A review by beth_loves_books
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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

aaahhh. this will probably be quite a ramble because i have a lot to say about this masterpiece. 
ok just to start by saying i loved this book and now i completely understand why it is so popular. despite that, it wasn't what i expected. i'd gone into it expecting to find it really sad and thought it was likely to make me cry. i say this as someone who has cried at quite a few books. i finished this book though, without any threat of tears. i did however feel sad in a heavy kind of way and i immediately wanted to restart the book. (i didn't but i think i will reread it at some point) i haven't been able to get the characters out of my head since i finished it (a few hours ago) and i feel like it will be hard to get into a new book because i'm still emotionally attached to Achilles and Patroclus. i'll put the next part as a spoiler, but if you know about greek mythology it won't spoil anything and it's not a spoiler that i think will affect anyone's enjoyment of the book. 

so i think part of the reason the ending of the book didn't terribly affect me was that as the story was told through Patroclus' eyes, we saw more of how he viewed and obviously loved Achilles than vice versa. we never saw Patroclus' death through the eyes of someone who was grieving for him.  this isn't a flaw in the book, just an explanation for my reaction to it. secondly, the ending was far from a shock. there was a lot of foreshadowing such as:  ‘And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth, when another is gone.’  (for some reason i can't put proper quotes in a spoiler 🤷‍♀️) this was again definitely not a flaw and the inevitability of their deaths in a way made it sadder.

 

moving on from my emotional reaction to the book; the writing style was just beautiful. i'm often a person who cares about plot more than the actual writing, but i was concious throughout the book of just how poetic the writing was without it every feeling tedious or overly descriptive. another thing i loved about this book was the amazing job the author did of showing rather than telling how Achilles and Patroclus loved each other by the sacrifices they made for watch other etc. i'm fairly sure their love was never started outright (i could be wrong) but it was very apparent. 

I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell, I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came as his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.

yet another thing i really liked (there are quite a few) were the moments where we were reminded that the main characters, although royalty and involved in war were just humans, and quite yound for much of the book. i think this quote demonstrates it well:

"So, which of the suitors would you have picked?" 
I shoved him, and he laughed.

a (probably) final comment about the book: prior to reading this i knew next to nothing about greek mythology and for the first few chapters i was confused with all the names and wondered if i would struggle with all the characters. while for most of the book i couldn't completely keep track of who was who, i don't really think it affected my enjoyment of the book.

in summary, i would completely recommend this book. whether or not it leaves you crying, it's a beautifully told story that has left me desperate to reread it and also to Circe, another popular book by the same author.