Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, and Xenophobia
The tears did not come. It could be because the ending is obvious, it is an almost exact copy of the Illiad after all. Or it could be that disregarding the first few pages, this book failed to rouse any other emotion but disgust.
It's false marketing, in a way. In the beginning, the plot sucks you in, despite the fact you know how it will end. A Greek tragedy is quite predictable in that way, unfortunately.
Any joy I had from spotting the famous quotes is swiftly ruined. I detested Patroclus' defeatest approach towards almost anything in his life (if there appeared to be a sliver of non-defeatism, it was apparently gods' will). I suppose we are supposed to read it as being a product of his environment - his father had literally beaten him down until there was not a sliver of self-respect left within his body. He will not try. He explicitely refuses to do so.
Spoiler
There is this scene where he and Achilles are in the mountains and Chiron asks him whether he would like to become better at his fighting skills. It's not a lost cause, he says. However, one look at ‘perfect’ Achilles and he gives up, there’s no need he says. Is he afraid of being abandoned by Achilles were he to improve? How can such a person pass as Achilles in the Trojan war? That is the whole point of him! (It is not, but at this point, it's my utter frustration with this drivel of a book speaking)
The whole thing at Scyros comes out of nowhere. He makes a complete 180 from his character before, doesn’t really fit. Without absolutely no character development, where does this assertive person comes from?
Another absolutely senseless character trait of Patroclus: if he loves Achilles so much, and is convinced of the duplicity of others, why does he never make a move to protect him from this duplicity? Odysseus and Thetis come to mind, but there are many other cases when it was done by others...
Not even a mid-way through the book, the adoration of Achilles does get a bit too much and I did start to hope for it to end. Please end! Because apart from a bit of Illiad recap, there's not much of a plot to speak of.
Maybe I've let myself be influenced by the reviews I read, but in a way, by pointing out the fallacies, you begin to notice them. Then again, I took a break from reading the book about a third through, and that may have put a damper on my enthusiasm a bit. You stop reading the book through pink lenses and see it a bit more objectively, or as much as a subjective reader can get objective.
Some parts seem as if standing on their own in the text - shining beacons masquerading as quotes. But surrounded by tar. None of the characters in this book are symphathetic in any way. Though on the bright side, sometimes it’s so cute it makes me smile.
One sentence review: Achilles and his glossy hair is a device of Patroclus' weepy martyrdom.