A review by rachrreads
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I think I expected too much out of this book, but it wasn’t all that great. Madeline Miller’s writing is phenomenal, don’t get me wrong. But I felt like barely anything happened. I get Achilles is this great warrior with a big prophecy to live up to, but he was so freaking annoying. I adored Patroclus and his big heart, but I wasn’t that sad when he died to be honest. I think it was due to there just not being much character development for any of them. Patroclus was always described as someone else’s. First he was his fathers son, then Achilles lover. He was never really his own person and he just did everything for Achilles. Yes, towards the end he does make some of his own choices, but they’re only to save Achilles reputation really. Him doing what he did for Briseis was very admirable though and him caring that their people were dying did make him likable in my book. The one part of this book that did make me sad was Patroclus not being able to rest, so I’m glad Thetis finally let that happen. 

I loved Patroclus and Achilles at times, but again Achilles just really ground my gears. He was a jerk and said it was because they dishonored him. I get it had to be this way due to mythology, but he still just angered me. I was hoping for more development in him and Patroclus and it just didn’t happen for me. I wanted more than just arrogant Achilles
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