Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

27 reviews

_david_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

What a beautiful retelling of Achilles and Patroclus. It is very humane and easy to read. I empathized with Patroclus. Something I would like to highlight is how poetic the moments of sex were written. In general the style of writing is accessible without being simple. It is easy to imagine the ancient greek beliefs as an active religion when the legends and characters are told like this. 

The tale itself hurt to read. Especially the last part of the book made me want to read as slowly as possible to postpone the ending. Afterwards I grabbed my partner and hugged him as tight as I could. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Gore, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Self harm, Abandonment, Child death, Homophobia, Outing, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, and Xenophobia

Minor: Medical content, Pregnancy, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

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.

natty25reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

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.

odette_tbdk's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense 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

4.25

Tengo sentimientos encontrados con este libro, por una parte me pareció muy emocional y profunda la relación que tenían Aquiles y Patroclo, pero el ritmo de la historia no me convenció del todo. Hacia el final del libro el ritmo fluyó muy bien, pero el principio es difícil de continuar, la vida de Patroclo de niño y en sí todo el proceso que les lleva a la guerra de Troya es bastante lento y tedioso. Pero aún así, me hizo sentir muchas cosas y también me enseñó de mitología (cabe aclarar que yo no sé nada de estos temas), así que sería injusto darle mala calificación por eso.

Me faltaron personajes femeninos que no giraran en torno a los protagonistas, pero eso ya no es culpa de la autora, simplemente no hay muchos porque así es la mitología. Cuando lea Circe tendré lo que me faltó aquí.

En general, un libro muy triste cargado de mitología y de referencias muy extensas a los ornamentos, política y costumbres de la época. Tedioso a ratos pero al final te deja con un buen sabor de boca (en parte). Buena lectura.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Grief, War, Child death, Medical content, Violence, Rape, Pandemic/Epidemic, Homophobia, Slavery, Xenophobia, Sexism, Death, Genocide, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Torture, Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, and Animal death

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

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

5.0

This book was so heartbreakingly beautiful. The story was so precious and I loved Achilles and Patroclus.

I liked that this story was accurate to the myths while adding this spin of romance. Achilles was so easy to love and although they had their faults, the characters were so loveable. I found myself crying, laughing, and smiling.

There’s not much to say other than this is a beautiful book with a beautiful story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Misogyny, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Sexism, and Animal death

bookishperseus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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: Body horror, Classism, Physical abuse, Slavery, War, Cursing, Deportation, Genocide, Gore, Sexual harassment, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Grief, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual content

rowdymeowdy's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, War, Violence, and Homophobia

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Slavery, War, and Xenophobia

lizdon'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Xenophobia, War, and Slavery

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

Minor: Biphobia, Child abuse, Deportation, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Transphobia, and Rape

Once they reach war, there are mentions of how they treat female slaves that are stolen during raids, which is accurate to the time but can be hard to read. Not detailed, mostly just commented at.

rllbth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Torture, Body horror, Violence, Blood, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Xenophobia, and Slavery

Minor: Classism