Circe

Circe by Madeline Miller

3 stars.  Circe is a Greek enchantress "who lived with her wild animals on the island of Aiaia.  She is the daughter of Helios (Titan God of sun), and nymph Perse... In the Odyssey (side note- a book I didn't enjoy or follow when I read it in high school), she turns Odysseus' men into pigs, but after he challenges her, she takes him as a lover." (pg 386).  

This book read like an adventure story with a little romance thrown in.  I enjoyed the first 2/3's of the book, but the last 1/3 just drug on for me.  It became a "broken record" for me- who was going to screw Circe over again?  I was intimidated by this book because of the theme of Greek mythology and the fact that so many of my friends/family really enjoyed this book.  For some reason when things are hyped up for me I normally can guarantee disappointment.  Overall I found this book extremely "readable" I thought Madeline Miller did an impressive job writing about Greek Mythology in a "readable" fashion while introducing multiple characters throughout Circe's story.  I  did struggle to keep the characters straight (who's who of Greek gods and mortals) and would have appreciated a character list... oops there was a character list, but I didn't find it until pg 386- after the story was done.  Note to author/editors put the character list up front for us Greek Mythology challenged readers.  

I thank my friend/bookie for sending me this book to read and pushing me to my limits in the challenge to read about Greek Mythology.  We all need a little reading challenge sometime.