Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Song of Achilles

The choice of first person narrative through Patroclus is clever & moving, giving the entire story more emotional depth, in addition to adding an outside perspective to one of the most famous Greek heroes.

The historical references and details of weaponry & battle are peripheral; the bulk of attention is spent humanizing the characters through their lesser-known thoughts & behaviors.

In the end, this well-known war story becomes a rich, beautiful examination of friendship, love, & family.

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candycains's review against another edition

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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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vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense 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

It's always wyd and never "If I had words to speak such a thing, I would have. But there were none that seemed big enough for it, to hold that swelling truth."

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e_emmaa's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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rowdymeowdy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

This book at first was a little tough for me to get through. It felt a little flat for a while and took me a beat to get into a reading rhythm but I still think this is a pretty story. I liked the ending, and how it was written. I did tear up there. I did get pretty ticked off at some of the main character flaws but I think that’s the point of stories like these. I enjoyed this read and would recommend if you want a slower, stable read (not too much of an emotional rollercoaster imo)

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luwa963's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

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kathrynleereads's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

2.75

I’m not going to lie… this book was a chore for me. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was that I didn’t like, but every time I put it down, I felt absolutely no desire to pick it back up again.

Song of Achilles is one I had such high hopes for after hearing so many amazing things about it, but I just didn’t feel drawn into the story.

With every multi-year time jump, I felt as if I had whiplash. If I’m adding correctly the book spanned a total of 18 years (ages 9 to 27 for Patroclus), which was just too wide a time frame.

Because of the time jumps, Achilles’ character development felt spotty and incomplete. Patroclus, on the other hand, seemed to go through all of his character growth within the final few chapters, which was just as jarring.

Speaking of the final few chapters…

I’ll admit, I did shed quite a few tears at the end of the book, but that’s only because of the characters’ reactions to everything that unfolded.

I didn’t even fully follow what happened to Patroclus until Menelaus carried him back into camp, at which point I went back and reread the prior chapter.

One second Patroclus was in the chariot, and the next he was at the wall of Troy, being surrounded by the Trojan army.

I understand that Miller was demonstrating the draw of power in the scene, but it was so out of character for Patroclus that it took me right out of the story.

The only aspect of this book I have no complaints about is Briseis. Her character helped demonstrate the severity of war atrocities, while also helping mark time.

Briseis’ friendship with Patroclus was the only thing that kept me reading this book.

She was so kind and understanding, even after the horrors that she had gone through (and was yet to go through) because of the war.

All in all, I think this book was just not for me. Reading other reviews for The Song of Achilles, I recognize all the aspects that are being applauded, I just think Miller’s writing style was not for me.

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vnfhcxksiw's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

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