4 stars. This is a quick read. A funny but angry book that makes you hate capitalism, society, and possibly even the human psyche. It made me upset and I liked it so that’s saying something. The ending however, left a lot to be desired. I don’t say that because it isn’t a “perfect” ending but simply because it lacked punch compared to the rest of the text.

Absolutely stunning. I got lucky just finding this by chance at a used book store and buying it since I thought the cover was gorgeous. Well little did I know what I was about to discover. These poems are amazing. They’re surreal, vivid, and unusual. Tired of the same, drab romance poems or shock-value based “edgy” poetry? Try this- it’s artful, unique and leaves an impression. The poem about Laika (the soviet space dog) really affected me. What I will say is that these aren’t for people with a meager vocabulary. People who have trouble with English might not find these poems accessible as the word choice is quite advanced. Really that’s the only issue. These poems are amazing and instantly became some of my favorites. Highly recommend.

This book was decent but not as good as I’d hoped based on what I’d heard. Certain elements, such as the Scylla myth, I really enjoyed while other additions fell flat. The language is beautiful but the text is waaaaay longer than it needs to be and includes characters that often do little to move the “plot” forward at all ie some gods and heroes just feel like cameos. The ending (as in the last few sentences) was gorgeous but the journey there was too long and contained too many diversions and on the whole Circe as a character felt a little distant and even boring at times. Still worth a read though.

Excellent resource. A little outdated in focusing on women but not directly/ thoroughly addressing intersex individuals or transwomen but the book came out around 1984 so it isn’t terribly surprising.