Date of Completion: 01/04/2020
Circe, pronounced – Sur-see; Not circ or circle!
Now that I have gotten my pettiness out of the way, let’s talk about the book.
It is a common saying that women are delicate creatures, flowers, eggs, anything that may be crushed in a moment’s carelessness. If I had ever believed it, I no longer did.
I bought this book because of all the hype surrounding it and its long residence on the Goodreads’ Most Read This Week list. This book also had so many positive reviews, so of course I was really excited to start reading.
Madeline Miller brings to life the story of Circe, daughter of the sun god Helios. Beginning from her birth, we are presented with front row seats in Circe’s journey of self-discovery. Along the way, we are introduced to many figures in Greek mythology including the Minotaur, Daedalus, Medea and Odysseus.
As I started reading, the first thing that grabbed my attention was the writing style – detailed and descriptive. I LOVED IT!
I also loved reading about Circe’s “early” life. There was something beautiful about her curiosity about the world and her child-like trust and faith. Like Circe, most of us can identify with feeling like we are not fully understood by our family and often feel powerless to change our own story.
That is one thing gods and mortals share. When we are young, we think ourselves the first to have each feeling in the world.
Sadly, this is where the positivity ends. After reading a couple of chapters it soon became obvious that this book was lacking in plot and pacing. I struggled to maintain my initial excitement but somehow managed to convince myself that it would get better.
That did not happen. Nothing happened!
There was no action, no climax, and no fun!
I quickly got tired of feeling sorry for Circe. With every blow that life threw her way my expectation for her to rise like a phoenix, fell. Her character did show a strong maturity towards the end of the book, but it was just too little, too late.
The introduction of numerous figures from Greek mythology, was just that – an introduction. Many of them felt like fillers inserted to satisfy a checklist. Each reference to a figure mentioned earlier in the book reminded me of being approached by someone who you (supposedly) knew but can’t remember where from – “Why yes, of course I remember, we went to *mumbles* together!”
Overall, I can understand why this book is loved by so many but personally, I found the storyline too plain and boring. So, 3 stars.
Do you agree or disagree with anything mentioned above? Let us know in the comments below.
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