Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

878 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

mills33's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, War, Death, Blood, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Kidnapping

valerian_honeybee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Death, War, Blood, Homophobia, Grief, Sexism, Rape, Ableism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content

davbat's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-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

5.0

Extremely tragic, even more than you'd expect going into it with knowledge of the story. Time after time, Miller shows you what could have been if not for fate/pride/war. Extremely tragic doomed romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Child abuse, Child death, and Rape

Moderate: Homophobia, Grief, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Self harm, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Slavery, Death, Animal death, and Outing

Minor: Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, and Cannibalism

Rape and murder are just as common as in the original myth but without any of the euphemism

beebowbabe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, War, and Violence

Moderate: Rape and Homophobia

Minor: Pregnancy

grace_cr1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Body horror, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, War, Animal death, and Sexual assault

rcroft's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Blood, Death, Murder, Child death, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gore, and War

kastoria's review against another edition

emotional slow-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

I had to put this book down and walk away. Not because it wasn't enjoyable but because I was going into my seasonal depression and couldn't handle it getting upsetting. I had to resume it in the springtime and it consumed me. I still think about it but don't think I'll ever be able to bring myself to re-read this masterpiece.

Absolutely devastatingly beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Grief, Death, Slavery, Sexual content, Violence, War, and Torture

ivana's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Blood, Violence, Murder, Rape, and War

Moderate: Sexual content

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