I was intrigued by the book I’m recommending today after seeing a GIF on Twitter of the book cover sparkling in the sunlight (yes this is a beautiful foil cover). And I am thankful for this cover attracting my attention because I really, really enjoyed CIRCE by Madeline Miller, and now I can recommend it to you.

This is a tale of a misfit heroine set among the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology.  As the daughter of Helios, Titan god of the sun, Circe doesn’t quite fit in with the other gods and goddesses. She is not powerful like her father or alluring like her mother. When she turns to mortals for companionship she discovers she does have the power to use plants to create spells, pharmakis. Threatened and irritated by Circe, Helio banishes her to live out her (eternal) life on a deserted island.

But it is a beautiful island, and this is where Circe’s life really begins!


During the first few chapters of this book I wasn’t sold on this book and its storytelling. There was a lot of background information about who’s who in the world of mythological gods being introduced, and I just wasn’t sure I was going to be into it. However, starting with about Chapter 4, I really started getting to know (and liking!) Circe. The book is written from her point of view, and I felt a strong kinship for her. And it is just good suspenseful reading!

She crosses paths with several famous figures from mythology, Daedalus, the Minotaur, and Odysseus. There is always tension between “mortals” and the gods.

When Circe first asks her uncle Prometheus, who is being punished for aiding a mortal, what a mortal is:

“It was a child’s question, but he nodded gravely. ‘There is no single answer. They are each different. The only thing they share is death. You know the word?’

‘I know it,’ I said. ‘But I do not understand.’

‘No god can. Their bodies crumble and pass into earth. Their souls turn to cold smoke and fly to the underworld. There they eat nothing and drink nothing and feel no warmth. Everything they reach for slips from their grasp.’

A chill shivered across my skin. ‘How do they bear it?’

‘As best they can.’

This enchanting story has it all: family drama, love and loss, jealousy and regret, a female in a male dominated world, and overall, it is a celebration of life.

Read CIRCE!!!

For the second time recently I especially enjoyed a book because of having studied Joyce’s Ulysses, which is parallel to Homer’s Odyssey that features several of the same characters. 

Also this book is a follow up to another by Miller, The Song of Achilles: A Novel, which I also want to read but now I must get to my Summer Reading List.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links you will not pay any extra but I may make a small commission. Thank you for supporting Leslie’s Bookcase.