December was a very busy month for me, so I didn’t get much reading in. But I ended up reading some really high-quality books, even though I had so many other projects running side by side. 

I read The Song Of Achilles (also by Madeline Miller) about a year ago and really enjoyed it. I picked up Circe at my school’s library and I have to say it felt quite different from reading The Song of Achilles!

While TSOA focused on the peril and the adventures of Achilles and Patroclus, and had romance and cute scenes (and other sadder, more heavy scenes) that made reading it a rollercoaster of emotion, Circe was calmer and more internally focused. 

Circe is a nymph, the daughter of Helios, the Titan of the sun, and Perse, an oceanid, which is an ocean nymph and a child of the Titan of the sea, Oceanus. From the day she was born, she was not necessarily outcast, but ignored, or left aside. She wasn’t as unearthly beautiful as most nymphs are (at least, according to her family) and didn’t have the booming godly voice that the others in her family had. She had the voice of a mortal.

Because she was more like a mortal than her family, no one really had any high expectations for her, which meant she could get away with more things. For example, she was kind to the Titan Prometheus (if you need a reminder who he is, he’s the guy who brought fire to the humans and was punished for it). When Prometheus was tied up and bleeding, she talked to him, brought him food and water. 

After a long series of events in which the treatment from her family inspires her to turn to witchcraft, she decides to use it on another nymph, Scylla, who ends up turning into the man-eating, ship-destroying sea monster we now know her as. The gods and Titans, afraid of her new power, exile her to the island of Aiaia, where most of her story takes place. One of the most iconic and well-known stories involving Circe is when Odysseus, the hero from the Trojan War, comes and stays with her for a year.  

Circe’s story is one of love and family and isolation, but has also become a bit of a feminist story as well. Circe manages to make a life of success and prosperity on her island, with her skills and her determination to not let the gods’ exile bring her down. 

I rate this book a four out of five stars. I have always loved Greek Mythology, and it was incredible to see the references to other stories and hear the names of old such as grey-eyed Athena or talks of the famous Paris and Helen of Troy. I’ll admit the majority of my Greek Myth knowledge comes from Percy Jackson, but nonetheless it helped me truly connect with the world. 

The reason it’s a four and not a five stars is because even though it was great, I found it to be quite slow-paced in the beginning, and even though it sped up and became intriguing later, I found it hard to get attached to the characters, and there was a lot more internal monologuing than I expected. 

I would definitely recommend this book to any fans of Madeline Miller’s other book, or any Greek Mythology fans in general. And even if you don’t understand Greek Myth, this book is still understandable and enjoyable. Circe is a wonderful, kind but stubborn, generous but proud, well-rounded character whose story deserves to be heard.

Where do I even begin with this book? It’s absolutely incredible. I have to consult a thesaurus to find the words to describe this literary masterpiece. Stunning. Extraordinary. Fabulous. 

Red, White, and Royal Blue is from the point of view of Alex Claremont-Diaz, a Mexican-American First Son of the United States. To my non-American readers, this means that one of his parents (in this case, his mother, Ellen Claremont) is the president of the United States of America. Another very important key character is Henry Wales, the prince of the United Kingdom.

These two characters live two very different, yet very similar lives. While one is a more extroverted, confident, fun-loving American, the other is a quieter, less rebellious, British royal. Yet both have a media presence as they are both at the heart of their respective countries’ political situations and systems. Both have to be careful so as not to ruin their reputations online or in real life, knowing there is media coverage pretty much everywhere they go out in public. 

Did I mention they both hate each other?

Since the 2016 Rio Olympics, Alex and Henry have hated each other. Alex thinks that Henry has been snobby to him and that leads to him being snobby back… it’s been four years and they still do not have the best opinion of one another, however polite they have to act on international television to keep the allyship and friendliness between countries alive. 

But an unexpected event forces them to pretend to be best friends in the public’s eyes. At first, it was only supposed to be for a little while, but it doesn’t take long for them to realise this has to last essentially forever.

The more they hang out and the more they get to learn about each other, the more it becomes less and less platonic… secrets are everywhere, whether revealed or kept behind doors. No, I will not specify which type of doors but I think we can all guess at this point. 

I absolutely LOVED this book. It’s quickly become one of my favourite standalones of all time. Casey McQuiston, you are a genius with words! 

I would recommend this to anyone in high school. It’s definitely a more mature book in both language and content but it’s nonetheless a freaking amazing book that I will treasure for the rest of my days. The amount of times I squealed, laughed, and fangirled over that book cannot be counted on both my hands! 

Five star read. Easiest rating of my life. 

This book follows the story of Melora ‘Lore’ Perseous, who is a descendant of the great hero Perseus. In this book, there are family trees where people are descendants of heroes and have a specific god that they honour from Greek Mythology. 

Every seven years, the Agon is an event where people can hunt gods and gain their powers and immortality for the next seven years. For example, this time the new Ares has named himself Wrath, and plans to end the Agon, keeping his powers forever. But that’s not all. With the help of a specific ancient poem that only Lore knows and has access to because of her bloodline, Wrath will not only be able to end the Agon, but will be able to gain ultimate power and be the only god left.

The story begins with a bang as Lore, after a wrestling match, finds someone she thought was long dead, as well as finds the goddess Athena broken and bleeding in an alleyway of her neighbourhood near Harlem, New York City. Lore has been using wrestling as an escape from the world of gods and danger. Lore is hiding from all this because one of the members of another bloodline killed her family when she was young, and now she would rather do anything else than reclaim her birthright as the last Perseide (descendant of Perseus). But when Wrath begins the search for the poem in order to gain this unlimited power and be the sole god left, Lore has no choice but to team up with Athena, her friend Miles, her long-thought-dead friend Castor who has taken the powers of Apollo, and Castor’s cousin Evander (or Van, for short). 

I will give this book three-and-a-half stars. I didn’t find it exciting enough to be given a four, but it’s not bad as a premise and there were even some interesting scenes and some perilous moments. The twists that I didn’t see coming didn’t seem to hit as hard as I thought they would, and there were almost too many characters with too much happening. 

But in the end it turned out well and I can definitely see the appeal of this book as a next step after reading Rick Riordan’s works (it has mild language to watch for as well).

So my final rankings for December (and my last ranking of 2022!):

1. Red, White, and Royal Blue – Casey McQuiston (5/5 stars!)
2. Circe – Madeline Miller (4/5 stars!)
3. Lore – Alexandra Bracken (3.5/5 stars!)

This post, however, is not only about my book reviews. Since we are going into a new year, I want to talk a bit about my plans for the new year. 

I have the next four blog posts planned (not drafted just yet) and they are going to be once a week. I want to try to get 50+ posts this year (one a week, if I can). 

I want to try to get my novel published (so stay tuned for that!).

I want to get myself verified on Instagram (is that even possible in a year? Let’s see! Also follow me @catherinekwrites if you haven’t yet!). 

I have lots more plans that I hope will come to fruition in 2023, but for now, these are all the spoilers you get!

Thanks for reading! Subscribe so you can see future posts as they come out, and leave a comment and tell me your literary plans for the year, or any other New Year’s Resolutions that you may have (if you feel so inclined).

Life is a story. How will you write yours?

Until next time,

Catherine Khaperska