Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

199 reviews

chrisljm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Yeah I cried. 

Madeline Miller is a beautiful writer and I did enjoy her retelling of this myth, but I didn't find it to be particularly remarkable. 

I think the thing I found most puzzling was Patroclus' inclination towards saving women from being war trophies when this was very much a sociopolitical norm during this period in time. Of course that's not to say I wanted to see more scenes of women being brutalized or that it's impossible for there to be any person during this period to disagree with such practices, but I think when making the decision to have that be one of the main characters in this myth for the purpose of having a more likable protagonist, it becomes a story that lacks the social and cultural context of the historical myths by changing certain themes to fit modern sensibilities. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, and Slavery

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, Abandonment, Colonisation, Infidelity, Self harm, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol and Child abuse

hyaxinth's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I love this book, I would know this book this blind and to the ends of the earth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Misogyny, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment and Rape

mconroy9137'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Violence, War, Sexual harassment, and Rape

Moderate: Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Torture, Classism, Deportation, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Confinement, Homophobia, Vomit, Abandonment, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Self harm, and Cursing

_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

andelion's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Violence, War, and Death

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual content, and Child death

Minor: Rape and Domestic abuse

kimmy0__0's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective slow-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? No

3.75

I love Greek mythology/history, but this book was hard to get into at the beginning. By the end though I was really enjoying the characters and story. I think Cerce is still my favorite Madeline Miller book, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, and War

Moderate: Grief and Kidnapping

Minor: Slavery and Abandonment

reiverse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• 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: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, War, Vomit, Sexual content, Torture, Slavery, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Homophobia, and Hate crime

birdieex's review against another edition

5.0

I was glued to this book. The second I got it, I found it hard to put down. Even though the interactions between Achilles and Patroclus weren't very graphic, I felt exactly what the author was trying to portray, proving that great writing doesn't always equal extreme details.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Abandonment

riv_erb's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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: Violence, Kidnapping, Death, Grief, Child death, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, and Sexism

Minor: Rape and Abandonment

eryncaroline's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.5

I was so excited to read this book after hearing such rave reviews and that tissues are required for this one. Definitely well-written and such an interesting dive into these mythological greek characters, but the world building felt inconsistent with the way the gods play a role in the story and once the battle of troy began the number of "time jumps" really takes you out of the story waiting for the "big thing" to happen. I did really enjoy the first half of the book and I was sold on the characters and really interested in their story, but it was difficult to watch the characters change and see the fates play out. Still pondering the story and my review, but I'm glad to have read it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Violence, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, and Sexual violence