Title: Circe

Author: Madeline Miller

Year: 2018

Genre: Greek Mythology, Fantasy, 

Queer shit: none? It doesn’t make sense that mythology isn’t more queer because it all seems like it should be super queer and then they just procreate

Vibe Check: Greek Mythology, the dream and nightmare of living on an island alone, witch, revenge, toxic family drama, found family, finding/building your destiny

Pile of Opinions: I was not prepared for this book as I knew nothing about Greek mythology apparently. I need to read more descriptions of books before I read them. Also how do I not know more about Greek mythology? Anyways, definitely know the vague outline of the story or look up content warnings so you aren’t blindsided like I was. That was my bad. Circe is the daughter of a god and doesn’t have value to him or the family. She ends up being sent to an island as punishment and spends her days learning spells and witchcraft because she learns she is a witch. The story takes place over hundreds of years and is so well told and weaves the characters throughout the stories in a way that I was able to keep up with even though I usually forget who is who. I would recommend reading this over a few weeks or less unless you already know the characters already or you might get confused. The book can feel like a slow start since it spans so much time but if you look at it as the overarching collection of stories then it cruises along smoothly in my opinion. I enjoyed the humanness even from the gods and how the author explored power dynamics, perceived value, and abuse of power. Greek mythology is a whole ride. I did know enough about mythology to be prepared for the violence in the book and it actually wasn’t as prevalent as I thought it might be. Look up content warnings if you don’t know the stories. If you are prepared for this book, I think it really lived up to the hype and I really enjoyed it. If you’ve read it, let me know your thoughts in the comments.