Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

33 reviews

savshanae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I hate it. I’m also giving it a 5 ⭐️ review. 
Everyone was right, it will break you. But not even for the reasons I expected! I don’t want to spoil the whole thing, but I literally threw the book after reading the final paragraph. I hate it and it was also one of the best books I’ve ever read. Proceed with extreme caution.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Body horror, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, War, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Gore, Genocide, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Pregnancy, Abandonment, Ableism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Biphobia, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

you expect Achilles to die, but Patroclus dies first because Achilles is a vain twat and then his effing son (who is a MONSTER) kills the only consistent positive female character in the whole story. Not to mention Achilles mother HATES Patroclus until the war is over and both boys are dead. We also never hear about the Trojan horse which is super disappointing.

candycains's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad 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

Beautifully written

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Rape, and Child death

Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, and Bullying

novella42's review against another edition

Could not get past the ableism in the opening chapter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

bramblebug's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

This story is just so beautifully written and well-paced. Every story beat feels so intentional and eloquent. Deeply emotional and rooted in the perspective of a single character, it’s a rollercoaster of feelings and experiences—love, heartache, longing, joy, fear. I’ll always want to return to the atmosphere Miller creates and the tenderness and uncertainty that comes with adolescence and falling in love and facing impossible challenges set in motion by gods and men. 

Also, I have listened to the audiobook multiple times and it is possibly one of the best performances I’ve ever experienced. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Misogyny, War, Sexism, Slavery, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child death, Ableism, Death, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, and Abandonment

Minor: Self harm and Medical content

The historical setting is honest and does not censor (nor really focus on) many of the atrocities committed in its time, especially when it comes to the treatment of women and disabled people.

librerin's review against another edition

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

• 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

4.5

A great travel read! I enjoyed the story from Patroclus's perspective, and found it to be beautifully written. I got a bit tired of Patroclus coming off as a damsel-in-distress and wanted more depth to Achilles's evolution during the war, but I felt that the later parts of the book really helped to alleviate that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, War, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse and Ableism

Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia

fuzzywilson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abandonment, Cursing, Confinement, Blood, Classism, Death, Gore, Slavery, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Animal death

singalana's review against another edition

hopeful reflective relaxing 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

This book was hyped all over BookTube, and compared to the last hyped book I read (The Priory of the Orange Tree), this actually holds up to the hype. This is a historical novel telling the story of Achilles and Patroclus. Achilles is a son of the goddess, prophesied to be a legendary warrior. Patroclus is a son of a king, but his father exiles him. This story follows their journey as they meet as young boys and develop a relationship.

The story is told from the perspective of Patroclus, as he gets to know Achilles and eventually falls in love with him. The author does a good job creating likeable but eventually flawed characters with distinct personalities and voices. The story moves slowly, taking the time it needs to build the relationships and the characters. The writing flows beautifully, painting a vivid picture.

The story is bittersweet. If you know the myth of Achilles, you have a sense of impending doom from the start, but even if you don’t the prophecies relating to Achilles are revealed rather early on. Still, the ending moved me and surprised me. 

I can’t think of much to criticize about this book except for the brutalities of War (especially regarding women), but I can’t fault the author for painting an accurate picture of the story of Achilles and the realities of war. The book isn’t unnecessarily gory, and it’s a beautiful story, and I would recommend it to everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Death, Sexism, and War

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Animal death, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Blood, Infidelity, Grief, and Sexual assault

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Self harm, Child death, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Death, Sexism, Slavery, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Blood, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Vomit

tomasalbanez's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.75

I love the way the relationship with gods is represented, with them being clearly real but still mysterious, distant and covered by myths. The love story is tragic (a Greek Tragedy™) but really good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying and War

Minor: Slavery, Ableism, Pregnancy, and Sexism

morgcailie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Well obviously they're in love, and it's beautiful, and it's messy, and it's groundbreaking. And It really wouldn't be so toxic if it weren't for war. Don't forget that pinch of destiny. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, War, Rape, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Torture and Ableism