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A review by itshaldun
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
As a retelling of one of the most famous stories of all time, with an already established mythology, setting and characters, this book had the easiest job imaginable, yet still managed to fell flat.
The book is a young-adult romance trying to disguised as a Greek epic. It does neither of these jobs adequately. Romance is extremely standard and predictable, stops developing abruptly around halfway point so the actual story of the epic can continue.
Speaking of the Epic part, it portraits events in a way that is removed from the grandiose of the actual story to make way for realistic proportions and subdued language, which is one of the biggest insults to the Epic genre. It is a story about a Demigod, no-one is expecting a language grounded in reality.
So in the end, the story features the characters and the mythology, but doesn’t feel like a story of a Greek demigod. As it stands, it basically reads like a fan-fiction you’d find on Tumblr, a good one sure, but certainly not a Best Seller.
2/5 - One Point for Achilles who is still the most interesting character, one point for the actual Greek Mythology, zero points for creativity.
The book is a young-adult romance trying to disguised as a Greek epic. It does neither of these jobs adequately. Romance is extremely standard and predictable, stops developing abruptly around halfway point so the actual story of the epic can continue.
Speaking of the Epic part, it portraits events in a way that is removed from the grandiose of the actual story to make way for realistic proportions and subdued language, which is one of the biggest insults to the Epic genre. It is a story about a Demigod, no-one is expecting a language grounded in reality.
So in the end, the story features the characters and the mythology, but doesn’t feel like a story of a Greek demigod. As it stands, it basically reads like a fan-fiction you’d find on Tumblr, a good one sure, but certainly not a Best Seller.
2/5 - One Point for Achilles who is still the most interesting character, one point for the actual Greek Mythology, zero points for creativity.