A review by eleasofia
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

adventurous emotional informative sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

I liked the book a lot. It's something different for sure. I liked the writing and that I actually learned things about the Iliad and the Trojan war that I didn't know before. The pace was sometimes slower, sometimes faster, so overall I would rate it medium. Considering how many years the story spans and how difficult it is to fit all of that in the same book, I feel like the pacing of it was well done. I enjoyed the characters (mostly Patroclus, Chiron, Briseis), the way the story was told from Patroclus perspective, and his relationship with Achilles. Achilles as a character I've liked and disliked at different moments in the book. I've highlighted a lot of quotes (I read it as an eBook!) because the writing was so beautiful at times, so simply for that I would recommend it. 

And, as expected, I cried several times while reading it, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I put off reading this book for years and then only read a few chapters each time until I finally finished it. I already sort of knew what was going to happen, so I didn't need to keep reading to find out, and I was terrified of how heartbroken I would be. In the end, I'm glad I finally read it. And even though I cried reading it and liked it, it's probably not going to be on my mind much. Usually, even if a book is sad, I can move on from thinking about it as long as the ending is satisfying (not necessarily happy!), and with the exception of one thing, this book's ending was satisfying to me.
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