Hailey and I fully intended to do a buddy read and review for Madeline Miller’s Circe. Unfortunately, we hated it. After a long and cathartic ranting session, neither of us felt much like getting into it all over again in a written format. Well, it’s been some time since then, and I am ready to discuss this book in a calm and rational manner. Mostly.
Content Warning: this review discusses violence against women and sexual assault. We have to address these topics, as they are significant aspects within the book, and we had significant problems with the way the author chose to address them.
Circe is an amalgamation and retelling of the Greek myths around the mysterious witch-nymph Circe, famously prominent in Homer’s Odyssey. Miller follows Circe’s life from her early childhood to the end of her days, as she encounters heroes, fights monsters, and comes into her magical powers as a witch whom even the other gods fear.
I will not be like a bird bred in a cage, I thought, too dull to fly even when the door stands open.
– Madeline Miller
Dear readers, she was exactly that dull.