Take a photo of a barcode or cover
makaylarosie225 's review for:
The Song of Achilles
by Madeline Miller
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Having no prior knowledge about this book other than seeing it in stores and online, and my knowledge of Achilles ending in having read the Illiad when I was younger, I wasn't expecting much, but I also definitely wasn't expecting a story of seeing the gay love story of Patroclus wrapped about Achilles' dick, I mean finger.
And reading the back of the book, it makes the story sound so much more fun, which I wish I got out of this. I was entertained, I read it in three days, but I also felt nothing the entire time but frustration. I personally don't have a major attachment or dislike for any of these characters, but I feel like that is an issue with the book too. If I don't feel endeared or close to the characters, hell, even hating these characters would be nice, but overall I'm pretty meh about them, then the author didn't do a good job to write the characters in a way that made me feel anything. Patroclus was just there. He did things the entire time, but it felt very sterile with no emotion. Even when he was sad that Achilles was taken from him or even when Achilles was a prideful brat, I didn't feel anything from or through Patroclus.
That is how I will describe it all, sterile and disconnected. I was told what to feel but never actually felt anything I was told.
There were exactly two instances where I felt something: one was shocked that Agamemnon killed his daughter (don't remember that in the original myth) so that was shocking. The other is at the very end when Thetis tells Patroclus' shade that Pyrrus died, I cackled.
This is the fantasy lover in me coming out, but I didn't care about the first half of the book, because by the time we got to the Trojan war, it happened in less than a hundred pages. What was supposed to feel like a change and betrayal of older Achilles when his pride took over felt lack luster and without depth because it felt rather sudden. I could see the seeds being planted earlier in the book, but it never felt like it fully grew in a way that felt satisfying.
Fell flat. That's my big feeling here.
And reading the back of the book, it makes the story sound so much more fun, which I wish I got out of this. I was entertained, I read it in three days, but I also felt nothing the entire time but frustration. I personally don't have a major attachment or dislike for any of these characters, but I feel like that is an issue with the book too. If I don't feel endeared or close to the characters, hell, even hating these characters would be nice, but overall I'm pretty meh about them, then the author didn't do a good job to write the characters in a way that made me feel anything. Patroclus was just there. He did things the entire time, but it felt very sterile with no emotion. Even when he was sad that Achilles was taken from him or even when Achilles was a prideful brat, I didn't feel anything from or through Patroclus.
That is how I will describe it all, sterile and disconnected. I was told what to feel but never actually felt anything I was told.
There were exactly two instances where I felt something: one was shocked that Agamemnon killed his daughter (don't remember that in the original myth) so that was shocking. The other is at the very end when Thetis tells Patroclus' shade that Pyrrus died, I cackled.
This is the fantasy lover in me coming out, but I didn't care about the first half of the book, because by the time we got to the Trojan war, it happened in less than a hundred pages. What was supposed to feel like a change and betrayal of older Achilles when his pride took over felt lack luster and without depth because it felt rather sudden. I could see the seeds being planted earlier in the book, but it never felt like it fully grew in a way that felt satisfying.
Fell flat. That's my big feeling here.