“You cannot know how frightened gods are of pain. There is nothing more foreign to them, and so nothing they ache more deeply to see.”

Circe is a story of fierce strength, loneliness, rejection, a mother’s love and a woman who fought against the bullies around her and succeeded, all of this is tied into the Greek myths, we meet some of the gods and goddesses but my favourite parts were with Circe when she was on her island, fighting to keep her child safe and standing up to the people who had tried to belittle her.

“For a hundred generations, I had walked the world drowsy and dull, idle and at my ease. I left no prints, I did no deeds. Even those who had loved me a little did not care to stay. Then I learned that I could bend the world to my will, as a bow is bent for an arrow.”

I was so excited when Circe found out she is a witch. She had been scorned and bullied her whole life and now she had power and a purpose. I love the style of writing, it’s almost poetic, that’s why I have so many favourite quotes!

“In a solitary life there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours, as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me.”

Circe is fierce and powerful but she still has compassion. She cares about her animals and the mortals she endangered by creating a monster. But when Circe was attacked by some sailors she started murdering all the horrible men that invaded her island, honestly what a mood.

“Humbling women seems to me a chief pastime of poets. As if there can be no story unless we crawl and weep.”

I love how the book shows that just because you’re alone doesn’t mean you have to be lonely. I prefer my own company a lot of the time, and when Circe is at peace on her island so does she, she has her pet lions and it suits her well. But because Circe is immortal she faces an eternity alone which I’m not sure I could cope with!

“The air would smell like buttery olives and iron. I would speak her name and the sky would glow bright as polished silver.”

I was very emotional at the end, I loved everything about this book, I highly recommend it, you don’t have to know about Greek myths to enjoy it.

“I thought once that gods are the opposite of death, but I see now they are more dead than anything, for they are unchanging, and can hold nothing in their hands.”