The Brown Review

Author : Madeline Miller  Rating: 4.5/5  Recommend : I would recommend all of Madeline Miller’s mesmerizing retelling of heroes and gods, in a heartbeat. Circe is no different – it is a novel which you will read time and time again, will take strength in and seek lessons from, and will remain in your memory for generations more to come.  Circe is the tale of a woman. A woman, who from the minute she was born, was cast aside by both mother and father, deemed unworthy, plain and insignificant. Circe was a goddess, born from the blood of the sun titan himself – but, goddess or no are not all us women like her? Considered by society only for our beauty, little in much else, who men see fit to do as they will, treat as they will, just another object for them to take as they will… Circe is every woman in the world who has had to face the ugliness of men and society and fight them all alone.  Circe, as mortals imagine her As with The Song O...

The genius, the author, the hero: Rick Riordan “Someone on Instagram asked what Percy Jackson fans are called. I believe the correct term is ‘long-suffering.’” – Rick Riordan Truer words have never been said. The man who spoke this quote has made us laugh: he made us laugh to the point where we spew the drink from our mouths, till tears of joy stream down our eyes, till we’re so distracted from reality, that the sudden calling of someone asking why we’re laughing seems to break a spell in which we were under. This man also left us gasping in shock, screaming after a huge 360 degree plot twist, crying in grief at the death of yet another beloved character, and so much more just in the span of a few short chapters. Rick Riordan has indeed left us long-suffering. Without further ado, here are the five things we love about the man, so deservingly titled ‘the storyteller of the gods”. 1. He makes the best cliffhangers Now, now, you may be thinking what is there to l...

Author : Madeline Miller  Rating: 5/5  Recommend: Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. This book will sweep you of your feet, rob you of your sleep, make you smile, cry, and hate and will put you under its spell till all you can see when you close your eyes is Achilles.  I shiver as I write this, the piercing, tragic story of innocence, love, heroes and a war still fresh in my mind. Throughout history, there have been men who were handsome, and men who were brave, men who sacrificed themselves, and men who destroyed even kingdoms with their madness. In her debut novel, Madeline Miller has managed to capture the stories of two of the greatest men in history: Achilles and Patroclus, friends, companions and lovers till the end.  Achilles as I imagine him Told in vivid, moving terms this book will transport you into a world unlike anything you have ever experienced before. It tells the story in Patroclus’ point of view, from the mome...

Third book in the Trials of Apollo series. Keep tissues. Author: Rick Riordan Rating: 4.5/5 Recommend: Fans of the Percy Jackson, and the Heroes of Olympus series will love (and curse) this book. It is the best release yet in The Trials of Apollo series and features the return of previous characters like Grover and Piper, and also has in store some major heartache. Keep your Kleenex ready; you’ve been warned. Apollo, the most gorgeous and glorious Greek God (his words, not mine) of music, poetry, archery and a ton of other things has been punished to live on Earth as an awkward, acne-ridden teenager in the name of Lester Papadopoulus (that’s what happens when you anger Zeus). Bound into service by demigod Meg McCaffrey the two of them set out on a quest to free Apollo’s seven oracles that have gone dark. In the third book, Apollo is going through his third trial, to free the Oracle Herophile; Herophile is bound in chains by the evil sorceress Medea in th...