The book Circe by Madeline Miller follows the goddess Circe, daughter of the sun titan Helios, as she makes her mark as a feared witch and her interactions with demigods across Greek mythology. When she is born, she is mostly rejected by her family because she does not contain the renowned sun powers of her father or the beauty of her mother, siblings, and other nymphs and minor goddesses in her family. When Circe first discovers her powers as a witch, she uses them against a rude, entitled nymph named Scylla, who is going to marry the man Circe loves. Scylla is transformed into a terrible monster, resulting in Circe’s punishment by her father to a lonely island called Aiaia. On the island, Circe continues to develop her skills in witchcraft, accompanied by the wilderness, her pet lion, and wolves. She tends to the animals, harvests plants for her spells, and eventually becomes content with her loneliness, finally feeling free on the island away from her family's harsh eyes. While on the island, many famous demigods, gods, and mortals came to visit her, Including Odysseus, Daedalus, Hermes, and Apollo. I enjoyed this book because I love to research and read about Greek myths. I also liked Madeline Miller's (the author) perspective of Circe, not as an evil witch who killed weary, tired sailors for fun, but as a powerful woman ahead of her time who knew who she was and what she deserved. Circe turned men who tried to take advantage of her into pigs that she kept outside in a pig pen. This made many people hate her. I think that before you start to read this book, you should at least know a few Greek myths and know some of the background of the war between Greek gods and Titans, and about the Trojan War and Odyssey. This will help to understand the characters and allusions made by Circe and other characters in this book easier to understand. I enjoyed Circe more than Song of Achilles, which is another book written by Madeline Miller. I liked the pacing in this book and the word choices, and am excited for her next book which will be about Persephone.
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