The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller

“I will never leave him. It will be this, always, for as long as he will let me.”

My decision to buy this may have been a combination of seeing a lot of people reading this book paired with my long-forgotten love for Greek Mythology. I was a bit hesitant at first, what if I didn’t like it as much? But this worry was not necessary. This is one of those books you still think about days later, at least it was for me.

The book in short

Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks,” son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods’ wrath.
They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
I found this information here.

What did I think about the book?
This story feels like meeting an old friend. It feels so familiar yet like a peek behind the curtain. When you realise while talking about things from ages ago and you just remember all these things you used to do together but there are all these new bits of information about what life was like and you wonder did I know you at all? Something familiar yet new and exciting.

This book was a hit from the second page. I thought it would be quite dry, as a teen I have read quite a lot of Greek Mythology, and even though I loved it. It could be very dry and complex with all the hard-to-pronounce names. Yet, this book struck a cord really quickly. It did feel intense, I had known about the premise of the story yet I had forgotten most of it. After a while, I felt dreadful because I knew in my heart where it would end but I had forgotten when and how that would occur. I think this is such a great book in general but especially for people who love mythology but have a hard time reading it.

This book was so entertaining. This book was hard to read on an emotional level. It’s like a car crash I knew they would die and that they first fall in love but it was the journey that was interesting. I wanted to savour every second of it which made the reading process go very slow. As I said I have always loved mythology, and I love this take on the story. It’s such a wonderful way to look at this classic story. It gives more of a background to a well known classic.

The ending was so good it was so sad. The story of the son was so heartbreaking because he was the worst of his parents. He was what Achilles would have become if it was not for Patrocollus. This book was wonderful, I felt it was great and I highly recommend it.

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