Reviews - The Song of Achilles

109k reviews for:

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

4.35 AVERAGE

omgitslaureng's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous challenging emotional tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Perhaps I'm just not a fan of Greek mythology, but I found myself very bored. I'm sure I would have DNF'ed it if I were reading and not listening to the audiobook. Great narration got me through it.

lukekono's review against another edition

4.0

What a tragic, yet beautiful love story that Madeline Miller wrote.

This book is a retelling of the very famous epic, The Iliad. Except in this retelling, it focuses on Patroclus as the main POV, whereas he is a minor character in Greek mythology. This retelling also is reimagined to be a love story between Patroclus and the hero Achilles. Both of these characters where beautifully written with all of their faults. And the story was indeed, tragic. I also liked the way their romance is realistically written in, without it being traumatic.

The story definitely draws you in and I was very invested in getting to the end. The only point where it felt dull for me was during the war simply because the Trojan War was incredibly long. I will say though, Miller made it interesting enough; this retelling, in general, is much more enjoyable to read than The Iliad (sorry to the people who love that epic.) I can't speak as to whether it was true to the original mythology because it's been a while since I read The Iliad, but from what I remember, it was pretty accurate.

This book is definitely great for anyone wanting to get more into Greek mythology, for it does a fantastic job at keeping you invested in a love story that you don't want to skip out on.