A review by tom_23
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

tw/rape
Oh boy. This book is amazing. can’t help but think it would be better if i’d read the iliad but that’s too long right now so here we are. everything about this book is amazing. it’s like bathing in honey which i realise would be disgusting but please respect the imagery. the characters were rich and loveable. i love patroclus.
it’s easier to summarise my dislikes so:
  • I don’t think enough changed during the very long timespan of the novel. it felt like every chapter started with “and then nine years later” which i think ruined it a bit. i realise that you can’t really do anything about this because of the iliad but nonetheless. despite this, the pace is kept perfectly and it flows like running water
  • this is a big one for me, and i know it’s important to the plot but i still don’t like it. Deidamia keeps raping people. with Achilles it felt like it was glossed over too quickly. that’s an important event and i would have liked to see how he dealt with it. and also patroclus. they both went through that and it’s never mentioned again. talking of patroclus, his rape seen was really weird and was the books lowest low. i think being coerced into sex with your boyfriend’s rapist is a lot more traumatic than what we see.

aside from this, a really great book that i really want to talk about. we need to talk about the end oh my god so sad, achilles’ whole descent and patroclus’ ghost. really tragic and very well done. i’m gonna read a lot more greek mythology this year i think
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