Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

La canzone di Achille by Madeline Miller

88 reviews

lucia5678's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring relaxing sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Blood, Sexual harassment, Rape, Racism, and Suicide

ricardo_reads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I would like to preface stating that I am a voracious reader; I have read since I was a toddler and it is still a pastime that I take true delight in. Naturally, this lead to me having read thousands of stories by hundreds of authors. Because of this, I can confidently say that The Song of Achilles, is truly a masterpiece, making it my second favorite story of all time (first being William Shakespeare's Macbeth).

I first learned of The Song of Achilles through online comments remarking how great of a story it was; how its romance between Achilles & Patroclus was nothing but genuine and pure. This was enough to convince me to at least read this once because I am always looking for well-written same-sex romance in literature. However, The Song of Achilles was so, so much more than a great love between two men: it was a story of passion, pride, humanity, and tragedy.

I would like to congratulate Madeline Miller for creating an unforgettable story; her writing truly blew away all my expectations for a debut novel. Her prudent choice in making Patroclus the main narrator of the story allowed it to truly flourish. Miller's careful weaving of world-building, meticulous attention to detailing Patroclus' thoughts, emotions, motivations, desire allows her audience to understand Patroclus inside and out. By connecting the reader with Patroclus, it allows us to understand why Patroclus would fall in love with Achilles because we too fall in love with him as well.

But like the reputation that precedes it, the relationship between Achilles & Patroclus is what makes The Song of Achilles stand out. At the beginning, Patroclus holds a mild dislike for Achilles because he is mistrusting of his simple-mindedness. However, this distrust evolves into affection for that simple-mindedness because it allows for Patroclus to experience something that he never had before: comfort and security. From there, the two boys begin a friendship with each other taking delight in the other's differences. And from this, natural moments that come with a strong friendship begin to come off more romantic. Both are afraid, but both decide to take the risk of love, and what ensued was their love affair growing stronger each passing day. The process is slow, but that is what makes this love between the two men so believable. It truly does sound like two friends slowly falling in love.

But of course, every human is subject to faults, even Achilles. Aside from the undeniable love between Achilles & Patroclus, hubris is what makes this story noteworthy. Achilles hubris is his pride: he is lured in by the promise of glory if he were to participate in the Trojan War. So he goes, and Patroclus not wanting to lose Achilles duly follows him into war. The interaction between Achilles & Patroclus after individual battles show the fear that Patroclus has for the inevitable effect that war is having on Achilles. Patroclus is desperate to keep the warm, passionate, kind, caring man that he fell in love with, but Achilles is changing. However, what commences the tragedy is Achilles' pride. After being offended, his pride blocked him from fighting in the war. Without him, the Greek army started to lose the war. Being surrounded by death and hate causes Patroclus to truly question whether Achilles is in the right. However, because Patroclus truly honors Achilles, he makes a desperate act in order to try to help win the war. Posing as Achilles, Patroclus leads the Myrmidons into battle. While successful, Patroclus ends up losing his life to Hector, who Achilles is fated to kill. Upon seeing Patroclus' body, Achilles is sent into a place of pure anguish and rage. He murders Hector and becomes a cold and suicidal man, his only desire to be with Patroclus again. And because Achilles killed Hector, he dies soon after, killed by Paris because it was his fate. But even after Achilles dies, Patroclus is not allowed to rest because his identity has not been honored properly due to the arrogance of Achilles' son, Pyrrhus (like father, like son, huh?) However, Thetis, Achilles' mother visits his grave where Patroclus remains trapped. In the final scene between the two, their complicated relationship (it is no secret that Thetis holds an immense dislike towards Patroclus because of her own prejudices) takes a turn. Going against her emotions, a mother sacrifices her control over her son; Thetis carves Patroclus' name besides Achilles allowing Patroclus to finally be free and join his beloved, Achilles. The book concludes with Patroclus meeting Achilles in the Underworld, reaching for each other's hands in order to explore a freedom that only death was able to grant them.

Even while writing this out, I am still gobsmacked by the utter beauty of this book. Each scene contributes a piece of gold which in turn turns the overall story into something magnificent as a polished diamond. I know I sound like a broken record, but this book is truly remarkable, it's story, message, theme speak for itself. I will always remember my first read of this book with great fondness and I will be recommending this book to friends who also enjoy reading. Thank you, Madeline Miller.

TL;DR: Everyone and their mom should read this book because not only is this story mind-blowing, but that the love between Achilles & Patroclus is a rare instance of REALISTIC, TRUE LOVE. Romeo & Juliet could never. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, War, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Sexism, and Sexual content

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Animal death, and Sexual assault

nerdkitten's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Misogyny, War, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Slavery, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, and Gore

Minor: Mental illness, Vomit, Excrement, Homophobia, Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, and Pregnancy

onefineelephant's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

 8/10. Pretty gay. I know the story of Achilles pretty well which made all of the foreshadowing lines very nice. I didn't know how involved Thetis was in the story. I liked how Achilles, who could be easily seen as arrogant and haughty, was portrayed as a rounded person from Patroclus' point of view. Overall, I liked it but I wouldn't say it's an instant favorite. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Medical content, Misogyny, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Pedophilia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Outing, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

clairew97's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Sexism, and Sexual assault

danny_fox'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? 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, War, Grief, and Gore

Moderate: Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, and Cursing

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Blood, Classism, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Slavery

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Child abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Self harm, Vomit, Alcohol, Colonisation, Cursing, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

readwithserena's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Animal death, Child death, Violence, Sexual violence, Blood, Gore, Medical content, Trafficking, Slavery, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcohol, Homophobia, and Outing

inthemoonforcheese's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• 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

i feel demolished by this book oh my god

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, War, Vomit, Alcohol, Abandonment, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, Genocide, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexual content

dniespal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Increadible tale of two lovers whose fate is already sealed. Madeline Miller was able to writte a breathtaking story which will make you not want to put the book down even if you are already well versed in the myth of Achilles and Patroclus. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, Slavery, Gore, Animal death, Classism, Death, Murder, Rape, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gaslighting, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Child abuse, Medical content, Rape, and Kidnapping

Minor: Bullying, Excrement, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Alcohol, and Cannibalism