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luisamw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Das Ende war aber echt traurig und es hätte vermieden werden können 😩😢
Ich muss allerdings sagen, dass der schöne Schreibstil von Madeline Miller in der deutschen Übersetzung leider oft nicht so gut rüberkommt, manchmal schon, aber oft leider nicht 🙁
Aber trotzdem ein super Buch und ich werde es bestimmt nochmal lesen 😄
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Animal death, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Death of parent, Rape, Slavery, and Misogyny
sambo_0103's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: War, Slavery, Medical content, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Rape, Slavery, Alcohol, and Murder
acebooknerd_07's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Grief, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Animal death
fuzzywilson's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Abandonment, Cursing, Confinement, Blood, Classism, Death, Gore, Slavery, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death
ankiaisreading's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Rape, Toxic relationship, Death, Murder, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, War, Pregnancy, Outing, Kidnapping, Incest, Genocide, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content
Moderate: Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Death, Homophobia, Gore, Emotional abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Genocide, Child abuse, and Bullying
saskiajva's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The book was so well written and i devoured it quickly. The voice and writing style takes after the way old myths are written so it’s a bit more formal. The love story was beautiful and i still cried even knowing what the end held. Beautiful story
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Medical content, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Death, Classism, Sexual content, Blood, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Slavery, and War
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, and Adult/minor relationship
erebus53's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
I think the book is fun but not super deep. Knowing roughly how the story goes before I delved into the book, leaves me wondering if I can even mention some parts of it without it being spoilers - what is the common knowledge here? Is it ok to mention which characters die when? I mean, this is ancient history ... so all the characters are dead by now (except maybe the gods).
This telling is in the first person, from the point of view of Patroclus who is the dearest love of Achilles.
--pedant mode--
I feel like it's spelled incorrectly, surely that's a "k"? Wiki says conventionally it's Patroclus but from Pátroklos ... wow there's argument about how that ought to be pronounced so that is a rabbit hole - but now I feel mollified.. it isn't just me being finicky. OK, fine, I'm being finicky. While I'm finicking, I kept raising an eyebrow when the author refers to heroes being painted onto vases. My high school classics led me to believe that black figure vases came way after the Trojan War, and red figure vases even later than that, so references to those forms seems anachronistic.
--end pedant mode--
The reason the two men like each other seems completely arbitrary because the author doesn't build that much. Patroclus is a devoted lover and sees his god-boyfriend through rosy tinted glasses. I find it really amusing that some people find this sweet, and others are nauseated by his witless swooning.
As far as this narration of the audiobook is concerned, I find it really strange that the narrator doesn't alter his affect for voicing young people. I was about 5 minutes into a conversation before I was reminded that this was a conversation between young children rather than adults. I got the same sort of feeling when the character of Pyrrhus is introduced as a pubescent youth. I honestly think there should be some sort of primer for Audiobook narrators where they learn how words like wretched are said.
OK, I'm going there. This is the first book I have ever read in the first person where the narrator dies and keeps telling the story. At first I wondered what the heck was happening because he was clearly deceased and yet, still talking. After a while it became clearer that according to the Greek practices around the passing of the dead to the underworld, he had moved on out of his body, but was still kicking around watching the proceedings. OK fine.. I'll let you have it. It still felt more clumsy than it ought to have.
It was an easy read and coming to the end of it, the themes of social change, and how things are perceived by future generations, are aired more explicitly. The story is true to the Greek trope of sage council that is ignored. This account is subverting the idea that glory is something that one earns by war and murder, and is focused on the idea that a person can be remembered for more than their body-count. All in all, I don't think the book is elegant, but it is interesting.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Misogyny, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Animal death, Slavery, Murder, Animal cruelty, War, Sexism, Rape, Death, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Pregnancy and Vomit
twistykris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Child death, Outing, Rape, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcohol and Animal death
addienoah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
I finished this in a short period of time because I am a fast reader that frequently reads. But I considered this a slow read because of how long it felt. Each page you had to pay attention and digest. The language was something you also had to adjust to. In all this was a medium read.
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Outing, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Gore, Pregnancy, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Slavery, War, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, Torture, Hate crime, and Physical abuse
gabriella_'s review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
I have never read a love story convey so much closeness. Even the physical gap between their bodies must have been too much distance for them to bear.
The prose reads like poetry. The story was incredibly satisfying and kept my interest. I got teary-eyed a few times. This is a story where two characters dare to love in a world where marrying for love is an outlier.
Graphic: Sexism, Alcohol, Animal death, Pregnancy, Murder, Child death, Medical content, Torture, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Death, Grief, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, War, Blood, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Outing, and Violence