Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller

26 reviews

ghostlyprince's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Self harm, Child death, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Death, Sexism, Slavery, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Blood, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Injury/injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Vomit

tomasalbanez's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I love the way the relationship with gods is represented, with them being clearly real but still mysterious, distant and covered by myths. The love story is tragic (a Greek Tragedy™) but really good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Bullying and War

Minor: Slavery, Ableism, Pregnancy, and Sexism

morgcailie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Well obviously they're in love, and it's beautiful, and it's messy, and it's groundbreaking. And It really wouldn't be so toxic if it weren't for war. Don't forget that pinch of destiny. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, War, Rape, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Torture and Ableism

maeverose's review against another edition

Not for me. Plus it had a specific kind of gore that I personally can’t handle so no thnx (my fault for not checking content warnings first…)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Animal death, Fatphobia, Vomit, Ableism, and Animal cruelty

Brain gore (graphic) I’m sure I missed content warnings bc I only read 3 chapters..

fanboyriot's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Finally finished reading this after having it on my physical TBR for at least five years.  

The hype of this was high.  Seeing great reviews and positive comments about how amazing the writing was and how sad but good it was.

I’m not gonna lie I only bought it because it was queer and it had Greek mythology in it.  I thought despite the angst and it being a historical fiction that I’d like it.  

The short review is that I did not like it.  I wanted to DNF it so many times but thought maybe I just wasn’t giving it a chance.

I don’t know if it was because of the slower paced chapters or because it was a historical fiction but this book was so boring.  I could not wait to be done with it.

There were so many moments that it was cringey or just uncomfortable to read.  All the spicy moments were awful to get through.  And  while I understand it was back when people were a lot younger when they were married off or forced to have children but it was just so uncomfortable to read lines like: “Her body, he said, was soft and small as a child’s.” (Chapter 13, page 147)… why is that necessary??  How did that make it into the final edits?? 

I will say the positive about this was that through everything Achilles and Patroclus had a healthy, honest, and trusting relationship for the most part.  

And while the ending was sad it wasn’t as bad as I expected.  I think that what Thetis ended up doing in the end helped with that.  It was the sweetest thing she had done in that whole book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Classism, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Gaslighting, Death, Violence, War, Blood, Murder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicide, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Gore, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Slavery, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Minor: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Ableism, Vomit, Child death, and Trafficking

imaginefishes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i hated the beginning (

Spoiler

childhood trauma

)
i hated the end (

Spoiler

pyrrhus was a dick and i’m glad he was killed

)
this is the (almost) embodiment of a greek tragedy, and would have been so if not for

Spoiler

the completely idiotic way patroclus dies due to his own hubris against the gods

also thetis is annoying

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, War, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Murder, Classism, Bullying, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Slavery, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Animal death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Ableism, and Blood

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual violence, and Sexual content

emilieboeger's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Found the pacing too slow at times and then too fast at others. The story is set in an incredibly sexist society and the casual tone in which women are mentioned as property is disturbing. 
The writing is very beautiful and poetic but in a very digestable way. However it prevented me from really disappearing into the story. Found the characters quite hard to relate to which in the beginning was interesting but towards the end just made it hard to be invested in the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Sexism, Murder, and War

Moderate: Slavery, Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Ableism

camoo3032's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It really immerses you into Greek mythology and the story of Troy and Achilles. I still really enjoyed reading it even though I knew the story of Achilles. I'm not used to reading books written in a first-person perspective so it felt disjointed to me and as if the narrator was distant, but it was still very well done!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Classism, Misogyny, and War

Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pregnancy

lochsides's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The Song of Achilles is probably the most popular (Greek) mythology retelling in the world, and it is so with good reason. I went into this book eager to see what all the hype was about and came out in a sort of melancholy, in the best way possible. I know everyone and their mother says they cried reading this book. I didn’t but I can see why that’s a common reaction. The Song of Achilles is a beautiful love story told through the perspective of Patroclus, Achille’s lover and best friend, as they grow up alongside one another, fall in love, go to war and become heroes in their own right. Madeline Miller did such a fantastic job of telling their story with such care.

Miller’s writes The Song of Achilles as though it were Patroclus’ memoir. I found the pacing was a little slow, but she more than made up for it with the beautiful prose. I think that the pacing was intentional as it gives the reader a lot time with Achilles and Patroclus and allows us to become invested in them. The descriptions of locations, characters and emotions were almost lyrical, befitting the title of the novel.

Achilles is the best of the Greeks in his time. I loved the multifaceted characterisation of Achilles. It was very interesting as he is characterised through the lens of love - the lens of Patroclus and it is a powerful love these two share. One of the first notes I made while reading this was ‘this is so sweet, it’s going to hurt like a bitch, isn’t it?’ Spoiler alert, it did. One of my favourite aspects of the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is that it is founded in a deep and true friendship. Patroclus, being an exiled Prince, grew up as an afterthought. Until Achilles entered his life.

You have to admire how, almost single-handedly, Madeline Miller has made Greek mythology retellings not only popular but also incredibly accessible. The heroes are self-contained characters within the confines of the book and no prior knowledge is needed or assumed. The same can also be said of the Ancient Greek world building, for lack of better term, as this is a world that did actually exist. The way in which Miller sets a scene, describes a location, is as much a beauty of this book as the storytelling.

The Song of Achilles touches on all the themes of a Greek epic. There is glory, pride, greed, morality and mortality. The Trojan War as a backdrop for this brings out the best and worst of these characters in wildly different ways. Through it all, the only thing that remains untouched is the love that Achilles and Patroclus share. 

I really recommend this book to everyone, whether you’re interested in mythology, historical fiction, romance novels, tales of adventure - there is something in this for everyone. I know I will be revisiting this book in time and reading anything that Madeline Miller chooses to publish in future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, War, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Rape, and Slavery

Minor: Ableism

simone_ebony's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really wasnt sure how I felt about this through most of it. I found Patroclus to be a blank slate, which I know is the point, but it got kind of annoying. But honestly it picked up towards the end and made me cry three times this afternoon even though I knew the ending so... I'd say its worth the read for that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Homophobia

Moderate: Classism, Misogyny, Ableism, and Death of parent