Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

231 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

(I just accidentally deleted my long review so this is a shorter version.) This book is extraordinary, so, so, SO good. For books this fabulous, there needs to be rating of 5+ stars. 

The author gives us a love story for the ages, as we watch Achilles grow from childhood to his late 20s, his life intertwined with that of Patroclus, his companion from the age of eleven. This book is beautiful and powerful and vivid, and I was entranced by both the characters and their stories. 

I have always loved Greek myths. My reading this just confirms my bewilderment that people ever stopped worshipping the Greek gods; they are all of us, our worst and our best selves, our love and jealousy and anger and wisdom.

Again, I must repeat that this book is extraordinary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

nottheexplorer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lavenderzinnia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Self harm, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Outing, and Classism

thequillhand's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, and Rape

nolan_nolano's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.75

Lots of violence 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Abandonment

erkhaly's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content and Abandonment

spatterson7's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

pantslint's review against another edition

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

5.0

For anyone with some vague familiarity with Greek mythology, we as readers know that Achilles and Patroclus will die. It takes a skilled author to tell a tale that has existed for over thousands of years in a new, beautiful, and interesting way, and Miller is such an author. There are also key points in the novel where I could tell she made very clear and intentional choices that added to the story.
For instance:

• Writing the story in Patroclus's POV allows us to root for not only their love, but also Achilles himself,
  especially when he becomes brutish (and a dishonorable asshole) in his grief towards the end
• Maintaining that Iphigenia did not go willingly to her sacrifice (Ch. 18), to show how even the side we root for in the war are capable of brutality and are not to be trusted, further emphasizing how Achilles and Patroclus truly only have each other
• Keeping things interesting through intense foreshadowing throughout the book, like
  Patroclus's constant observations of Achilles's pink heels (already in Ch. 1!)
  or
  when Briseis calls Patroclus "Best of men. Best of the Myrmidons." (Ch. 28) after we learn of the new prophecy (Ch. 24)

Miller wields metaphor as if she's done so since birth because some of these lines she was seriously COOKIN shit up!!!!

• "Achilles did not slur my name, as people often did, running it together as if in a hurry to be rid of it (Ch. 5)."
• "I said his name... It blew through me; I was hollow as a reed hung up for the wind to sound" (Ch. 10).
• "Did [Chiron] know, or only guess at Achilles' destiny? As he lay alone in his rose-colored cave, had some glimmer of prophecy come to him? Perhaps he simply assumed: a bitterness of habit, of boy after boy trained for music and medicine, and unleashed for murder" (Ch. 16). I MEAN C'MON A LITERAL ROSE-COLORED CAVE WHERE THEY LIVED OUT THEIR INNOCENT BOYHOOD ARE YOU KIDDING ME
• "The only sound I hear is my own heaving lungs, air pumped into my chest and pushed from it. Hector's spear lifts over me, tipping like a pitcher. And then it falls, a spill of bright silver, towards me" (Ch. 30).
• Hector wearing Achilles's armor and Achilles literally "chasing himself" (Ch. 31) because his hubris led him to chase fame... but also Hector, a killer to him but a hero to Troy. Sounds like someone we know????

This book devastated me and it's the best one I've read all year. It makes me want to write 5 different essays. A story about a love so sweet and a grief so deep. I'm so sad. I'm going to read fanfiction about Achilles and Patroclus reuniting in the afterlife now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and War

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

davbat's review against another edition

emotional tense 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

Extremely tragic, even more than you'd expect going into it with knowledge of the story. Time after time, Miller shows you what could have been if not for fate/pride/war. Extremely tragic doomed romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Murder, and War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Slavery, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Outing

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

Rape and murder are just as common as in the original myth but without any of the euphemism

caitlinspeachyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-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

2.5

I understand why there is such a hype around the genre of book but I struggled to connect with Achilles. Also the constant threat and statements of woman being SA’d really added to made the struggle to enjoy this. 

Loved seeing a LGBT+ story being so well regarded. Wish I liked it more! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment