Circe
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4.5 • 4.6K Ratings
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
This #1 New York Times bestseller brilliantly reimagines the life of Circe, formidable sorceress of The Odyssey, as she discovers her own power, forges her identity, and challenges the gods who seek to control her.
"[A] bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story." —The New York Times
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.
With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, Washington Post, People, Time, Amazon, Entertainment Weekly, Bustle, Newsweek, A.V. Club, Christian Science Monitor, Refinery 29, Buzzfeed, Paste, Audible, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Thrillist, NYPL, Self, Real Simple, Goodreads, Boston Globe, Electric Literature, BookPage, Guardian, Book Riot, Seattle Times, and Business Insider.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Passionate and poetic, Circe is the epic tale of a lesser Greek goddess whose compassion for human life draws the disdain and anger of her fellow deities. Madeline Miller, an astonishingly gifted storyteller and former classics scholar, introduced readers to her revelatory insights into mythology with the 2011 bestseller The Song of Achilles. Her rendition of Circe’s unorthodox quest for love and a meaningful existence is a gorgeously written, unforgettable saga that thrills from start to finish.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Miller follows her impressive debut (The Song of Achilles) with a spirited novel about Circe's evolution from insignificant nymph to formidable witch best known for turning Odysseus's sailors into swine. Her narrative begins with a description of growing up the awkward daughter of Helios, the sun god. She does not discover her gift for pharmakeia (the art of using herbs and spells) until she transforms her first love, a poor fisherman, into a god. When he rejects her in favor of vain Scylla, Circe turns Scylla into a sea monster. Now considered dangerous, Circe is exiled to an island, where she experiments with local flora and fauna. After returning from a visit to Crete to help her sister give birth to the Minotaur, Circe is joined on the island by errant nymphs sentenced to do their penance in her service. By the time Odysseus's ship arrives, winding its way home from the Trojan War, Circe reigns over a prosperous household. Welcome guests enjoy her hospitality; unwelcome guests are turned into wild pigs. Neither the goddess Athena nor the deadliest poison known to man makes Circe flinch. Weaving together Homer's tale with other sources, Miller crafts a classic story of female empowerment. She paints an uncompromising portrait of a superheroine who learns to wield divine power while coming to understand what it means to be mortal.
Customer Reviews
An Incredible Story of Realization
This book moved me in ways I didn’t think possible. Mythology is not a subject I’m fond of, and I was intimidated that the complicated cast of famous characters would distract me trying to keep the relationships straight. But, I was proven wrong. Miller weaves her story beautifully and makes it easy to draw connections between the gods, mortals and monsters. Circe is more than a retelling of an age old tale, it’s a coming of age - a story of realizing ones true purpose as a witch, a woman, a daughter and a mother exiled to learn about herself and her relationships through a series of adventures. Relatable in ways I didn’t expect, I highly recommend this.
Fire
This started off a little slow, as most books, and didn’t hook me at all. So much so that I put it down for almost 2 years. Well, I randomly picked it up and could not put it down for two days until I finished it! This is definitely worth the read if you appreciate Greek mythology at all. The author writes beautifully and wove a beautiful web of characters, lore, and plot!
Circe: Not the fury I ordered
★★★★☆
I just finished Circe, and while I enjoyed it, it wasn’t quite what I expected. I went in hoping for a fierce, take-no-prisoners heroine, but instead found a quieter story centered on identity, loneliness, and choosing your own path.
The writing is beautiful, and Madeline Miller has a gift for making Greek mythology feel accessible and deeply human. I especially appreciated how the novel explores the idea that immortality doesn’t necessarily lead to wisdom or growth.
For me, Circe herself never became the bold, fiery character I was hoping for, which kept this from being a five-star read. Still, it was thought-provoking, emotionally rich, and gave me a new appreciation for Greek mythology.