Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

41 reviews

mangofraiche's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

chaterbox87's review

adventurous emotional sad medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Kidnapping

Minor: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jhbandcats's review

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

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

_pauline's review against another edition

adventurous sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

first of all, this book is GORY af

If you like greek mythology & don’t mind the content warnings, this might be for you. (ignore my review then, though)

The combination of war & romance was weird - I don’t need to read about how beautiful someone looks while killing people; neither did I want to read about 13 year olds forced to have sex (if that’s needed to accurately describe what that time was like, it could’ve at least been less detailed); same with animal killings, though ig that too is unavoidable considering the context

I didn’t love the pacing, character development & all the talk about feet etc?? Achilles got progressively more unlikeable (this really is a story about his irrational, insufferable pride), and I cared a lot more about Briseis. She was so right when she said

'You care more for him in death than in life […] Kill me. It will not bring him back. He was worth ten of you. Ten! And you sent him to his death!' […] He fought to save you, and your darling reputation.
Because he could not bear to see you suffer! […] You have never deserved him. I do not know why he ever loved you. You care only for yourself! […] I hope that Hector kills you.'

'Do you think I do not hope the same?' he asks

The last 100 pages were kind of page-turning & heartbreaking though and it got better and better until the very last page. Can’t say I always enjoyed reading this, but I don’t think it’s a bad book.
It didn’t live up to the hype in my opinion BUT tbf I never cared - or knew much - about greek mythology, nor am I a big fan of war novels or romance, so I really am the worst possible person to review this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

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

hamstringy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

It is hard to write a book like this. Miller writes a tragedy with a clear and incisive voice, one that makes room for the joy and horror of a life under gods. Made me cry. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Blood, Medical content, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Rape

anmane's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

2.0

The book was well written in terms of language and pacing, but the subject matter - by this I mean the war, not the romance - was hard for me to stomach. The focus is on the male characters, as it is in the source material, and how women, children or indeed all humans are treated is not sugarcoated. Also, because of the subject matter, there is a lot of violence, gore and cruelty. I also hated Achilles as a character, which made the motivation of Patroclus' actions hard to understand. Will not read again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Pregnancy