Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Song of Achilles

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller

248 reviews

andiehales's review

emotional sad tense fast-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

3.5

I think this story as a whole is a beautiful and crushing one and I understand why so many people love this book so intensely but I just didn’t love it the way I’ve seen others love it. A lot of the times, the way this book was written would throw me off, make me feel disconnected from the story and characters, and made it harder for me to enjoy. I pushed through because I wanted to know what all the hype (and tears) were for lol.

This book definitely had me feeling sick with emotion at times, especially towards the ending, but the writing style unfortunately wasn’t for me.

Spoiler

Also, I need to note how emotionally attached I became to Briseis. I love her like nobody else. She deserved so much better. Briseis I will avenge you.

Content Warnings

tomasalbanez's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

gracieyue's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

pitedavid's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional medium-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

5.0

Extremly good book. Even while knowing the myth, i could still get immersed within the story and feel it in my heart. I had alot of emotions and avsolutely loved the book. It is a classic greek myth involving

Spoiler

gods, hubris, known figures, tragedy and prophesies

while still feeling modern and fresh. I liked that you can start reading without knowing the myths or characters and still enjoy it because of the amazing and natural explainations

Content Warnings

_caitlin_doesnt_read_'s review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Okay. The ending of this book was incredibly touching, and i loved how the character dynamics changed throughout and you really felt like the characters were growing up, however, it took me AGES to get through all of this thing. It was iNCREDIBLY slow paced for the first like two thirds and then in the last portion of the book it suddenly went crazy fast and ten years passed in the space of a few chapters??? despite this, there is practically no plot during most of this book. I LOVED I THOUGH. the imagery throughout the book is incredible. I loved the relationship between Patroclus and Briseis and actually felt like (SPOILERS!!!) she just randomly died way too abruptly and she deserved way more.

Content Warnings

gayelfboi's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

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

5.0

liked it the first time. After reading more of the author’s academic work on ancient Greek culture I come back loving and appreciating it even more. Cried both times

Content Warnings

daniorlo's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous reflective medium-paced

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

2.25

Not a great start to my 2023 reading year 😬 Got sucked in by the hype… again.

I’ve decided to use a rating system I found on Fi’s Bibliofiles blog: ESCAPE.

Ending: 2.5

I did like the very end, and found it poetic. I thought it was a fitting end to the story to have

Spoiler

Thetis memorialize Patroclus and bring him to the Underworld to reunite with Achilles.

However, most everything else about the last bit of the book I did not like. Achilles became even more of an asshat than before, and it was infuriating to see Patroclus defend him even while arguing about ethics with him. His “this is not you, Achilles!” routine was utter bullshit. Like Patroclus, how have you not noticed how completely full of himself this guy has been in the almost twenty years you’ve known him?!?!

Style of writing: 3

Everyone talks about how beautiful the writing is in this, and I can see what they mean, as the prose does flow beautifully and I enjoyed the audio narrator’s performance. However, I couldn’t help but get distracted by the many ridiculous similes. “Our lips are like the fat bodies of bees, soft and round and giddy with pollen”, Achilles’ dick “soft as the delicate velvet of petals”, “the oars that fringed the boat like eyelashes,” “her long white throat, supple as a seal.” I’m sorry, but what? Also, Patroclus’ obsession over Achilles’ goddamn feet of all things was too much. I get it, they’re ~perfect and miraculous~ just like everything else about him!

I also just realized that their first kiss scene was randomly written in present tense, while the rest of the book is in past tense. What is that about?

Characters: 1

Oh my god, everyone is trash in this except Briseis and Odysseus (and maybe Chiron too). Briseis for being loving and strong despite her shitty circumstances, and Odysseus for being funny and the only one who actually had personality (and I actually laughed at him telling Achilles’ son that he might be more famous than him one day LOL). Achilles was an insufferable Gary Stu who was described as perfection in every way (except for his constant narcissism). Patroclus had as much depth as soggy cardboard. It was so tiring to see him worship a man who didn’t deserve it, and do basically nothing outside of him. I had absolutely zero investment in their relationship, which began so quickly and randomly that I honestly have no idea why they even loved each other for any reason other than their bodies. I had no emotional reaction to

Spoiler

their deaths.

In addition, women were treated like absolute shit in this and it was goddamn tiring. Even Briseis had an awful ending that she didn’t deserve. And Patroclus blaming the war on Helen’s vanity was ridiculous, especially considering Achilles prioritized his so-called “honor” over his people’s lives. But what made me the most mad was

Spoiler

Deidama forcing Patroclus to have sex with her to seemingly get back at Achilles??? Obviously that wouldn’t work. It was random and disgusting and pointless, and didn’t even factor in later in the story. Fuck that.

Even Thetis was treated like shit considering she was fucking RAPED by Achilles’ dad and Patroclus was like “most women would be happy with a man like him”. Like I get it, Greek mythology was extremely sexist, but this is a modern retelling! The author couldn’t do anything differently? She just had to include a sexual assault scene that’s not in the original myth???

Atmosphere / world building: 3

I could picture everything pretty well. The scene was definitely set. No other comments.

Plot / pacing: 2.5

The first half is very fast-paced, and then the story very much drags. The war felt a lot longer than 10 years lol. As I mentioned in the character section, I’m annoyed that Miller added even more sexism to the original myth, but otherwise she seems to have stayed close to the mythology (though I learned Patroclus was actually a great warrior in Homer’s version so it’s extremely disappointing that Miller made him lovesick and weak). I learned a lot about the myth of Achilles, which is cool. Where does his heel come in though?!

Enjoyment: 2

Didn’t hate it, but definitely didn’t love it. Barely even liked it. A bit more wary of reading Circe now.

Also, I can’t help but feel that if this book was published today, in 2023, the reaction would have been very different. It was groundbreaking in 2011, when there was a dearth of queer adult books, but today there are so many wonderful choices with heartwarming and emotional relationships in them that are so much more enjoyable than this one.

Content Warnings

laceylove's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

estherl's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

miastegner's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

one of my cousin’s favorites!
•it could’ve used less misogyny in the way things were framed & overlooked (even with generous leeway for consideration of the time period and what might’ve been the main character’s honest point of view)
•I really appreciated that it didn’t shy away from the queerness of the story, and watching their love for each other evolve as they grew up was really beautiful
•the ending made my cry a little just like my cousin said it would (albeit only after all the death, at

Spoiler

the mother’s slow acceptance of her son’s chosen partner and eventual willingness to add his name on the grave).

Content Warnings

More...