Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

626 reviews

kathrynleereads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I’m not going to lie… this book was a chore for me. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was that I didn’t like, but every time I put it down, I felt absolutely no desire to pick it back up again. 

Song of Achilles is one I had such high hopes for after hearing so many amazing things about it, but I just didn’t feel drawn into the story. 

With every multi-year time jump, I felt as if I had whiplash. If I’m adding correctly the book spanned a total of 18 years (ages 9 to 27 for Patroclus), which was just too wide a time frame. 

Because of the time jumps, Achilles’ character development felt spotty and incomplete. Patroclus, on the other hand, seemed to go through all of his character growth within the final few chapters, which was just as jarring. 

Speaking of the final few chapters…

I’ll admit, I did shed quite a few tears at the end of the book, but that’s only because of the characters’ reactions to everything that unfolded. 

I didn’t even fully follow what happened to Patroclus until Menelaus carried him back into camp, at which point I went back and reread the prior chapter. 

One second Patroclus was in the chariot, and the next he was at the wall of Troy, being surrounded by the Trojan army. 

I understand that Miller was demonstrating the draw of power in the scene, but it was so out of character for Patroclus that it took me right out of the story.

The only aspect of this book I have no complaints about is Briseis. Her character helped demonstrate the severity of war atrocities, while also helping mark time.

Briseis’ friendship with Patroclus was the only thing that kept me reading this book. 

She was so kind and understanding, even after the horrors that she had gone through (and was yet to go through) because of the war. 

All in all, I think this book was just not for me. Reading other reviews for The Song of Achilles, I recognize all the aspects that are being applauded, I just think Miller’s writing style was not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death and Bullying

bean_7088's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Story of Achilles, but poverty his gay lover.

This was a slog to get through for me for some reason... I had to restart it 3x. And go over things again and again. Not that I didn't like or enjoy it, I think my head space was just bad. 

I did notice that the physical/affection scenes written between the main guy and the women in his life were very sweet and soft... and not enough of that between him and Achilles. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Slavery

It's the Greeks yall!

stellastallion's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death and Sexual violence

redefiningrachel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy

sirenricobooks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Medical content, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

_al's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to give this book 3.5/75 out of 5 but it was nice distraction from hard stuff and I very enjoyed the writing, so I'm boosting it up to 4. 

Writing was main thing of this book for me. Madeline Miller's prose is so captivating and smooth, I'm amazed each time I opened the book. But I wanted more from  Patroclus. I understand what she's trying to do, but I don't think she was very successful with his character. For me he felt mostly lacking and I wanted to feel him even if we dont witness his legend. Patroclus has such interesting stuff going on but just a bit more of..basically everything would be so good. 

I enjoyed Achilles but as much I enjoyed reading about him and him giving into his pride – which was fascinating to read – it felt awkward in places and also kinda lacking. 

But overall, I enjoyed it – i had fun, characters were interesting to follow, and it resurrected my love for mythology and give me interest to ancient history. Maybe reread it when i need the distraction with feelings. And definitely will check out Circe in near future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

eib_21's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence, Violence, and War

vnfhcxksiw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cestnicka's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a great book! I thought it was well written and captivating and a great retelling of homers Iliad in a way that is accessible to all readers! This is a debut novel from Madeline miller and it was obvious she had a background in Greek mythology and had put a lot of work into this book. 

This is the retelling of the story of Achilles, a great Greek warrior who is in love with the exiled prince Patroclus. It follows their journey from childhood friends to adulthood and the song of Achilles is a story of love, friendship, and heartbreak. 

I really enjoyed the focus on the two characters and appreciated that she didn't shy away from the homosexuality of Patroclus and Achilles. The characters were really well written and I felt so connected to them throughout the novel. 

I really enjoyed learning about Ancient Greece through this novel. It was very interesting to learn about some of the mythology. 

I did find at times with so many characters getting a bit lost, and that made the book feel a bit long and pulled me away from the story. Otherwise this was a great book and I enjoyed the read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War

Minor: Sexual violence

Lgbtqia

onmym_ark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Grief, and Gaslighting