Review: "Circe" by Madeline Miller

Quick Summary

Type: Novel

Genre: Historical fiction, mythology

Back Cover: "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."

Read Time: 4 days

Rating: 2.75 stars

Review

My immediate reaction after reading this book: "Eh". There was so much hype around this book, and I love Greek mythology (loved the Percy Jackson books) so I had a lot of hope. But it was just kind of disappointing.

I found the pacing fairly slow and exposition-heavy. Of course, this is a retelling of the Circe myth and thus (I assume) meant to be written in a style reminiscent of the Odyssey or Iliad. But while I love Greek myths, I was never a fan of the religious-text expository style.

Speaking of exposition-heavy, I was disappointed that some of the myths were fed to readers (without much changing) as if they weren't some of the more famous Greek myths around. For the more famous myths, I would have liked a fresh take on them. History is written by the victors, so myth interpretations that put different lights on those famous myths would have been nice. For example, we meet Jason and Medea, and later 'learn' that (as it goes in the myth) Medea gets jealous of Jason's new soon-to-be-wife, kills the soon-to-be-wife, kills her children by Jason, and flees back to Colchis on a golden chariot. But why not a different take on that story? Yes, Circe is hearing these myths as the people who visit know them, but it wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibility that many versions of the same story exist. Maybe Jason's new wife died accidentally and Medea got blamed. Maybe their children died accidentally, or Jason was the actual killer, et cetera, et cetera. There were a lot of things the author could have taken liberties with, and I was disappointed that there were no creative interpretations.

So between the religious-text style, the very slow characterization of the person of Circe, the heavy exposition, and the lack of creativity, I was a little disappointed in the story because I hoped it would be more. But I still love mythology and I love a story in which the traditional 'villain' gets a new perspective, so I still more or less enjoyed the story. I just wish it had been a little more.