Title: Circe Author: Madeline Miller Released: April 10, 2018 (Hardcover) Series: N/A Trigger Warnings: Body horror, childbirth (with complications), rape, torture Rating: ★★★★★
Description: 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.
Please keep in mind that this review contains spoilers for the entire book. Read with caution. If you click on “Read More”, it is under the assumption you either don’t care about spoilers or you’ve already read the book.
So hey! I’ve been tagged for this so this will be fun to do! I hope you enjoy my answers and feel free to do it yourself! Don’t forget to check out these books if they’ve interested you (for better or for worse).
I’ve been reading a fair amount of classic books lately but one thing that’s been on my radar for some time is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I hadn’t realized there was a new Netflix movie. Truthfully, I’m not too keen on it and it’s really not why I want to read it. I’ve always been interested in it because of its influence in gothic and horror novels. Although I’ve heard people mention it’s possible that LGBTQ+ subtext was in it, really, I’d just want to read about the classics in the Gothic and murder mystery. I might end up watching the movie anyway, but we’ll see if and when that’ll happen.
Maybe it’s because it’s a recent read, but Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress! by Ameko Kaeruda (Volume Two) is something that I not only read right after reading the first one. For a light novel, this one is just as refreshing as the first one. But I did like this a bit more because it made it seem that the characters became more than just frustrated audience proxies. This explored the past of one of the main characters in a way that I liked. Still, though, there are still a lot of flaws that readers of the first volume may not like, but… I just liked it a lot.
Though they traveled around for the majority of the book, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton takes place in the 1970s and even “current” (2016) New York City. The book is about musicians and though they travel and go away, at least they come back to New York for the important scenes. It’s also important to realize that this book is just as much historical as it is musical or in reference to pop culture. I’ve been to New York City a handful of times so “seeing” the same locations (or even well-known locations) in these characters’ eyes and how the culture stood… It’s interesting and wonderful how New York City continues to be a living and breathing historical site.
I’ve only read it early in 2023, but I still can’t stop thinking about She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran. Mostly, it’s this book that helped cement that I love haunted houses and gothic fiction could be written in any era; gothic fiction is usually written for the white reader by white authors so reading something (as a non-white person) by an Asian author made me really think about more into my craft and whose tragedies I’m reading about. For me, it’s slow but it’s the slow burn that adds to its horror and to its sadness and anger. An important point to always remember about the Gothic: you’re reading someone’s tragedies and often, trauma can lie too close to the reader. Especially if it’s another non-white culture, I could easily find myself there too. And that’s important to me as a reader and writer.
There’s a book that I can turn to at any time I feel an empty void. Any time I feel like there’s no love for historical romance or any time I feel like historical fiction has been up to snuff for me. It’s a classic at this point, but The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a reminder to me. It’s a reminder that historical fiction could just be facts on a page with names of people from the past (or myths) but it reminds me of what else it could be. A tragic romance but with the present and modern vernacular to yearn for the future to be better. It hurts deeply to read and while I haven’t re-read yet, it hurts me every time I think of it. But it reminds me that the hurt came from beautiful in the first place. And I push myself to look for books (and to write books) that emit this sort of love and care.
I couldn’t express this well enough in my original review, but Sadie by Courtney Summers paints every character with enough nuance and understanding that makes this feel more non-fiction. Even the podcaster got the chance to be as nuanced as possible. It’s hard not to consider how complicated this story is; while Sadie is not a bad person entirely, we follow her purposefully and intentionally ruining certain people’s lives (but also saving them in her way) while looking for her sister’s killer. In truth, this isn’t an easy story to read and I’m sure it wasn’t an easy one to write. Regardless, as far as my own personal taste goes, this book is perfect for regarding characters who were considered “bad” but ended up doing more good and vice versa.
Another recent read, but every time I think about it… genuinely, I never want to think about The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix ever again. I was always on the fence as it is with Grady’s novels; I really wanted to believe that it will get better. Maybe I’m just reading the “wrong” novels or maybe, since I’m such a mood reader, I need to be in a better mood. But this novel has everything that I didn’t like with the added bonus of “Magical Black Person” and a very humiliating death of a gay character. Genuinely, I hate everything that this author did everything he could to put me off, specifically. And I know he doesn’t know I exist but man this book was extremely crass and horrifying in the wrong way.
Another recent read, but it’s something that I’m especially glad I finished. Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchison was a fun read to be sure, but it was on my currently read list for quite a bit. Truthfully, I’m always afraid to read historical fiction based in America. Granted, the two main characters are white and queer — this book was definitely meant to be a queer fantasy. But when there’s a speaking Black queer character, I was so scared that I put it down. So many death flags were raised for her; I wasn’t too worried about the two white characters… But I’m glad I finished it. I wish I had this when I was younger but it also made me interested in the actual 1909 Seattle World Faire — which is a time in history that wasn’t explored all that much in the schools I’ve been to. Sometimes though, you just want queer joy at the Seattle World Faire.
Tagging…
I’ll be tagging you guys below! Or if you want to do it, then go ahead, I don’t care (just follow the rules above) and say that I’ve tagged you.
Title: Galatea Author: Madeline Miller Released: August 13, 2013th (Hardcover) Trigger Warnings: Abuse, forced abortion, imprisonment, misogyny, murder, rape, suicide Rating: ★★★★★ Note: This short story was initially finished on December 2022, but, in solidarity with the Harper Collins Union Strike, I did not post this until now.
Description: In ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece — the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen — the gift of life. After marrying her, he expects Galatea to please him, to be obedience and humility personified. But she has desires of her own and yearns for independence.
In a desperate bid by her obsessive husband to keep her under control, Galatea is locked away under the constant supervision of doctors and nurses. But with a daughter to rescue, she is determined to break free, whatever the cost…
Please keep in mind that this review contains spoilers for the entire book. Read with caution. If you click on “Read More”, it is under the assumption you either don’t care about spoilers or you’ve already read the book.
Title: The Song of Achilles Author: Madeline Miller Released: August 28, 2012 (Paperback) Series: N/A Rating: ★★★★★
Description: Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks”, son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods’ wrath.
They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes in Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
While the myth of Achilles and Patroclus is known in wider circles, this portion is cut for room. If you are not familiar with the myth, it’s best to read this book with blind eyes because I will go all out on this and talk about it in great detail, including the preconceptions I had about the myth, and everything in between. This isn’t necessarily a spoiler warning, but I’d proceed with caution nevertheless.
Astronomy Of My Dreams 