Hey everyone! It’s been a really long time since I’ve written a book review, so I thought why not give it a go again? And yes, I finally came around to reading this incredible, heartbreaking book *cough i suck cough*
As you already know, well at least those who have been on my blog before, I’m not the greatest at writing these, but I will try my best (this is going to be a long review lol). So if it’s horrible, yOu cAn’T sAY i DiDn’T wArN yA.
So let’s get into this, and I’ll try to keep the gifs minimum. Also, if you’ve been here before, then you know that I like to ramble and sip all the tea. But for all you newbies (hi lovelies🙋♀️☺️), please buckle your seatbelts. And grab that pipping hot tea, and maybe a nice snack. And here we goooooo
Disclaimer: As usual these are my personal opinions. And I definitely do not mean to offend anyone in any shape or form.
Warning: Ya girl is extra illiterate today, meaning welcome to the world of literal rubbish and grammatical errors.
Title: The Song of Achilles
Author: Madeline Miller
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Book Summary:
Greece is known for their golden heroes; those who can summon lightening and control the ocean’s waves. But in the depths of Greece, there is a prince named Patroclus who was exiled to the kingdom of King Peleus at a young age. There Patroclus meets Achilles, the King’s perfect son, who takes him in as an equal. An unlikely friendship forms between the two, leading to an unbreakable bond. However, as the years pass and as prophecies are told and memorized, Achilles and Patroclus must test their love and trust in one another as they journey to Troy to save Helen of Sparta. Will their friendship be able to sustain the threats of Thetis, the cruel sea goddess and Achilles’ mother? What will happen when one meets fame too great for their destiny? Who will be the real hero at the end of the story?
My Main thoughts:
- I really enjoyed the greek mythology that this book is centered around
- The character development of Patroclus was great
- Certain scenes could have been slowed down, and maybe less time jumps (in my opinion)
- I loved the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles
Non Spoiler Review:
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller was certainly not what I had expected. In fact, it was a million times better and completely exceeded my expectations. This book is written in the prospective of Patroclus, an exiled prince who is described as weak amongst the other royals and gods. The Song of Achilles follows the theme of fame, power, love, friendship, and much more.
I admit that I have never been a huge historical fiction girl, so that’s why I put off reading this beautiful book for so long. Oh how stupid that was of me. This book, in my humble opinion, is a well written story about two boys who are on opposite ends of a spectrum, coming together through an unbreakable bond that they created through acceptance.
First, to my surprise I really enjoyed and loved the Greek mythology that this book is centered around. I have always been interested by Greece’s history and the myths surrounding Gods, and I really appreciated how this book covered a lot of it. I know that books such as TSOA are basically a modernized version of the myths, but it still intrigued me.
Second, character development is one of the most important parts of a well written story. And let me just say that TSOA, hands down, had one of the best character developments I have ever read. At first, I didn’t really care much about Patroclus, but the more I read and the more his character grew, the more I fell in love with him and the story. I really really loved watching his character grow into the warrior he was meant to be.
Third, I wanted to address two of my least preferred things in this book. To be honest, I didn’t really mind the time jumps, but I do think that less of them would have been better. Most of the times, we would be skipping yearS. Yes, years plural. The books would skip anywhere between a year to five(+) years I believe. But not only were there significant jumps, at times I felt that the story was really rushed, and certain details were not as developed or explained as much as I hoped them to be.
And lastly, I loved the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles. Not only their romance based relationship, but the friendship that led them to where they ended. Achilles being the Aristos Achaion (best of the Greeks), and Patroclus being this almost outlaw figure, it shows that their relationship was based off of nothing more or less than love, trust, and acceptance. They were not made of up of lies, and they were able to ignore all the hate that came their way. This is now my favorite LGBTQ+ book 😁
The End for y’all who haven’t read The Song of Achilles yet 😂
LET’S TALK IN THE COMMENTS! ARE YOU GOING TO READ THIS BOOK IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY?
Well that’s the end of the non-spoiler review section. So if you haven’t read the book, go read it! And if this is the end of the post for you, thank you for sticking around and have a good day or night! 🙂
SPOILERS COMING UP
SPOILERS AHEAD
I WARNED YOU
Spoiler Review:
Okay, I’m going to dive right on in here because I’ve been dying to discuss/write everything out. But I doubt I’m going to write these events in chronological order, so please bear with me…
First, I want to discuss how Achilles was not ashamed of his relationship with Patroclus. For someone who cares so damn much about his reputation, I was so happy when he told Patroclus that he didn’t care what others thought, and when he told his advisor or whoever that Patroclus was his Philatos. It made my heart so happy because of the love and respect in that scene.
Second, I want to talk about one thing real quick, and that one thing being Briseis. I have to say that Briseis was one of my fav characters in the book because she knows all them tea and because of how brave she was, leading me to be depressed when Achilles’ ass of a son killed her. But putting that aside, I have to say that I was a little shook when she wanted to do the DiRty with Patroclus.
Third, I was so so happy when Patroclus was recognized by everyone in their camp during the later part of the second half of the book. He was such a great person, strong and kind, and it was great to see him finally getting the recognition and friends that he deserved all along.
Fourth, the whole ending in general. No, not just when the water works started to r a m into me like a 5 t o n bus, but also when Achilles started turning into a fame and power hungry ass. I hate how he was so desperate to keep up his damn reputation that he was blind enough to send off the only stability he had. So 👏 stupid 👏 I am literally so salty about that because it all basically leads to the death of my baby Patroclus *sniffle*
UGH. wHaT hAs hECtOR eVEr dONE tO mE hE sAiD *hear my clapping y’all*
But I would like to address the fact that I had spoiled myself before I get into my last point. SO FuN sTorY TiME: Basically I was having a blast reading this book, but ever heard of the phrase that curiosity killed the cat? Yeah no, curiosity fucking slaughtered the cat. And because my lovely book has a guide to each character, I decided to read more about Patroclus. And let me just say that I read a little too much about him (more specifically his d e a t h).
Look, I saw it coming. I knew one would have to die, and I had a good guess that it would be my baby, but I was kind of blindsided on who did it. Fun story over *cries*
And now lastly, I want to talk about Thetis. I hate this cold stone bitch, but I want to focus on who she became at the very very end of this book. Look, I’m not about to say that she is a true goddess, but I have to admire what she did. Maybe her granting Patroclus allowance to be with Achilles in the Underworld was an act of grief for her lost son, or maybe she really did have a change of heart, but regardless of what she was, the last scene with her really touched my heart because at the end of the day she was a mother who lost her son, who she obviously loved so much.
Okay, well let’s wrap it up here Kat 😂 If you actually made it this far, extreme kudos to you dude. I’m high key flattered.
IF YOU’VE READ THIS BOOK, LET’S TALK ABOUT IT IN THE COMMENTS!
That’s the end of this long review! Thank you for sticking around and I hope that you enjoyed this. I hope you’ve liked my reviews so far 😬 If you have any suggestions on how I can improve, please let me know in the comments! Anyways, have a good day or night! 😊🖤
The Perks Of Being A Daydreamer 
Kat ! That’s so great review!
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Thank you so much lovely! 😭🖤
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