Circe by Madeline Miller | Book Review 

The Song of Achilles was a wonderful book, this is a must-read for me :)

Not even gonna lie I read the title as circle

I've heard only great things about this book but coming from you, with your background, the praise has even more weight! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and can't wait to get my hands on Circe. What a beautiful cover too.

I love it when you discuss myth retellings. Your knowledge and apply for mythology and classics resonates my love and knowledges for them. Thank you for this video, it makes me just want to devour this book:)

Jean this is the best review of Circe I have either seen or read... Well done!

Circe easily climbed to my all-time fave, It is sooo good. I also had the same experience coming into the story that Odyssey would be the highlight but it is more than that. My favorite for sure is her moment with Prometheus and Daedalus.

Circe has been on my radar. Your review has convinced me to get myself a copy ASAP! Thank you :)

It was lovely to see this review as I read Circe this week and absolutely loved one of my favourite books I've read this year along with Song of Achilles which I read last month. As someone who has an idea and knows some of the myths it was very enjoyable and as you said I thought maybe Odysseus was going to be the focal point but it was so great to see all the different places Circe has appeared in myths.

I am so glad I found your channel, there aren't enough places to talk about books! I actually found this video because I was thinking of starting a channel just on stand alone books or smaller series of books.

Great review Jean! I would love to see more videos related to greek mythology, its a really interestic topic but I find it quite hard to find a way to start learning that is not so overwhelming, so it is very useful to hear from someone with knowledge :)

Ahhh, so glad you did a stand-alone review of this novel given your extensive knowledge! Interesting how she doesn't use the most obvious part of Circe's story as the centrepiece of her novel. To be honest, the way we get bits of characters' lives in different Greek mythology has always felt quite confusing to me so it's great to hear that Miller ties them together to build a portrait of Circe as a whole person. And it's nice to hear the novel still surprised you even though you know many of the myths. Song of Achilles was awesome. I'm so eager to read this new novel! Thank you.

I'm so glad you posted this! I bought this on a whim when it was mispriced? for less than $3 on Target's website. I hadn't heard of it otherwise.

Yay, I've been waiting for this review since I saw you were reading this book! I really hope my library has it, because I really want to read it too. Glad to hear that you don't need to know the Circe myths to follow the story, because I'm very much new to Greek mythology.

I'm in the middle of Song of Achilles, and I MUST read Circe! I was obsessed with Greek mythology when I was younger, and this is reminding me just how much I love it. Will definitely be picking up more books based on your recs!

So glad you especially, enjoyed this book , cause I bought it and look forward to the read! Thankyou so much Jean

I’ve only just started this book this evening, I’m maybe seven chapters in, but already I can tell it’s gonna be hard to put it down. I love Greek myths too, especially the ones centered around the different gods, so this book is right up my alley. Great review and I can’t wait to finish Circe!

I just finished this today. I remembered it was on your list of most anticipated releases and thought I’d have a look at it. I intended to read a few pages to see how I liked it. 45 minutes later I was on page 80, and LOVING it. I bought it and finished the rest of it in one sitting. I thought it was amazing. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year. Thank you!

This is one of my absolute favorite books ever and I also loved this video!

I’m currently reading this book and loving it so far ! I need to do a review as well ☺️ loved your review !

i have been reading this book for days and can not stop reading!! it is truly so amazingly written and you literally wont want to stop reading, i havent finished it yet but cant wait! even if you are rusty or not super versed in greek mythology dont worry the way this book is written explains everything so well

I read The song of Achilles recently and I absolutely loved it. I’ll have to keep an eye out for Circe.

Circe was already on my TBR list but now it has definitely jumped a lot of spots. Thanks for the great review!

Great review! I’m reading this at the moment for a podcast (recording tomorrow and I have quite a bit to go - yikes), concurrently with The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson, which I’m loving. Glad to have read Mythos earlier this year as I’m new to Greek mythology & it’s helped familiarise me with the gods. I’m enjoying so much about Circe but also a tiny bit impatient for a central plot. Late night of reading ahead! ;)

Just pre-ordered it on Kindle. I can’t wait. Thanks for the review

Hi Jean! I already wanted to read this book but your review and analysis made me wanted even more! Thanks! (Remembers that she has a library copy of 'The Odessy' yet to read before the Spanish paperback of 'Circe' is pusblished in 2020) Hugs!

I'm so glad to hear that you as a classicist also loved it! I read Circe last weekend, and absolutely loved it too. It made me want to move to a Mediterranean island and learn all about herbs and just garden a lot. I've never read the Odyssey - started it yesterday though - and although I have read the Song of Achilles, I'm not at all familiar with the myths and had barely even heard of Circe until this book was announced, so I had no idea what to expect. It was still, even to me as a novice, a very beautifully and poetically written book.

It's one of my most anticipated releases of the year! This video reminded me to order it, finally

I'm listening to the audiobook and it's easily one of the best I've come across. Perdita Weeks does such a great job and the story flows so well. You can tell the writing is top notch and I'm not even done yet! Probably my favorite book so far of 2018 as well.

I just finished this one and I absolutely adored it! In fact, it led to me going out and buying The Penelopiad literally the same day I finished it. I devoured that one too. I think next on my list of myth retellings is going to be Weight (the Canongate retellings are nice!!). But Circe was fantastic. I really enjoyed the humanizing of the characters and the interactions between Circe and her family because that isn't usually a side of the myths that I see when I'm reading the original mythology. It was also really cool to compare Miller's versions of Penelope and Telemachus with Margaret Atwood's versions of the same characters since I read the books so close together. Both made me want to go back and re-read The Odyssey as well.

Ive been wanting to read something about Greek Myths but didn't want it too complicated ...Ive just popped across to Amazon and read the first chapter am hooked and have now ordered it! thats why I follow book tubers you guys open so many doors for me in terms of reading...Thanks Jean!

I ordered this book a few days ago and it’s arriving today! I can not wait now! Thanks for this great review 🤗

Do you think it would be a good option as an audio book?

I'm so excited for this book. I got my bachelor's in classical languages but I couldn't do grad school at the time because of health issues. Now I've mostly been away from it all for seven years, but reading some myth retellings seems like a good way to start getting back into things at a personal interest level.

I purchased recently this book, can I know one detail about this book that, will it necessary to be known Greek mythology before start reading this book

My copy has just arrived and I can't wait to read it!

Such a great review!

Great review! Myths are always a nice choice.

Excellent review!

Hi, can you please tell me the ISBN of this book? All of the stores in my area only sell the MMPs 😔

I've just finished reading this book and absolutely loved it. I knew very little about Circe beforehand except what I had read in The Odyssey, so it was great to hear the perspective of a classicist as well! I completely agree that you don't have to know anything going in to the book, and she makes everything easy to follow even when there are lots of characters, and makes it into a really compelling story at the same time. I'm so pleased I read this book, I hoped I would like it because I thought The Song of Achilles was great but I think I enjoyed this one even more. :)

Listened to the official audiobook of "Circe" and loved it. The archly vulnerable tone of the narrative voice places it in the same prose pantheon Nabokov's Humbert.

I absolutely loved it, my favorite of the year so far. I adored The Song of Achilles and had such high hopes for her second book, and was very glad to not only not be let down, but to have the book even exceed my expectations. I appreciated how seamlessly she wove all the various parts of Circe's story into one coherent novel. It didn't feel like it was pieced together at all - it felt like one story. And she really does feel human! I grew to care so much for her and I was honestly a little sad when the book was done.

I recently read Circe and loved it so so so much. The character development happened so slowly and the writing was so well done. I’m definitely interested in reading more myth retelling a :)

I just finished it last night, and loved it. You definitely need to read Song of Achilles if you haven't already.

Thanks for the review.

I'm such a game of thrones geek that every time you say circe, I see cersei in front of me with a cup of wine hahaha In German, the two names are pronounced differently so my brain isn't used to circe sounding exactly like cersei haha

I want to get it next month (once I get my allowance haha) I know you have talked about this before, could you recommend any retellings on greek/roman women ? I specially enjoy "witches" like Circe and Medea ! Love this videos :)

I finished reading this last night, loved it so much.

Do you recommend this book for a 13 year old?

I have just finished Circe and adored it. I didn't want it to end. I loved the character of Circe and thought it was great to follow her story from start to finish as it were. I am not greatly familiar with Greek myths or the characters in Greek mythology and there are alot. I had seen this book praised and given good star ratings on many sites but I had steered clear thinking this book won't be for me. It will be too confusing or dull or too high brow. I continued to see more reviews saying how great the book was. I then saw it was half price after Christmas in my local book store. I decided to take the plunge and get a copy. I am so glad I did! It is engaging, exciting, thrilling, memorizing, emotional, action packed and quite beautifully written. I couldn't put it down. I definitely did not want it to end. I could have read another 300 pages and not been bored. I didn't no anything about these characters before but now I have some insight. These characters were nasty, jealous, vindictive, evil, mad, passionate and so interesting. They are all multi layered in ways you cannot imagine. I did cry and laugh reading this book. Reading this book has encouraged me to find out more about Greek Gods and Goddesses and to learn more about Greek myths. I'm already listening to Stephen Fry on audio book reading Mythos just because I want to hear and read more about these intoxicating characters. I purposely didn't listen to your review of Circe until the book was completed. I didn't want your appreciation of the book to cloud my own judgement. It is good to know that you liked and even loved the book. I could sense your passion for the story. You also believed it to be well crafted and well put together. For me this book could be read by anyone you don't have to be a fan of Greek history. My preconceptions were totally misguided. This is the story of a girl and her path through life. I would give this book ten out of ten. An awesome read.

I’m about half way through this book! It is soooo lovely.

Omg, how have you not read The Song of Achilles?! Please check it out!

I love your dialect!

Currently reading it about 100 pages in and enjoying it.

Almost certainly the best book that I have read in a long time.

I've ordered this book and am so excited to read it! I read Songs of Achillies and loved that. I've also just started the Penelopiad which I heard you talk about ages ago and finally got around to buying at the weekend!

I am very interested in mythology, but know very little about it. I tried to read The Odyssey many years ago, and am sad to say I was so confused by all the names I just couldn't follow it. Do you know of a good book to recommend for beginners who are interested in being introduced into the world of mythology? Thanks in advance=)

My dad pre-ordered Circe for my birthday from Amazon but it still hasn’t arrived yet 😅 I can’t wait to get my hands on it though, it sounds amaaaazziingggg

I am currently reading this

Adore this book

Very good 👍

I saw this in Waterstones the other day. Now I wished I'd picked it up :)

As someone who hasn't read much Greek mythology aside from the Odessey in high school, I can confirm that you don't need to have any background knowledge to enjoy this book. Really enjoyed it!

I need this book now. Aaaaaaaah

This book is everywhere

I loved the song of Achilles and have been wanting to explore more Greek myths and their retellings - as soon as this is in paperback I'm there!

So, as someone with a PhD related to classics, your appraisal was that _Circe_ was fairly accurate (granting that it was never meant as an academic text)? I was actually really curious about that, because as a layman in classics, I actually tried to cross-reference some of the more specific details Miller included and came up empty handed. The whole time I was wondering whether it was just a matter of my not finding the sources (or references to the sources) that Miller used, or whether she was just... well, making some of it up. Not that I think there'd be anything wrong with that - but it _would_ affect how I saw the book _qua_ retelling. As you say, everyone has their own version of these myths, but there are undoubtedly some that are seen as more canonical than others (whether Homer's, Hyginus', Ovid's, or what have you.)

I'm sold! :D

I just bought Circe. 71% off

i wanna read this book! hugs

hi, I need help, please. someone can help me chose the top pick and tell me what page of this book to write an essay like about (monster, circe challenges, something you think is good in this book)or which discusses how the protagonist, Circe,undergoes challenges and encounters which help to shape her identity. thanks very much

That's my name!

Ok when does this book get interesting because I’m reading this now & im dying of boredom I don’t want to give up because this book has gotten great reviews but sheesh 😒

Hello people...... Look st my actual name... I'm searching my name on youtube and here is what shows up... Cool.😂 My name is pronounced Sear, sea... Not Sir sea. Well the book is pronounced different

Come for the pronunciation of Circe, stay for the good content

I get so bored with this book. Didn't get hooked 🙃

No me gusta la brujería y brujería