A review by ilana_pop
Een lied voor Achilles by Madeline Miller

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a book that will tear you apart and after reading you’ve got absolutely no idea how you’re ever going to read another book ever again (in the best possible way). This was just incredible. Just wow. A book that, when you’ve read the last sentence, you just want to start over again. There are many retellings of Greek mythology, but this was truly hypnotising. An awfully gorgeous retelling of Homer’s Iliad. Madeline Miller tells the story of Achilles and Patroclus, the Trojan war and everything around it with so much emotion. She makes the legend more alive than ever.
I cried like I haven’t with a book in a while. I adore Achilles, I adore Patroclus. They meet at a very young age. The story follows their friendship and eventually their love throughout the years. Their struggles with life, wars, gods… in ancient Greece. They’re incredibly gorgeous together, their love for each other is real and pure. An amazing love story.
And honestly just thinking about the ending makes me tear up again. I love this book so so so much.

EDIT: reading this a second time it's still gutpunchingly amazing. Jezus christ.
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