Ali Smith’s ‘Girl Meets Boy’

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I will start this review with a slight disclaimer: I ADORE Ali Smith and she is one of my all time favourite authors. This isn’t indicative of my own enjoyment (which was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!!) but how I felt it read as a text and how much I would recommend it to others. On to the review!

I greatly enjoyed Smith’s modern take on Ovid’s myth of Iphis as a discursive discussion on gender. She tackles homophobia and corporate politics amidst her typical humour interwoven with a lovely narrative of love in a small Scottish town. Her use of parentheses and flashbacks result in an immersive experience that we expect from Smith; her portrayal of Robin, or Iphisol, is gripping and likeable. While the protagonist, Anthea, could have been written as unlikeable and stringent, she is the opposite, and acts as a gateway into Smith’s discussion of fluidity in love and gender, echoed in the ‘Pure’ water company she works for.

However: her beautiful prose can be seen as somewhat inaccessible to a casual reader, which is one of the only reasons why this novel loses one and a half stars. The other, as I tend to find with Smith’s works, is that I am left wanting more than its 161 pages. The eccentric grandparents who open and close the novel, who sail off to sea and never return, act as a framework rather than beloved characters they could grow to be.

Nevertheless, Smith’s characters are fallible and loveable, and combined with her poetic voice, Girl meets boy is a beautiful retelling that perhaps could benefit from more context. But then, arguably, it wouldn’t be an Ali Smith novel – short but sweet, with an important message and immersive prose.

A book review of Girl meets boy by Ali Smith.

Madeline Miller’s ‘Circe’

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This was a really enjoyable read and almost impossible to put down. The eponymous Circe manages to learn and evolve throughout the novel, despite being immortal. She is powerful, individualistic, and her struggles with her family frame the character and the narrative nicely. While not always a necessarily sympathetic protagonist, Miller does well in portraying her monologue and making her feel known to the reader.

However, some of the characters fall flat and 2D in comparison. I found Odysseus, despite being the primary love interest and, indeed, the reason why the myth of Circe is well known, unlikeable and ultimately rushed as a character. As it is only a small part of the novel, however, it is easy to overlook in light in the wonderful portrayal of his wife and son.

Overall, Circe is a lovely feminist retelling with some beautiful prose, and Circe’s to-the-point narration will stay with me for a long time. It’s a must-read for any Greek mythology fan who can discover the Easter eggs within the text but also discover new twists and turns to the myths we know.

A book review of Circe by Madeline Miller.