Title: The Song of Achilles
Author: Madeline Miller
Genre: Adult, historical fantasy, Greek mythology
Publication date: September 2011
Published by: Ecco
Source: Borrowed from library
Add it on Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | Book DepositorySynopsis: Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
Warning: I'm not going to be censoring any spoilers because this book is a retelling of The Iliad, which has been around for a while. Lol.
This book was incredible! This is the type of book you think about even months after you finish reading. I read this back in 2020, and it was most definitely one of my favorite books of the year!
This book is a retelling of The Iliad, but it’s told in the POV of Patroclus, the companion of Achilles, which I thought was a very interesting way to tell the story. But you know what, I loved it! And I loved Patroclus, too! He was just so sweet and innocent, and so sincere and kind. I really loved following his POV.
And Achilles I mostly liked as well. When it came to Patroclus he was very caring and patient, and I just loved that! I also liked how cool he was about everything. Like, who cares what others think. Hell yeah! You go Achilles! Lol.
The one thing I didn’t like about Achilles is his arrogance and how tightly he tried to hold onto his glory. However, I DO get it. He’s gonna die soon and his glory will be the only thing left of him. But still. It got quite frustrating toward the end. Not that this is a bad thing! This is the way his character is meant to be.
But the thing I loved the most about this book was the romance. That’s right, ROMANCE! The relationship between Patroclus and Achilles started as this really sweet friendship where they were really open with one another, and I just loved that. But then...
He would sail to Troy and I would follow, even into death.
But apparently being gay was not cool back then. I want to say I’m not surprised, but I kinda am when the god Apollo himself had male love interests. Other gods, too, including Zeus! Patroclus didn’t want this to darken Achilles’s honor or whatever, but Achilles himself didn't give a single fuck and I loved it. Lol.
“Patroclus. I have given them enough. I will not give them this.”
This brought tears to my eyes at how freaking sweet it is 😠He loves Patroclus, honor be damned. I love it! 🥲
Later Achilles would play the lyre, as Chiron and I listened. My mother’s lyre. He had brought it with him.
“I wish I had known,” I said the first day, when he had showed it to me. “I almost did not come, because I did not want to leave it.”
He smiled. “Now I know how to make you follow me everywhere.”
“I wish I had known,” I said the first day, when he had showed it to me. “I almost did not come, because I did not want to leave it.”
He smiled. “Now I know how to make you follow me everywhere.”
Omg stop. They were so freaking cute! I loved it! But it was also just setting me up for heartbreak because I know how The Iliad ends ðŸ˜
One thing I didn’t think I would enjoy as much as I did is the war aspect. I’m not much of a war person, but here we are with me literally loving every aspect of this book 😂 One thing I really loved was that Patroclus and Achilles were claiming as many girls as they could to keep them from being slaves and mistreated by the other kings. Patroclus has such a good heart 🖤 But omg does he suck at actually fighting 😂 Meanwhile Achilles is the best of the best. During the war while Patroclus spent his time pacing and freaking out (honestly, same. Totally understandable lol), Achilles always kept him in his sights. And when someone so much as thought of how easy it would be to strike down Patroclus, Achilles would kill them dead. I love this so much ðŸ˜
Speaking of killing people, I love action and I really enjoyed seeing Achilles in all his glory kicking ass and taking names. Through the POV of Patroclus of course. Lol. And while Patroclus isn’t a fighter himself, he did tend to the wounded and it was awesome! I’m a nurse so this sort of stuff is right up my alley. Lol.
Not gonna lie though, I kept expecting the arrow through the heel bit and was surprised when it didn’t happen. Then I found out that that’s a thing that didn't actually happen in The Iliad! Thetis dipping him in the River Styx came after the book was written, I believe. You know how these Greek poets are adding to the mythology all the time. Lol. Achilles during the war, that was him just being a really good fighter. So good that it’s almost like the other warriors THOUGHT he was invincible! It was very interesting. I love mythology, so I always enjoy it when I learn something new.
That ending though... Achilles was an idiot... Patroclus was an idiot. Bad things happened, bad decisions were made, and then they all died. Honestly, I don’t know why I expected anything different. This is called a Greek Tragedy for a reason. Anyway, I cried. I was a mess. Those last 30-40 pages... I read them with tears streaming down my face. I am not okay 😠I literally had to put on a comedy podcast immediately after while I put away my laundry just to get my poor heart to stop hurting (and my tears to stop flowing lol).
That being said, of course I loved this! I adore mythology and I loved this take on The Iliad! I loved that the author put a twist on it so that there was romance between Achilles and his companion Patroclus 🥰 Achilles’s mother Thetis was such an interesting character. I kinda hated her throughout this whole thing because she was just awful, but then at the end with Patroclus... it was just so sweet. And the book was just so beautifully written! I’m really looking forward to reading Circe by the same author!
No comments:
Post a Comment