Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

La canción de Aquiles, by Madeline Miller

130 reviews

_bobatea_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense 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: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Slavery, Classism, Child abuse, Abandonment, Grief, War, Violence, Sexism, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Outing, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Sexual assault

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, and Vomit

beelum294's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, Violence, Gore, and Infidelity

Moderate: Pregnancy and Rape

ankiaisreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Toxic relationship, Death, Murder, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Child death, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, War, Pregnancy, Outing, Kidnapping, Incest, Genocide, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content

Moderate: Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Death, Homophobia, Gore, Emotional abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Genocide, Child abuse, and Bullying

ratatouilllie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Suicide attempt, Gore, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Blood, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Vomit

emolr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, War, Violence, and Slavery

kam_be's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Trafficking, Medical content, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Rape, Murder, Death, Child death, Animal death, War, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Child abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

lhyz's review

emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I tried so hard to like this book. I tried, really. Because I didn't want to be that person who feigns to be "different" by criticizing the book everybody praises.

But honestly, WTF.

This is the book I've seen everywhere as "hearbreaking" and "best love story"?
If this is what people undestand by love now, I'm worried.

The book is narrated by Patroclus in first person.
I liked him. The original one. I'm fond of that kind of simple and nice secondary characters. But this Patroclus is the most unreliable narrator I've ever read. He's treated poorly by his father and has a childhood of believing himself worthless. Then he moves, meets Achilles and looks like there will character development. 
Wrong. He's presented as useless and his only trait is how much he admires and loves Achilles. Talking about him all the time to a creepy-fan level, to be honest. Doesn't look creepier because the hero corresponds his affections. 
Physically. 
Because I've never met two lovers with less chemistry in my life.

For a modern book, I'm suprised about how little direct dialogue we have between characters, specially the two main ones. And barely any real romantic action between them, just Patroclus' monologue.

I still don't undestand that scene between him and Deyanira. Had that involved any other character, I could justify it by the narrator (and thus, the reader) not having access to the character's thoughts. But this is between Deyanira and Patroclus and he IS the NARRATOR.

Another thing that makes no sense to me is the villanification of Thetis. She is written as the most stereotypical evil step-mother from a Disney/fairytale.
And what for? I imagine that, because ⅔ of the story is just them being kids and teens, the book needed some kind of "obstacle". It actually suprised me, to find such a maintream "she's a witch" attitude with Thetis just so the boys have something "against them" before the actual war. Specially with the great work she did with Circe.

If, like me, your favourite part of the book was the events of the Trojan war; read TROY, by Stephen Fry.

Oh, and the Spanish translation is horrible. Outdated and old terms chosen, I believe, to imitate the language used in old scholar works to talk about Ancient Greece mixed with incredibly informal and modern slang terms when writing direct dialogue.
But at least for once, our edition is prettier.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Child death, Bullying, Grief, Slavery, Racism, Blood, Classism, Infidelity, War, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

angelinaisoutoforder's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Violence, Death, Blood, Gore, War, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Grief, and Infidelity

bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Even knowing the story of Patroclus and Achilles in broad strokes, i was gripped by the incredible storytelling. The role of legacy and memory in the story was done exceptionally well. the roots of the story shone in a retelling with modern sensibilities intertwined with in. This work is an incredible achievement in writing and adapting a story that for many exists only as a footnote in the large story of the trojan war. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Blood, Gore, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Genocide, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Slavery, Child death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

Minor: Abandonment, Rape, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

singalana's review against another edition

hopeful reflective relaxing slow-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

This book was hyped all over BookTube, and compared to the last hyped book I read (The Priory of the Orange Tree), this actually holds up to the hype. This is a historical novel telling the story of Achilles and Patroclus. Achilles is a son of the goddess, prophesied to be a legendary warrior. Patroclus is a son of a king, but his father exiles him. This story follows their journey as they meet as young boys and develop a relationship.

The story is told from the perspective of Patroclus, as he gets to know Achilles and eventually falls in love with him. The author does a good job creating likeable but eventually flawed characters with distinct personalities and voices. The story moves slowly, taking the time it needs to build the relationships and the characters. The writing flows beautifully, painting a vivid picture.

The story is bittersweet. If you know the myth of Achilles, you have a sense of impending doom from the start, but even if you don’t the prophecies relating to Achilles are revealed rather early on. Still, the ending moved me and surprised me. 

I can’t think of much to criticize about this book except for the brutalities of War (especially regarding women), but I can’t fault the author for painting an accurate picture of the story of Achilles and the realities of war. The book isn’t unnecessarily gory, and it’s a beautiful story, and I would recommend it to everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Death, Sexism, and War

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Animal death, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Blood, Infidelity, Grief, and Sexual assault