Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

1017 reviews

badmom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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

The choice of first person narrative through Patroclus is clever & moving, giving the entire story more emotional depth, in addition to adding an outside perspective to one of the most famous Greek heroes. 

The historical references and details of weaponry & battle are peripheral; the bulk of attention is spent humanizing the characters through their lesser-known thoughts & behaviors. 

In the end, this well-known war story becomes a rich, beautiful examination of friendship, love, & family. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Misogyny, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, Slavery, and Infidelity

srolocs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape

bluedilly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Slavery, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content, Abandonment, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Classism, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, and Vomit

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death of parent, and Homophobia

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous 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

 It's always wyd and never "If I had words to speak such a thing, I would have. But there were none that seemed big enough for it, to hold that swelling truth." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Child abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

booklover01's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Self harm, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Genocide, Blood, Animal cruelty, Violence, Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

gaia004's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Blood, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Murder, Sexual violence, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cannibalism

lokioste's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

This is a slower burn with a rapid climax and finish. I think as a first book from Miller, it is solid.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, War, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Suicide, Blood, and Domestic abuse

rori_ratsoma's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted sad slow-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

My Roman Empire honestly 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cursing, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual content, Misogyny, War, Homophobia, and Violence

annamay1021's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Animal death, Blood, and Violence

jayvdw'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? It's complicated

4.5

The book started by surprising me, the main character is not Achilles??? I was in shock, but the more and more I read, it started to make sense with respect to the book's themes. Achilles was not just a man he was Aristos Achaion and for that reason would not be a good main character. The only person that could really convey the story of Achilles was Patroclus.

I was already very familiar with the story of Achilles, having read Heroes and Troy by Stephen Fry. But the interpretation of the original story by Madeline Miller made this story so much more than just another hero's journey. I really enjoyed that the main focus of the book wasn't on the Trojan war, as this story has been told numerous times.

Some other things that I really liked about the book were < spoiler> the change from Achilles being invulnerable, to just being a genius fighter who is still vulnerable to attacks. , the way gods were presented as selfish and unethical, and the conflicted depiction of Odysseus, as a person with his own motives and drives.

The ending of the book was perfectly executed. While reading I was wondering how Madeline Miller would pull this off, but she clearly exceeded my expectations. 

For my rating: I loved the book, but I have two minus points. First, the book sometimes felt a bit too slow-paced for my liking. Secondly, the book missed a certain spark to get 5 stars. I only felt this spark in the last 4 chapters. For this reason, I gave it a 4.5.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault