characters

Circe by Madeline Miller | Book Review

aquapages // eline3 Comments

Genre: Fantasy – greek mythology

Pages: 344

Synopsis

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft.

When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe’s place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home.

There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe’s independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

My thoughts

Rating out of five: four stars

I love me some stories of greek gods & godesses, especially when they’re as flawed and vengeful as can be. And our main character Circe certainly has her flaws as well, to the point where her insecurities becomes a huge part of her choices even after hundreds of years of getting to know oneself. It started to get a bit boring halfways through. And then Circe shifts and it all gets more badass and filled with action and again grief, without sacrificing the flowing descriptive writing, focusing on details and swiftly taking you through decades. I loved how she gets these pieces of information of the “human” history happening out in the world through Hermes to her exile on the island, and also how their interactions change.

There was a line of female empowerment going through this book, a sign of greek mythology stories done well. How Circe sees what has become of her sisters, how they’ve gathered their influence and power. Not to mention her way of feeling powerful constantly shifting through the book, as the decades pass and she grows into herself.

What I reflected on most reading this book was how Circe meets this constant choice of following the rules, of staying within her boundraries, or to stand up and fight for herself and others. And it’s not one choice, but many. The clearest picture of this is how she creates this life for herself on the island and then goes back and forth about if she likes it, if she prefers this exile; sometimes lonely, sometimes with more action (through pirates and other need-a-lesson semi-exiled girls) than she would’ve liked.

My island lay around me. My herbs, my house, my animals. And so it would go, I thought, on and on, forever the same. 

It’s a more complex story than I though walking into it and certainly one I will pick up again to reread the multifaceted person Circe is throughout it.

I thought once that gods are the opposite of death, but I see now they are more dead than anything, for they are unchanging, and can hold nothing in their hands.

Fierce Female Book Characters

aquapages // eline3 Comments

Growing up I started reading more adult fantasy mixed in with fairytale and folklore inspired children’s fantasy before the Young Adult category became popular. With YA fantasy came these fierce heroines that I absolutely fell in love with and taught me so much about strength, what I want to aspire to and also crushes. Yes, you heard right.

What made me think of this post is Katsa in the Graceling trilogy by Kristin Cashore. Growing up she was absolutely a character I both crushed so hard on and wanted to be more like. I love the morally gray characters, that has to take difficult decisions, because the world isn’t black and white, good and bad and I was angry when fantasy wanted to depict it that way. In Graceling Katsa has a magical ability that (without spoiling anything) makes her one of the kingdom’s best fighters. But she’s also got a big heart and despises her king uncle forming her into his personal assassin. Protective, badass girls with big hearts that can also kick anyone’s ass is absolutely my type. I mean – when this is on the cover … no chance I’m not going to love it.

A list of other similar kickass-characters:

Inej Ghafa from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Six of Crows is a book I could never overhype, as I’ve barely seen bad reviews of it. In the friendgroup she’s the spy and definitely dangerous. Artwork by the amazing Kevin Wada.

Vin, the protagonist of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Found on the Mistborn wiki, I can’t seem to find the artist.

Renee from The foxhole court, All for the game series, by Nora Sakavic. She loves the pastel look, seems innocent most of the time, but could also kill you. It’s a sport series. Or is it? More about friendgroup bonding and finding your family. It’s a book you love or hate, and I absolutely love it. Art by hermosoharry.tumblr.com.

Mercy Thompson, the protagonist from the urban fantasy series with the same name by Patricia Briggs. She’s a mechanic, but can also turn into a coyote and grew up around werewolves! And look at her! Cover art by Daniel Dos Santos.

I think Celaena Sardothien deserves a spot on this list because of the first book Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas and the prequel The Assasin’s Blade, before the whole name change and series falling apart (in my eyes). I stopped reading after book five. My fav character for a while was Nehemia. I have so many issues with the way that series went. But the assassin phase of Celaena and seeing her survive was amazing. Cover art by Alessandro Taini/Talexi Art.

Yelena, protagonist of Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. I feel like Poison Study is more underrated than it should be, but absolutely worth a read for these characters. Art by Leabharlann.