gabriella_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Spoiler
“I thought, This is what Achilles will feel like when he is old. And then I remembered: he will never be old.”I have never read a love story convey so much closeness. Even the physical gap between their bodies must have been too much distance for them to bear.
The prose reads like poetry. The story was incredibly satisfying and kept my interest. I got teary-eyed a few times. This is a story where two characters dare to love in a world where marrying for love is an outlier.
Spoiler
Odysseus was the only other person who was truly in love in this book?Spoiler
“Patroclus, I have given enough to them. I will not give them this.”Graphic: Sexism, Alcohol, Animal death, Pregnancy, Murder, Child death, Medical content, Torture, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Death, Grief, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, War, Blood, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Outing, and Violence
kt2e56's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I read Circe first and I found it to be much, much more relatable due to my own personal history and experiences but this book was just as spectacular. I love that this was all told from the point of view of Patroclus. He’s compelling and it’s lovely to see his own story fleshed out. His love for Achilles is touching but I think Achilles eventually becomes so unlikeable that it’s hard to see what Patroclus still sees in him and why he still so readily would give up everything for him.
And Achilles himself is seen as complex here! Which is fine! Complex is good and I’m glad that he wasn’t always the attentive, loving, nurturing boy that Patroclus fell for and believed in. I think the story of Achilles here (and eventually Pyrrhus although he’s a much more extreme example) is a fascinating look at masculinity. Achilles is beautiful and sensitive and kind. He loves music and pretty things and nature. We see this throughout. But it isn’t until he starts demanding the treatment he believes he deserves and stamping out all that’s beautiful and tender about him that he could be seen as great and powerful by the world around him. He believes he’s entitled to greatness and he reaches a point where he really buys into his own hype and doesn’t care who he’s harmed as long as he gets what he believes he deserves as this pinnacle of masculinity, the best of the best. He can only become a hero by embracing cruelty and he’d rather be a hero and be remembered by everyone than remembered only by his love, Patroclus: the only person who ever really knew him at all.
I’ll be thinking about this book for awhile. It’s hard not to. It’s so rich and textured. I’m giving this a 4.5 instead a 5, only because I started to grow a bit numb from reading cruelty after cruelty and atrocity after atrocity but I can absolutely recognize that that has nothing to do with Miller’s skill as a writer, and has everything to do with my own personal preferences.
Graphic: Child death, Murder, Sexual assault, Death, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Misogyny, Injury/injury detail, War, Violence, Rape, Blood, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Outing, Animal death, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking
katrin_l's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, and Xenophobia
The tears did not come. It could be because the ending is obvious, it is an almost exact copy of the Illiad after all. Or it could be that disregarding the first few pages, this book failed to rouse any other emotion but disgust. It's false marketing, in a way. In the beginning, the plot sucks you in, despite the fact you know how it will end. A Greek tragedy is quite predictable in that way, unfortunately. Any joy I had from spotting the famous quotes is swiftly ruined. I detested Patroclus' defeatest approach towards almost anything in his life (if there appeared to be a sliver of non-defeatism, it was apparently gods' will). I suppose we are supposed to read it as being a product of his environment - his father had literally beaten him down until there was not a sliver of self-respect left within his body. He will not try. He explicitely refuses to do so.Spoiler
There is this scene where he and Achilles are in the mountains and Chiron asks him whether he would like to become better at his fighting skills. It's not a lost cause, he says. However, one look at ‘perfect’ Achilles and he gives up, there’s no need he says. Is he afraid of being abandoned by Achilles were he to improve? How can such a person pass as Achilles in the Trojan war? That is the whole point of him! (It is not, but at this point, it's my utter frustration with this drivel of a book speaking) The whole thing at Scyros comes out of nowhere. He makes a complete 180 from his character before, doesn’t really fit. Without absolutely no character development, where does this assertive person comes from? Another absolutely senseless character trait of Patroclus: if he loves Achilles so much, and is convinced of the duplicity of others, why does he never make a move to protect him from this duplicity? Odysseus and Thetis come to mind, but there are many other cases when it was done by others... Not even a mid-way through the book, the adoration of Achilles does get a bit too much and I did start to hope for it to end. Please end! Because apart from a bit of Illiad recap, there's not much of a plot to speak of. Maybe I've let myself be influenced by the reviews I read, but in a way, by pointing out the fallacies, you begin to notice them. Then again, I took a break from reading the book about a third through, and that may have put a damper on my enthusiasm a bit. You stop reading the book through pink lenses and see it a bit more objectively, or as much as a subjective reader can get objective. Some parts seem as if standing on their own in the text - shining beacons masquerading as quotes. But surrounded by tar. None of the characters in this book are symphathetic in any way. Though on the bright side, sometimes it’s so cute it makes me smile. One sentence review: Achilles and his glossy hair is a device of Patroclus' weepy martyrdom.bloodishdaisy's review
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Xenophobia, Death, War, and Violence
Minor: Blood
chlorai's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Sexual violence, War, Death, Xenophobia, Child death, Blood, Genocide, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Abandonment, Rape, and Misogyny
Minor: Homophobia
elysedc's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Medical content, War, Gore, Grief, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Abandonment, Gore, Sexual content, Homophobia, Murder, Grief, Violence, and War
Minor: Bullying, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Xenophobia, War, Injury/injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Rape, and Violence
feliz_in_a_bucket's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Animal death, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and War
Moderate: Homophobia, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Rape, Slavery, and Vomit
Minor: Xenophobia and Sexism
quinn24's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: War, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Murder, and Misogyny
Moderate: Gore, Death of parent, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Classism, Alcohol, Incest, and Sexual assault
Minor: Kidnapping, Rape, and Slavery
marianneb's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Child death, Slavery, Sexual content, Death, War, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Injury/injury detail, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Torture, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Medical content, and Suicide
therainbowshelf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
📚 The gist 📚: When Patroclus is exiled by his father, Achilles claims him as his companion. Their lives become deeply intertwined as they battle destiny (and Trojans)
📒Representation📒: mlm mc, Greek mythology and characters
💕 For readers looking for 💕: adaptations of Greek mythology, compelling character dynamics, outsmarting gods, a developing relationship that feels earned, war
Graphic: Slavery, Abandonment, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Gore, Grief, Death, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Rape and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual content