Rating 10/10
What a page turner! Action packed, thrilling, bold, sexy, vivid, mysterious...the list goes on. It's not often I give a full on 10/10 rating but this book totally blew my mind. I loved it.
The Song of Achilles is set in Ancient Greece during the age of heroes, wars and adventures. The story follows two main characters Achilles, and Patroclus. Achilles is a demi-god, and a basically perfect human being. In the physical sense, seeing as he's been #blessed with the God-like gene pool. He is Greece's hero according to most people in the story and is bold, heroic, strong....the list goes on. Achilles is in his prime y'all. Patroclus is an ordinary prince who ends up being exiled to King Peleus's court/castle, King Peleus is Achilles' father. In reality, these two should have never crossed paths, but by chance, Achilles ends up choosing Patroclus and all his issues and takes him under his wing as his sort of companion. Which btw is something that was normal to have in those days. They spend all their time together and grow into young men learning all sorts of valuable life lessons like, the art of fighting mostly for Achilles & medicine. They start to form a strong bond with each other throughout the years to which Achilles's mother who is a cold sea goddess is not fond of. Later on, news spreads that Helen of Sparta, the most beautiful woman in all the land has been kidnapped and is being held captive in Troy. Achilles decides to venture on this epic journey to Troy to be the hero that he is destined to be, and Patroclus joins him as he is now part of Achilles' life. Patroclus is torn between fear of and love for his companion. Thus begins the most EPIC adventure story ever!!
The Song of Achilles is this immense story about war, gods, battles, glory and kings, but it's also essentially a love story between Patroclus & Achilles. Madeline Miller was inspired by the story of the two men in Homer's Iliad. This story of Achilles and Patroclus goes way deeper than what Iliad did. It didn't try to hide the fact that they were lovers and had deep feelings for each other. Especially when you get towards the of the end of the book, you really feel the emotions and love between the two characters. I was blown away by how beautiful this relationship was in the story. Talk about your LGBTQ book, it was saucy as fudge !! But not vulgar or crass at all, the character development was excellent and you were truly pulled into the story of Achilles and Patroclus and their journey to Troy, as well as the legendary drama of being at war in Troy. It's basically a Romeo and Juliet tale, beautifully done.
I absolutely loved The Song of Achilles. Whenever I wasn't reading it I found myself looking forward to reading it a lot. It literary has everything. It's thrilling, sexy, romantic, adventurous, & the storytelling is incredible! I could visually see all of the characters right in front of me and felt like I was right there with them. Also, I have to say that Miller's take on this book is so necessary. It completed the story, you really get to know both characters so well and their complex relationship for each other blossoms so patiently through the years. I would say that if your a fan of Greek Mythology, and have watched movies/TV shows like Hercules, Troy, Gladiator (Roman period), dude you gotta read this. This is right up in that alley but like wayyy better! But also if you just love a good adventure story then add this to your list. I loved all the crazy names in Greek Mythology too. Madeline Miller is an incredible storyteller, this book is very easy to read and it really captures your attention.
Fun fact about Madeline Miller.* It took her 10 years to write this book plus it was her first novel. #lifegoals She also won the Orange Prize for Fiction for this book in 2012. I seriously cannot wait to now read Circe, her 2nd novel released in 2018. It is literary everywhere and on everyone's reading list. Plus this time it's about a heroine, and y'know I'm all about that girl power!
The Song of Achilles = Epic book! (And an awesome book cover too)
To Buy 'The Song of Achilles' for yourself, CLICK HERE for Amazon Books
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