The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Genres: LGBTQ, Romance, Greek retelling, Historical Fiction
Pages: 408
Cover: Paperback
Age rating: 14+
Buy on: Amazon, Barnes and Noble
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Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," is a powerful, nimble, and attractive man who captivates everyone he encounters. He is the son of the legendary king Peleus and the terrible sea goddess Thetis. An awkward young prince named Patroclus was banished from his native country following a horrific act of violence. Despite running the risk of incurring the wrath of the gods, they develop an unbreakable relationship after being brought together by chance.
The centaur Chiron teaches them the skills of medicine and warfare, but when word spreads that Helen of Sparta has been abducted, all of Greece's heroes are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her honor. Achilles joins their cause after being seduced by the prospect of a magnificent future, and Patroclus, who is conflicted between dread and love for his buddy, follows. They have no idea that the ruthless Fates will put them to the ultimate test and require a horrible sacrifice.
General Opinion
Beautiful, wholesome, romantic, depressing, tragic, perfection are how I will describe this book. I didn't cry physically when I read this, but I am crying internally and will not be ok for some time.
Characters
Patroclus is THE MAN, THE STANDARD! His love for Achilles is just so beautiful and perfect, and him saying that Achilles is "half of my soul"... sobbing internally. Patroclus is kind, caring, and earns the love and respect from the Greeks in the Trojan war. He was willing to risk his life for the people he loves, and I guarantee that he would do it again.
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Achilles, um... I never am annoyed at the love interest in a romance book, but I want to STRANGLE Achilles. I don't hate Achilles, but HOW DARE HE!!! If self-centered, narcissistic, arrogant, egotistic was a person, then Achilles is that person. Can't blame him though, war changed him, and being the greatest warrior could get into a person's head. But I was so mad at him when he was willing to risk Patroclus' life for his fame and honor, GRAHHHHH!!! When Briseis said "He fought to save you, and your darling reputation. Because he could not bear to see you suffer!", she ATE, said it LOUDER! Achilles needed that reality check, that he had no one to blame but himself, maybe other than Agamemnon :))
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I HATE Achilles's son, I'm not gonna go into why Achilles has a son, but his son is cruel and a brat.
​Plot
I like to imagine that the book ends in the first 100 pages, where Achilles and Patroclus stay at Pelion with Chiron, get married and live forever, a happy ending for everyone. ​​​But instead, I am now screaming, yelling, crying internally, and the only thing that keeps me sane is knowing they will reunite.
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The first half of the book was about their childhood, where everything was sunshine, fun, and happy, where they were just themselves, before Achilles turned vicious. However, the tone shifted once they go to fight in Troy, the story keeps on getting sadder, more depressing, and there's the ending...
The thing is, I go into this book, knowing what will happen, as I am a huge Greek mythology fan, but still not expected the blow that it will give me. It was so perfectly executed, so beautifully written that you could feel the emotion through the page.
​​​​​​​Conclusion
Overall, I recommend the Song of Achilles, which can deal with a bittersweet ending, if you hate sad endings, please don't read this, you will just torture yourself. But this book was perfect, the whole way, I finished it in 2 days, and now I'm having one of the biggest book hangovers. ​