Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

35 reviews

_pauline's review against another edition

adventurous sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

first of all, this book is GORY af

If you like greek mythology & don’t mind the content warnings, this might be for you. (ignore my review then, though)

The combination of war & romance was weird - I don’t need to read about how beautiful someone looks while killing people; neither did I want to read about 13 year olds forced to have sex (if that’s needed to accurately describe what that time was like, it could’ve at least been less detailed); same with animal killings, though ig that too is unavoidable considering the context

I didn’t love the pacing, character development & all the talk about feet etc?? Achilles got progressively more unlikeable (this really is a story about his irrational, insufferable pride), and I cared a lot more about Briseis. She was so right when she said

'You care more for him in death than in life […] Kill me. It will not bring him back. He was worth ten of you. Ten! And you sent him to his death!' […] He fought to save you, and your darling reputation.
Because he could not bear to see you suffer! […] You have never deserved him. I do not know why he ever loved you. You care only for yourself! […] I hope that Hector kills you.'

The breath rasps in his throat. 'Do you think I do not hope the same?' he asks

The last 100 pages were kind of page-turning & heartbreaking though and it got better and better until the very last page. Can’t say I always enjoyed reading this, but I don’t think it’s a bad book.
It didn’t live up to the hype in my opinion BUT tbf I never cared - or knew much - about greek mythology, nor am I a big fan of war novels or romance, so I really am the worst possible person to review this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Vomit, Misogyny, Child abuse, Grief, Animal cruelty, War, Death, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexual content

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Adult/minor relationship

caitlinspeachyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

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

2.5

I understand why there is such a hype around the genre of book but I struggled to connect with Achilles. Also the constant threat and statements of woman being SA’d really added to made the struggle to enjoy this. 

Loved seeing a LGBT+ story being so well regarded. Wish I liked it more! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexism, Animal death, Medical content, Gore, Child death, Blood, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic relationship

hamstringy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

It is hard to write a book like this. Miller writes a tragedy with a clear and incisive voice, one that makes room for the joy and horror of a life under gods. Made me cry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Animal death, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Pandemic/Epidemic, and War

Moderate: Rape

anmane's review

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

The book was well written in terms of language and pacing, but the subject matter - by this I mean the war, not the romance - was hard for me to stomach. The focus is on the male characters, as it is in the source material, and how women, children or indeed all humans are treated is not sugarcoated. Also, because of the subject matter, there is a lot of violence, gore and cruelty. I also hated Achilles as a character, which made the motivation of Patroclus' actions hard to understand. Will not read again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Torture, Trafficking, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Pregnancy

mconroy9137's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Violence, War, Sexual harassment, and Rape

Moderate: Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Torture, Classism, Deportation, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Confinement, Homophobia, Vomit, Abandonment, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Cursing

a_novi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was an interesting take on some Greek mythology. I read it because of a blind recommendation and I will say it is not family friendly, it not only has quite a bit of in depth death and injury descriptions but also some sex scenes. Over all the battles and challenges along with the characters were interesting and the sex scenes were not too forced, detailed or cringey so overall I still found it pretty tasteful and enjoyable. But it is definitely not any story of Achilles one may be expecting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Child death, Murder, Slavery, War, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Gore, and Sexual violence

codapril's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-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

4.75

This was the first book I've read in a non-academic setting in a VERY long time, and I couldn't have picked a better book to get me back into reading again. I had been wanting to read more for a long time now, but worried I would struggle with finding a genre I liked, or that I would lose interest in a book and never pick it up again. Suffice it to say, I had no issued with this book and it reignited my love for reading and makes me excited to continue reading. This story was moderately slow, but slow does not mean lacking intrigue. The slowness is important in discerning characters, places, and events that all become very relevant later in the book. The friendship, love, and compassion presented in this story is truly beautiful, and brought me strong emotions at times. I'm very excited to read other stories from this author. From a very new reader I highly suggest this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, and Slavery

frihedferrero's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Murder, Slavery, and War

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual assault, and Medical content

Minor: Animal death

valentinayippy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, and Rape

z24's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

2.0

This book has me very separated. I always liked the story of Achilles and perhaps that is the problem. The author changed the story in some key factors, and imo took away a lot from what makes this story great. The writing on the other hand is quite enchanting and beautiful.
Leaving out some parts (like rape

Patroclus saving Brisis instead of raping her, made a cute story-line

) is an understandable decision and makes the novel a lot easier to read. But to change the main character to a weak guy, when the fact that Patroclus and Achilles very equally talented, makes it.. quite homophobic. It even is mentioned in the book that the Greeks weren't accepting of homosexual relationships. Only in specific instances, but to have a couple that defies those rules, that is what made the whole story so iconic. Pushing them back into this heteronomative characteristics, takes that away.
There is the option of looking at Patroclus story-line and trying to interpret it in a way, that says "there's other ways to be great than physical strength" but to be honest it still feels like a slap in the face to one of the veeery few storys that portray a different, not-so-stereotypical gay relationship.
Additionally, looking at the way the book is talked about on social media, lets it seem a lot like a fetishisation fan fiction of a gay couple.
Edit: While some parts were left out, other rather unnecessary and misoginistic parts were added (example:

Deidameira raping both main characters

). Also I forgot to mention the Bi-erasure, considering both main characters were considered bisexual in the original text and are almost repulsed by woman in this version.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, Death, Homophobia, War, and Rape

Moderate: Biphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Medical content