A review by _al
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to give this book 3.5/75 out of 5 but it was nice distraction from hard stuff and I very enjoyed the writing, so I'm boosting it up to 4. 

Writing was main thing of this book for me. Madeline Miller's prose is so captivating and smooth, I'm amazed each time I opened the book. But I wanted more from  Patroclus. Patroclus has such interesting stuff going on but just a bit more of..basically everything would be so good. 

I enjoyed Achilles and I enjoyed reading about him and his struggles between love, social expectations and desire for glory. I don't think it was handled perfectly from start to finish because there are moments that felt almost awkward but overall he was one of best parts of the book. 

But overall, I enjoyed it – i had fun, characters were interesting to follow, their relationship is beautiful and i felt for them and it resurrected my love for mythology and give me interest to ancient history. Maybe reread it when i need the distraction with feelings. And definitely will check out Circe in near future. 
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