Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

314 reviews

jankmab's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gore, Sexual violence, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

kam_be's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Mostly lives up to the hype! I think this is better written and more heart-wrenching than Circe, but tbh I actually enjoyed that one more! I was rooting for Circe most of the time, or at least feeling with her; it was a bit hard to feel anything but a numb sort of pity for Achilles and Patroclus by the end. Locked into their fate both by greedy adults and their own pride, I knew where the story was heading so it was less emotional on the way. The giant time skip didn’t help; at one point they said they were 27 and I was like !?!?!??

The post-Patroclus bit, while necessary, really dragged and just rubbed salt in the wound 😭 intentionally, but jeez 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and War

bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Even knowing the story of Patroclus and Achilles in broad strokes, i was gripped by the incredible storytelling. The role of legacy and memory in the story was done exceptionally well. the roots of the story shone in a retelling with modern sensibilities intertwined with in. This work is an incredible achievement in writing and adapting a story that for many exists only as a footnote in the large story of the trojan war. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

arlaubscher's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, and Slavery

cjsays's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Death, Murder, and War

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia and Medical content

altbinx's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death and Child death

saskiajva's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.25

Note to readers: do NOT read any of the character excerpts at the back of the book until you’ve finished the story. I accidentally spoiled major plot points myself this way.

The book was so well written and i devoured it quickly. The voice and writing style takes after the way old myths are written so it’s a bit more formal. The love story was beautiful and i still cried even knowing what the end held. Beautiful story 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Alcohol

erebus53's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative 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

3.75

I picked up this book because it's been talked about around the place and seems popular. I'm sure that my interpretation of the work is coloured by many years of reading Rick Riordan's youth fiction about Greek myths. My takeaway is that although it's historic fiction it .. feels more fictiony than historic. Yes we do have actual gods playing a roll so we could call it mythic realism, but as some folk have pointed out, it's more just a homoerotic love story. I'm ok with that  : )

I think the book is fun but not super deep. Knowing roughly how the story goes before I delved into the book, leaves me wondering if I can even mention some parts of it without it being spoilers - what is the common knowledge here? Is it ok to mention which characters die when? I mean, this is ancient history ... so all the characters are dead by now (except maybe the gods).

This telling is in the first person, from the point of view of Patroclus who is the dearest love of Achilles.

--pedant mode--
I feel like it's spelled incorrectly, surely that's a "k"? Wiki says conventionally it's Patroclus but from Pátroklos ... wow there's argument about how that ought to be pronounced so that is a rabbit hole - but now I feel mollified.. it isn't just me being finicky. OK, fine,  I'm being finicky. While I'm finicking, I kept raising an eyebrow when the author refers to heroes being painted onto vases. My high school classics led me to believe that black figure vases came way after the Trojan War, and red  figure vases even later than that, so references to those forms seems anachronistic.

.. also, I get that Achilles is supposed to be trusting and oblivious, but he should have known there was something suss about a guy trying to marry him to a priestess of Artemis. I mean Artemis's whole deal is virgin purity. That whole bit seemed like something fishy was afoot.

*climbs out of rabbit hole*
--end pedant mode--

The reason the two men like each other seems completely arbitrary because the author doesn't build that much. Patroclus is a devoted lover and sees his god-boyfriend through rosy tinted glasses. I find it really amusing that some people find this sweet, and others are nauseated by his witless swooning.

As far as this narration of the audiobook is concerned, I find it really strange that the narrator doesn't alter his affect for voicing young people. I was about 5 minutes into a conversation before I was reminded that this was a conversation between young children rather than adults. I got the same sort of feeling when the character of Pyrrhus is introduced as a pubescent youth. I honestly think there should be some sort of primer for Audiobook narrators where they learn how words like wretched are said.

OK, I'm going there. This is the first book I have ever read in the first person where the narrator dies and keeps telling the story. At first I wondered what the heck was happening because he was clearly deceased and yet, still talking. After a while it became clearer that according to the Greek practices around the passing of the dead to the underworld, he had moved on out of his body, but was still kicking around watching the proceedings. OK fine.. I'll let you have it. It still felt more clumsy than it ought to have.

It was an easy read and coming to the end of it, the themes of social change, and how things are perceived by future generations, are aired more explicitly. The story is true to the Greek trope of sage council that is ignored. This account is subverting the idea that glory is something that one earns by war and murder, and is focused on the idea that a person can be remembered for more than their body-count. All in all, I  don't think the book is elegant, but it is interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit and Pregnancy

vibingandy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and War

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Blood, Medical content, and Grief