A review by u_0
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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

2.75

I REALLY wanted to love this book but ultimately, it didn't work for me. Why:
  • While I thought the love story between Achilles and Patroclus was sweet and felt authentic, the sexual way in which minors were described throughout the book really bothered me.
  • I was really excited to see parts of ancient Greek and Roman cultures brought to life in this retelling but there was a shocking lack of historical detail in the settings and descriptions beyond general cultural customs and names.
  • The pacing of the story felt really disjointed and painfully slow at times.
  • I felt like I kept waiting for the plot to take off, but it didn't. Instead halfway through the book,
    the setting just changed to a years-long war that felt like a different, even more boring book.
  • Although several characters are likable and ~feel~ like they're fully fleshed out, they aren't written with much character depth that goes beyond the surface level and a few traits. Additionally, character motivations felt like they were thrown out the window for certain plot elements to occur.
  • The twists near the end of the book weren't believable to me.
  • The female characters were written poorly and I found many of them to follow harmful cliches authors use to excuse abuse or explain away why they're written in a sexist way.
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