Circe by Madeline Miller - Novel Adventures May Book Club Review

Overview:

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.

With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.

My Review:

For the May Novel Adventures Book Club selection, we chose Circe by Madeline Miller.  It follows the story of Circe during her banishment from the house of Helios to a lonely island where she hones her skill as a witch.  

I have always loved Greek mythology and was excited to delve deeper into a character that I really didn't know much about.  I thought the author did a good job bringing Circe to life but I didn't like how oblivious she was to everything and everyone around her.  She is a god and lives in the palace where there is so much intrigue and back stabbing and she should have been more aware of her surroundings and wise to what was happening.  I understand she is just a nymph but it just didn't ring true to the surroundings she was in.

I liked the story but did not like the way in which it was told.  It was told in more of a memoir-style and I just do not like that.  Unfortunately, that seems to be the trend lately with books and while some may argue that it is artistic, I see it as a cop-out.  It's much easier to tell a story after the fact, rather than in the moment and letting the story unfold for the characters and readers at the same time.  I want to be involved in the action - not reading about it after everything has finished.  The preview said this had "page-turning suspense" but I just didn't get that vibe.  

All that being said, I enjoyed getting a different perspective from some of my favorite mythological characters like Odysseus and Daedalus but would like to have seen them be more than just a foot note.  

There was too much that happened and though the story spans a significant amount of time, there was so much happening that each incident was given just a few pages.  I would like to have seen this book broken down into a trilogy so that I could have had more time with each character. 

Overall, I didn't mind the book.  If it would have been told differently, I would have loved it.

Have you read this book?  Join the discussion below!

June selection:  The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

A Death in the Small Hours by Charles Finch

Overview:

Charles Lenox is at the pinnacle of his political career and is a delighted new father. His days of regularly investigating the crimes of Victorian London now some years behind him, he plans a trip to his uncle's estate, Somerset, in the expectation of a few calm weeks to write an important speech. When he arrives in the quiet village of Plumbley, however, what greets him is a series of strange vandalisms upon the local shops: broken windows, minor thefts, threatening scrawls.

Only when a far more serious crime is committed does he begin to understand the great stakes of those events, and the complex and sinister mind that is wreaking fear and suspicion in Plumbley. Now, with his protege, John Dallington, at his side, the race is on for Lenox to find the culprit before he strikes again. And this time his victim may be someone that Lenox loves. 

My Review:

It has been quite some time since I last read a book in the Charles Lenox Mystery series by Charles Finch.  I was so disappointed in the last one that I put down the series for several years before finally picking it up again to see if distance would improve my thoughts.  Unfortunately, it didn't.  

In this book, Charles has been chosen to give a key speech in front of Parliament but with all the interruptions from people telling him what to include, he decides to escape with Jane and their daughter Sophia to the country estate of his uncle where he can write and think in peace and solitude.  When he arrives, however, he learns there has been a series of incidents that he initially brushes off as just local boys playing pranks but when a police constable is murdered, Charles realizes there is more going on and decides to help solve the murder.

It sounded like an exciting plot but it was clumsily done and very easy to figure out early on what was happening.  That in itself wouldn't normally be enough to turn me off because I enjoy the escape that reading provides but I just can't get past the character issues.  Charles obviously misses being a detective and it's absolutely Jane's fault that he can't pursue his passion because she thinks it is beneath their station.  That makes her a very ugly person because she has known him from a very young age and knew that he loved detecting just to help those who are considered inferior and have no legal recourse of their own.  She married him anyway and then proceeded to take away the very thing that made him who he was.  He is plainly miserable and that really comes through the pages.  

I also don't like the way Charles acts so stupid over his daughter Sophia.  It's very unrealistic for that time period and while I could forgive that, he just goes way overboard with it.  

I also wish that Dallington was more involved.  I like him and want to see more of him.  Since Charles is no longer allowed to be a detective, perhaps Mr. Finch would continue the series with Dallington.  I want to read about murder mysteries in Victorian England - not about a main character who is clearly miserable with his Parliamentary career and over-the-top enthused about his child.  

I never like my reviews to be so totally negative.  There's usually something I like about every book I review and if not, I generally don't post about it.  That being said, I am seeing a trend that I don't like in the mystery genre and am having a really hard time finding books that are engaging, suspenseful, historically accurate, and worth my time.  

Have you read this series?  What did you think?  Am I being too harsh or not critical enough?  Let me know in the comments below.  Also, I am totally open to suggestions for other books to read.  

Lies That Comfort And Betray by Rosemary Simpson

Overview:

Heiress Prudence MacKenzie is a valuable partner to attorney Geoffrey Hunter, despite the fact that women are not admitted to the bar in nineteenth-century New York. And though their office is a comfortable distance from the violence of the city’s slums, the firm of Hunter and MacKenzie is about to come dangerously close to a high-profile killer across the pond . . .
 
Nora Kenny works in Prudence’s Fifth Avenue house, just as her mother once served Prudence’s mother. As children, they played freely together, before retreating into their respective social classes. Still, they remain fond of each other. So when Nora’s body is discovered in a local park, Prudence is devastated. As other poor, vulnerable young women fall victim, the police are confounded. Has the Ripper crossed the Atlantic to find a new hunting ground? Is someone copying his crimes? A former Pinkerton agent, Geoffrey intends to step in, and Prudence is equally determined. But a killer with a disordered mind and an incomprehensible motive may prove too elusive for even this experienced pair to outwit.

My Review:

This is the second book in the Gilded Age Mystery series by Rosemary Simpson and is quickly becoming one of my favorite series.  I was hesitant at first to start the series because I have never been a fan of historical novels set in the States for some reason.  I have always preferred a Georgian or Victorian England setting so this series being set in New York was a little outside my comfort zone but I am so glad I picked it up because I love it. 

In this book, we rejoin Prudence and Geoffrey as they try to track down the killer who murdered and mutilated Nora - a childhood friend of Prudence.  Before they can barely begin their investigation, another maid is murdered and cut up the same way.  Fear quickly spreads that the London Ripper has crossed the Atlantic and taken up his killing spree in New York.  When a third girl, this time a prostitute, is murdered an mutilated, Prudence and Geoffrey start to doubt they will ever catch the killer.

In this book, we didn't learn very much more about Geoffrey and that left me a little disappointed.  We definitely know a lot more about Prudence simply because the entire first book was about her so we already know her backstory so I was hoping for more about her partner.  Their secretary Josiah played a bigger role this time and I enjoyed that, although he is still rather mysterious and needs to be more fleshed out.

Geoffrey still isn't treating Prudence like an equal partner in the firm and I hope that changes.  He left her out of quite a bit of important things and while I know it's because he thinks she is still too fragile after the events in the first book, it was a little grating.  Again, I understand the time frame that the story takes place in and that women were not seen as capable and were denied entry to most occupations but Prudence isn't the typical woman of her day and I hope that Geoffrey comes around sooner rather than later.  Otherwise, it isn't going to be a successful partnership.

The pacing was good and the plot well thought out but I had a bit of an issue with the ending.  Not really in who the culprit was but how they ended up catching said person.  It didn't make sense and seemed very rushed.  That seems to be a common theme in a lot of books I'm reading lately.

Overall, I enjoyed the book.  I think it's still in the early stages and the characters are still trying to find their way but I will happily follow along while they sort things out.  I can't wait to see where it goes!

Stealing Ghosts by Lance Charnes

Overview:

Dorotea DeVillardi is ninety-one years old, gorgeous, and worth a fortune. Matt Friedrich’s going to steal her.

The Nazis seized Dorotea’s portrait from her Viennese family, then the Soviets stole it from the Nazis. Now it’s in the hands of a Russian oligarch. Dorotea’s corporate-CEO grandson played by the legal rules to get her portrait back, but he struck out. So he’s hired the DeWitt Agency to get it for him – and he doesn’t care how they do it.

Now Matt and Carson, his ex-cop partner, have to steal Dorotea’s portrait from a museum so nobody knows it’s gone, and somehow launder its history so the client doesn’t have to hide it forever. The client’s saddled them with a babysitter: Dorotea’s granddaughter Julie, who may have designs on Matt as well as the painting. As if this wasn’t hard enough, it looks like someone else is gunning for the same museum – and he may know more about Matt and Carson’s plans than he should.

Matt went to prison for the bad things he did at his L.A. art gallery. Now he has a chance to right an old wrong by doing a bad thing for the best of reasons. All he has to do is stay out of jail long enough to pull it off.

My Review:

This is the second book in the Dewitt Agency Files series.  I read and reviewed the first one for the Novel Adventures Book Club earlier this week so if you haven't seen that yet, make sure to check it out.  I enjoyed the first one but had some issues with the pacing and lack of details as far as back story goes.  This book explains the circumstances behind the incident which sent Matt to prison a few years ago but let me start at the beginning.

In this book, Matt is again hired by Allyson and paired with Carson to steal back the portrait of Dorotea DeVillardi which is hanging in a museum in England.  To complicate matters even further, Dorotea's granddaughter Julie has been sent by her cousin to watch over the proceedings.  

There was definitely character development in this book but I still found Matt to be fairly weak and Carson to be way too prickly.  We still don't know enough about her to understand her behavior, at least not to the extremes she seems to take things, and that leaves me frustrated.  I want to like her but it's hard.  

As with the first book, the pacing is a little off and there is just too much unnecessary detail about things like dinner. I also don't like that Matt always seems to hook up with the client.  I get that it's been a long time for him but I could do without the James Bond Romeo thing.  

The incident that sent Matt to prison was finally explained and I was glad to have closure on it because it helped explain a lot about Matt and why he is choosing to go into the art-stealing world.  It's not exactly a Robin Hood type theme because he is stealing the art to give it back to the rightful owners but the reader can certainly understand his motivation to do so now.

I do like the series but I hope it picks up the pace a bit.  I want to learn more about the characters and hope Matt grows a backbone soon.

Have you read this series?  What do you think so far?