Review: Circe (M. Miller)

Here is my question... how have I not reviewed this book already? This is my second time reading Circe, and I love it more than I did the first time. And I loved it a LOT the first time. There is just something about Circe's story, and the life that she chooses to make for herself after everyone around her tries to back her into a corner, that appeals to me so much that all I feel like doing is reading this book over and over and over again.

I also recently attended an event that Madeline Miller was speaking at and got my copy of Circe signed, so I am a very happy bookworm right now with a shiny, signed hardcopy of Circe. It's the little things in life.

Circe is the daughter of Helios, the mightiest Titan and the god of the sun. However, Circe seems entirely powerless, and the weakest of Helios' offspring. This all changes when she discovers her ability with witchcraft, a power so strong that Zeus exiles her to an island, where she is expected to live out the rest of her days without bothering any of the gods. But when her wellbeing is threatened by the arrival of sailors on the island, Circe's world takes a strange and wonderful turn that had me turning the pages as fast as I possibly could, and wishing that the story would never end.

Miller's writing is so captivating, and I was drawn into Circe's story as soon as I started the first couple of pages. It felt like I was right there next to Circe, seeing the family dynamics between the Titans, gods, and more. All of the characters in the book were well-rounded and flushed out, and their personalities seemed to jump out from in-between the pages and made me feel more connected and involved in the story. I also loved how Miller managed to weave in lots of tidbits about Greek mythology into the story without making it seem like an info-dump or an impromptu history lesson. Circe is one of those characters that you don't generally hear about when it comes to most novels concerning Greek mythology, so it was great to see her as the star of her own story.

I absolutely adored this book, and will most likely be rereading it again sometime in the near future. I have yet to read Song of Achilles, but if it is anything like this book I'm pretty sure I am going to devour it just as quickly.

5/5 Stars