Reviews with content warning for Death - The Song of Achilles

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

1896 reviews

katofalltrades's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

Beautiful and artistic, made me sob. Also, GAY! Only reason I didn’t score higher was because it was slow and sometimes the characters other than the main two were hard to follow.

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chloe_2311's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

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

2.5

LGBTQ+ Frendly is the only bonus and reason for the 2.5 ⭐️⭐️•5 I’m giving if not it would’ve been a 1⭐️. This is the most boring book iv ever read unless you include twilight! Now make it into a movie and I will 100% watch and probably love like I do twilight but the book for me was bland and wasn’t interesting or captivating at all for me it was droning on and on regarding the same shit again and again.

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olivessam's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

3.0

the twinkification of achilles and patroclus needs to be studied

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keelymightread's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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nxpe's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-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

3.0

Finding a star rating for this book is a challenge. I didn't really like the story because it was honestly so incredibly boring. It really only picked up at the 75% mark, in my opinion.

However, the writing is very beautiful, I can appreciate the story of what it is, and my god was I sad by the end of it. It genuinely ripped my heart out of my chest and proceeded to stomp on it over and over and over in that last ten percent.

I can recognise the fact that this is a very good story, but I don't think I liked it, which is why I'm landing on a three star rating.

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madanxiety's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

Really rich language that skillfully encapsulates the elegance of the ancient texts about Greek stories. I'm glad I took my time with it - because it's so plot-heavy, it's important to pay attention and not miss details due to distractions. A unique problem for audiobook readers.

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ladyluck8837's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

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

5.0

This book had me crying with laughter and tears. Beautifully written and a fantastic retelling of a classic.

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megan1002's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

1.0

I really tried to like this book, I really did. I kept reading and hoping it was going to get better but I was 70% in and nothing has really happened yet. The first 70% of the book felt like a prologue for the rest of the story in that things were happening, but nothing was really happening at all. Even the foot fetish—which I initially thought was going to have a pay off when Achilles's weakness was finally revealed—did not serve a purpose to the story at all since Achilles died from an arrow to his heart. Patroclus is so boring as a main character and narrator. For most of the book he doesn't really do anything but be a quiet observer even though I feel like the reader is supposed to believe that he is playing a large role in the story. As a result, the story was told with a distant air, like I was hearing it from someone who heard it from someone who heard it from someone. The way it was written was pretty but the use of flowery words in every single sentence felt forced; it was obvious the story was written by someone who knows what an iphone is but was trying to tell the story in a way they assumed the ancient greeks talked. Achilles is perfect and in stories, perfect is simply boring. Somehow his greatness as a warrior still felt muted. I don't really understand how he's such a great warrior, I was just simply told he was. "He's great because he beat Hector, and no one can beat Hector." But I also didn't see Hector's greatness at all. Everything just has an air of "because I said so". Also, when Troy finally fell, were the reasons for the war, Helen and Paris, just completely forgotten? They weren't mentioned even though other characters like Priam and Andromache were.

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simonmh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Beautiful book. Some myths feel so foreign and strange at this point, but this really brings to life the vitality of the story of Achilles.

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katie0528's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

A beautiful and tragic retelling of the romance between Achilles and Patroclus, told from Patroclus' point of view, starting from Patroclus' birth through the Trojan war

until their deaths

often pondering the tug between their love and the expectations of Achilles' destiny, and whether fame and honor are truly enough to sustain us.

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