Books like Circe
by Madeline Miller ยท 2018
Updated June 2026
Book data: Open Library ยท Taste signals: BookTaste model
๐ฟ Circe by Madeline Miller is a lush, feminist retelling of the Greek myth of Circe โ the daughter of the sun god Helios who discovers her power as a witch and carves out her own fate on the island of Aeaea. Fans are spellbound by its gorgeous, incantatory prose, its intimate portrait of a woman learning to claim her power, and the way it makes ancient myth feel achingly personal. It's quiet and fierce at once โ a book about loneliness, transformation, and what it means to choose yourself when the gods have already decided who you are.
Picked by taste overlap โ not popularity alone.
What to read next
The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller ยท 2011
๐ฟ Mythic Retellings๐ Literary Prose๐ฟ From the same author and the same ancient Greek world, The Song of Achilles is the heartbreaking love story of Patroclus and Achilles โ sharing Circe's lyrical prose, mythic gravitas, and deeply human emotional core.
- Matches
- same author, same mythic world ยท luminous literary prose ยท emotionally devastating character study
- Differs
- male narrator and central romance ยท focused on war and glory ยท more tragic, less triumphant
- Skip if
- You want a female protagonist reclaiming power; this is about devoted love and loss on the battlefield.
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โโโ strong ยท โโโ medium ยท โโโ light ยท โโโ none
Solid = this book ยท dashed = Circe
A Memory Called Empire
Arkady Martine ยท 2019
๐ฎ Female Power๐ Literary Proseโจ Though set in space, this Hugo-winner shares Circe's core of an outsider woman navigating a beautiful, dangerous empire with her wits alone โ the prose is equally gorgeous and the political stakes feel just as personal.
- Matches
- outsider woman finding her agency ยท lush, deliberate literary prose ยท identity and belonging as central themes
- Differs
- science fiction, not fantasy or myth ยท no magic, no gods ยท embassy intrigue rather than island isolation
- Skip if
- You're specifically here for Greek myth, magic, or ancient settings โ this is sci-fi diplomacy in space.
Solid = this book ยท dashed = Circe
Goes deeper
The Once and Future Witches
Alix E. Harrow ยท 2020
๐ฎ Female Power๐ Literary Prose๐ฎ Three sisters rediscover lost women's magic in 19th-century America โ a fiercely feminist story about reclaiming power that captures the same spirit of women refusing the roles history assigned them, wrapped in rich, incantatory prose.
- Matches
- women reclaiming forbidden power ยท lyrical, spell-like prose ยท sisterhood and chosen family
- Differs
- three protagonists, not one lone woman ยท historical America, not ancient Greece ยท more political, less mythological
- Skip if
- You want a single POV or Greek/classical mythology; this is an ensemble set in the suffragette era.
Solid = this book ยท dashed = Circe
Not similar books. Similar taste.
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Add books you've read; BookTaste builds your taste radar and recommends from it.
Taste radar โ read from the themes shared across Circe and the picks below
Strongest taste signals: ๐ฟ Mythic Retellings ยท ๐ฎ Female Power ยท ๐ Literary Prose
How taste signals are generated
BookTaste's model reads the themes, moods, settings, and reader hooks of the base book, then scores every pick across those same axes โ what overlaps, what diverges. Ordered by taste fit, not by popularity.
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke ยท 2020
๐ Literary Prose๐ Magic Systems๐๏ธ Piranesi wraps you in an eerily beautiful, labyrinthine world that feels mythic and otherworldly โ it shares Circe's atmosphere of isolation, mystery, and a protagonist slowly uncovering who they really are.
- Matches
- haunting atmosphere of myth and magic ยท deeply literary, precise prose ยท protagonist discovering their true identity
- Differs
- no Greek mythology or female protagonist ยท mystery structure with puzzle-solving ยท much shorter, more compressed
- Skip if
- You need a strong female lead or explicit mythology; the protagonist is male and the setting is entirely invented.
Solid = this book ยท dashed = Circe
Mythos
Stephen Fry ยท 2017
๐ฟ Mythic Retellings๐ฟ Mythos retells the full sweep of Greek mythology with warmth, wit, and deep affection for the source material โ the perfect companion for readers who fell in love with the world Circe inhabits and want more of it.
- Matches
- Greek mythology as the entire subject ยท accessible yet rich in classical detail ยท gods and mortals on equal footing
- Differs
- non-fiction narrative, not a novel ยท no single protagonist to follow ยท comedic and light, not emotionally intense
- Skip if
- You want a plot-driven novel with a protagonist to root for; this is a retelling of myths, not a story with a heroine's arc.
Solid = this book ยท dashed = Circe
The Witch's Heart
Genevieve Gornichec ยท 2021
๐ฟ Mythic Retellings๐ฎ Female Power๐ฎ Angrboda โ Loki's witch lover cast out by Odin โ rebuilds herself in a Norse forest in this quiet, devastating myth retelling that mirrors Circe's lonely, powerful woman standing apart from the gods who fear her.
- Matches
- exiled witch on the margins of mythology ยท feminist retellings of ancient myth ยท intimate and melancholic emotional tone
- Differs
- Norse mythology, not Greek ยท slower paced, more muted romance ยท less triumphant, more resigned and sorrowful
- Skip if
- You want Greek myth specifically or a more action-forward plot; this is introspective and very slow-burn.
Solid = this book ยท dashed = Circe
Frequently asked
- Is Circe part of a series or does it stand alone?
- Circe is a complete standalone novel โ no sequels, no cliffhangers. Madeline Miller's other book, The Song of Achilles, is set in the same Greek mythological world but follows entirely different characters, so you can read either one in any order.
- What should I read if I loved the feminist angle in Circe?
- ๐ฎ Lean into The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (women reclaiming forbidden magic in 19th-century America) or The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec (a Norse mythology parallel about an exiled witch). Both share Circe's core anger and tenderness about women written out of their own stories.
- Are there more books that retell Greek mythology this well?
- Yes โ Madeline Miller's own The Song of Achilles is the obvious first stop. For a broader sweep of the myths themselves, Stephen Fry's Mythos is warm and witty. Pat Barker's The Silence of the Girls gives Briseis's perspective on the Trojan War with equally unflinching prose.
- Does Circe have a lot of romance or is it more of a character study?
- Mostly a character study โ Circe has several significant relationships with men (including Odysseus), but romance is never the point. The heart of the book is one woman's long, hard journey toward self-knowledge and power. If you want that same literary quality with romance more central, The Song of Achilles will satisfy more.
Book data and covers from Open Library. Picks and taste signals are generated by BookTaste's taste model.