Circe

Circe by Madeline Miller is about the world's most famous witch. I can't remember when I felt so much compassion for a character. Those gods are horrible parents and siblings and friends. Olympus is not a place you'd want to grow up. Or live.

Circe isn't nice either, turning her rival nymph into the monster Scylla, and changing intruders on her island into pigs. Yet there is something about Circe that is vulnerable, seeking for affection and yet constantly being rejected and scorned.

This is a blockbuster of an adventure, and it has shining elements of romance and drama and humor. Don't think you will know where this story is going either, although it's firmly grounded in mythology, just because you have read a bit about these characters; Miller delights in sending the reader down some unexpected pathways.

I've heard Madeline Miller's Song of Achilles is even better than Circe. I definitely need to find that book soon.