Reviews tagging 'Outing'

The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller

32 reviews

gabriella_'s review

adventurous dark hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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?

I am at a loss for words for how beautiful this story was. It has renewed my interest in Greek Mythos, which is a tough task.

Spoiler

“Patroclus, I have given enough to them. I will not give them this.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Grief, Sexism, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Violence, War, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Kidnapping, Outing, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Death, and Sexual assault

pitedavid's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Murder, Violence, Death, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Slavery, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Homophobia, Outing, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Sexism, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Self harm, Child death, Misogyny, and Classism

dragonbornsandwaffles's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

If you're like me and haven't read the Iliad before reading this, be prepared for a lot of heartbreak with this book. Had heard great things but no one warned me in advance and it was really, really hard to get through. Beautifully written, but painful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Self harm, Gaslighting, War, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Transphobia

cozybec's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

How do I rate a book that I hated so much at the beginning, but loved so much at the end?

I feel like, after a decade past it's release, there are a lot of things that have already been said about The Song of Achilles, a majority of which boil down to naming this book a classic, heralding it as one of the best retellings, and giving it major props as a novel with queer representation - and to all that I say... I guess?

My biggest issues with this novel was the fact it's an adult fantasy that I've seen for years mismarketed as something for teens. Which, while the main characters are young - a majority of this book takes place during the preteens and teens of Patroclus and Achilles - it made me so vastly uncomfortable to have pages and pages (or hours, since I listened to the audiobook) devoted to the grown Patroclus reflecting on his sexual past with Achilles and mentioning his feet every chance he got. (His feet are an overarching mention and callback to the original myth of Achilles, but it's very heavy-handed.) Ultimately, this is an adult piece of fiction that contains a lot more than just a tragic love story between two fallen princes entangled with fate.

Yes, from a technical standpoint, this is a beautiful piece of work. It made me feel a lot of things, and though I didn't cry, the ending three chapters were truly some of the best literature I've listened to in a long time - but, I just feel like it fluttered to the floor for me, like a dropped sheet of paper - it's just kind of there. My favorite parts were few and far in between, the moments with Chiron shone as some of my favorites, but then were quickly dashed by how annoyed I got with Achilles' and his relationship with Thetis. Unfortunately, that annoyance only continued to grow as I really, deeply loved Miller's description of war once Troy was finally breached as a plot point - but was always annoyed when Achilles' unflinching love for his goddess mother reappeared.

I don't know how to rate this. I'm giving it a three because of that. The ending was beautiful, especially the ending line, and I particularly enjoyed the way the ending narration is set up. It was an unexpected surprise, but one that can't save this book for me. 

Content warnings: war, death, grief are present throughout. Rape and coercion are a huge plot point, beginning around chapter twelve/thirteen (with an uncomfortable scene, implications, then on page that I skipped) and then carry throughout the entirety of the Troy chapters which feature mistreatment of women heavily. I would urge readers to tread lightly and remember this is an adult fantasy, featuring multiple adult scenes. Separately, I will add that there are sex scenes, some of them between underage Patroclus and Achilles, some of them not, varying in their degree of description.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Rape, Death, War, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism, Transphobia, Slavery, Physical abuse, Outing, Misogyny, Child abuse, Bullying, Injury/injury detail, Homophobia, Child death, Blood, and Sexism

eatmytoe404's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad fast-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

5.0

it was wonderful and i cant stop crying

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Grief, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Slavery, Sexism, Classism, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Cursing, Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Outing, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Gore, Child abuse, Medical content, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts

athena10257's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Violence, and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Body horror, Medical content, Abandonment, and Cursing

Minor: Pregnancy, Animal death, and Outing

captainoliimar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/injury detail, Medical content, Rape, Abandonment, Death, Incest, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Self harm, Biphobia, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Suicide

pointlessmoss's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

 The caring, devoted bond of the main relationship, and the grief of being a good person, the desperation for honour and fame, the fear of loss, are so heart-wrenching -- both in the sweetest and most painful ways -- and they fit together perfectly in romantic and blunt prose that held onto me and didn't let me go until the end. I'm so glad I read this so I could feel the joy and the tragedy and know the beauty of this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Child death, Injury/injury detail, Violence, and War

Moderate: Rape, Animal death, Sexism, Classism, Grief, Sexual violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit, Slavery, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Outing, and Fire/Fire injury

kt2e56's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

Beautifully written. There is no doubt about Madeline Miller’s skills as a writer. I actually think from a technical standpoint, she’s one of the most gifted writers we currently have. She has just such a way with words and even as someone fairly well-versed in Greek mythology who knows how this all ends, I was hooked as if this was a cast of characters I’d never heard of before.

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

entityj's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Blood, Injury/injury detail, Classism, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Grief, Outing, and Sexual content

Minor: Torture and Transphobia