Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Song of Achilles

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Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

166 reviews

emmareese's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

i have so many thoughts but to sum it up, this is beautifully written and i adore it with my whole heart.

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imaginefishes's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad slow-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

4.5

i hated the beginning (

childhood trauma

)
i hated the end (

pyrrhus was a dick and i’m glad he was killed

)
this is the (almost) embodiment of a greek tragedy, and would have been so if not for

the completely idiotic way patroclus dies due to his own hubris against the gods

also thetis is annoying

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olliee's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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mollie05's review against another edition

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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

4.25

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khadijah3's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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avacate9's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-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

4.25

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valotriariley's review against another edition

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fast-paced

1.5

oh god where do i start-

https://imgur.com/a/yJLZCXh

first of all, i didnt cry. And i clearly don’t understand *why* there was a need to cry??

like okay fine, if you liked this book i won’t judge you for it because that’s your choice and your way of taking this book in.

but for me, I’m so very disappointed. Mainly, because this book is overhyped and makes you have so many expectations that after reading it’s basically ruined. It was so bland. There was no plot except that the godly prince and exiled prince cannot for the life of them live without each other and on top of it add a war so the book can go on (and it lasted for what? a decade?)

Occasionally, the fluff scenes were good. I smiled but honestly it lasted for less than 2 seconds due to the lack of character personalities and the realism. OKAY ITS FICTION I UNDERSTAND BUT WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE OBSESSION PATROCLUS AND ACHILLES HAVE WITH EACH OTHER. OK, i get it; Patroclus likes Achilles’ hair, his skin his whatever MAN I GET IT you don’t have to JUST like the physical appearance of someone. What about the PERSONALITY which may i add was non-existent. And Achilles’ turning into a selfish prick in the end leading to deaths of so many just because of his honour was my last string.

I did not see ANY change in personalities of both the main characters throughout the book. And the fact that the 9/12 year old them has *exactly* the same thinking + manner of speaking as the “adult” them *bangs her head in the wall* The dialogues were SO bland. I absolutely hated the misogyny, the “dull” plot and the undeveloped characters. There was literally no requirement of some characters in this book. God, why did i read this again?

https://imgur.com/a/534CHoS

There was no depth in their relationship. It wasn’t interesting, lacked any originality. It was so flat and the book was so so dragged. WHY DID THE AUTHOR WRITE IT-

I’m so disappointed CAN YOU HEAR ME?

I’m not saying don’t read the book but if you’re not into character driven, dull relationship books then this is not for you. Thank you, i still have more to say but I’m controlling it.🧍🏻‍♀️

https://imgur.com/a/XPCoRjA

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itszosia's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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danny_fox's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Hahahhahahahahahhaha, I still have a headache from crying, help me.

Ahem, anyway, uhhhh, imma just get to my review, doing it same as always, 3 things I liked and 3 I didn't. This one might be a bit messier, cause I'm still recovering from this book and I cannot think.

What I liked:

- The writing style is absolutely beautiful! I had so much fun reading this book, admiring the way it was written. I was so fascinated by the author's way of writing, the way she uses comparisons and describes things, absolutely beautiful.

- The story and the characters were really fun. All the characters had interesting personalities, they didn't feel flat and the author rewrote the story in a way that made the characters be actually likeable. Since, for example, Achilles was waaaay bigger of a douche in the original story, while here I actually really liked him. The story was really interesting, and I didn't feel like I was reading a book, I felt like I was going through a journey. Plus, despite it being about Greek mythology, I feel like even people who don't know anything at all about Greek mythology can still enjoy this book and understand everything. Everyone was introduced properly and explained so you know who they are and what is their deal.

- The e n d i n g. Oh my god, the e n d i n g.

I couldn't have asked for a better ending, actually, I couldn't even imagine a better and more fitting ending. It was the perfect amount of sad and happy, and I loved it so fucking much. I am always worried that I will be disappointed with endings of different stories, but this one was definitely not disappointing.

What I didn't like:

...

Nothing, I fucking loved everything. You have no idea how hard it was to find anything AT ALL that bothered me! But, since I always do my reviews for books the same way, I had to be EXTREMELY nitpicky just to find anything to write here. So yeah, 3 things (couldn't find any more even if I tried) that I didn't like. I feel bad for being this nitpicky..

- There was this one very specific scene that I really hated and made me highly uncomfortable.

It's the scene involving Deidameia and Patroclus, you probably know which one I mean.

While reading that... scene... I felt really uncomfortable and even sick from how it was described in such a gross way (although, I think that was intentional). I think the scene was supposed to be gross, and it was, so good job on that, but either way, I didn't enjoy feeling sick after reading that. Plus, that whole scene felt pointless, like it didn't need to even happen, since it was never brought up again later. Found it kinda... eh.

-

Achilles' heel wasn't a thing and that made me kinda sad. I know that in the original the whole heel thing wasn't a... well, a thing, but still, it's what Achilles is most known for and I felt kinda disappointed about the fact that his heel wasn't his weak spot. Also, the whole scene when he died left me kinda underwhelmed, I was kinda hoping for something more dramatic, I guess.

- I cried. And oh my God, did I cry. Nothing ever made me this sad, not any book or a movie or anything that I have read before. Day later, I still have a fucking headache. I almost started sobbing, man. Is it bad that the story made me cry? Well, no, cause that just means the writing was that good to make me really feel the emotions and get invested enough to the point that I had to shed tears. But then again, now I have to go to therapy after reading this, and therapies are quite expensive, so that's not a very good thing. And now I also have trust issues when it comes to books, if that makes sense.

Bonus thing that I liked:

APOLLOOOOO!!!! I know he was a bad guy in the this story, but man, so cool that he showed up, I was so fucking excited, since he is one of my favorite Greek gods. Also, this book make me fucking love Odysseus. Love Greek mythology.

Final thoughts:
This book is absolutely perfect. As I said, it was so hard to find something that I didn't like. I enjoyed every second of it and was so inspired by the story and Madeline's style of writing. She influenced my own writing too and I learned a lot from this book as a writer. I highly recommend it to anyone. LITERALLY A N Y O N E.

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c_dalton's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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