know a lot about Greek Mythology to read this book, nor do you need to read The Song of Achilles before Circe though I would rather suggest you read The Song of Achilles first to save yourself from spoilers.
 
I already am eagerly waiting for Miller’s next book!

Free Kindle Book Preview – Circe by Madeline Miller

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My Favorite Quotes From Circe by Madeline Miller -

“Humbling women seems to me a chief pastime of poets. As if there can be no story unless we crawl and weep.” ― Madeline Miller, Circe.

“He showed me his scars, and in return he let me pretend that I had none.”
― Madeline Miller, Circe

“I would say, some people are like constellations that only touch the earth for a season.”
― Madeline Miller, Circe

“Only that: we are here. This is what it means to swim in the tide, to walk the earth and feel it touch your feet. This is what it means to be alive.” – Madeline, Circe

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Kinjal Parekh

A finance girl trapped inside Sylvia Plath's mind and Albert Camus' world. Hi! I’m Kinjal Parekh from Mumbai, India and I love to read books. When I started with my book blog, I did not realize that my passion to read would open doors for me to diversify my reading picks, discover new authors and start my own YouTube channel. So here is where you will find everything related to books and otherwise! Book reviews, book recommendations and a little bit about my days and months in general. They read much like my own public journal entry. Feel free to contact me for collaborations, promotions or just to discuss a book or two. Hope you found home in between lines and pages like I did. ❤️✨

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