Author: Madeline Miller
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre: Retelling
Format: Hardback
Pages: 352
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their difference, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess.
But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.
I've had this books sitting in one of my TBR piles for longer than I really want to admit. There were a lot of things Song of Achilles that pulled me in: the covers were amazing, I love Greek History, and the Iliad is one of my favorites. However, I've never been much of a romance reader, and I have a bad habit of passing on books based around any romance because that's usually the part of the plot that annoys. Like I said a bad habit.
So a huge thanks to everyone who voted for Song of Achilles during Make Me Read It Readathon last week!
Holy crap! Madeline Miller hooked from the first page. The entire book is told through Patroclus's point of view, which I thought was a nice change. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with him as a character. I liked how he understood his faults, but instead of spending pages whining about them, he accepted them. Accepted himself. It's not that he didn't wish to be more, or he didn't try, he just knew that he'd never really be the man his father wanted.
As for the story itself, I thought it moved along very smoothly. There wasn't ever really a moment where I thought the story slowed, or wondered felt the need to put down the book because the story was dragging along. In fact it was just the opposite. I had hard time of putting the book down. Of finding a place to pause to do other things, like go to work. Which I feel is a good problem to have with a book.
Who needs sleep?
One of my favorite parts is that through Patroclus you get to see the man behind the legend of Achilles. How his mistakes shaped him, how his mother shaped him, and maybe how Patroclus always seemed to remind how to be mortal. It's a beautiful story that I wished I would have picked up sooner.
The problem for me was knowing how the story ends. All through the story you know the outcome because of the Iliad and the movie Troy. Sadly there are certain aspects that cannot change, and the more foreshadowing that came to the events. The closer to the end of the book, the hard it became to read. Because I didn't want to see Patroclus go through that, didn't want to see Achilles loose him, and I didn't want Pyrrhus to come alone.
No one likes you Pyrrhus!
However, the ending is totally worth going through the pain. I really liked how Madeline Miller tied everything up. I enjoyed the whole book, and I really should have snagged Song of Achilles up sooner. My copy is already on its way to a friend who I think will also thoroughly enjoy it, and I've had a other friends add it their ever growing TBR as well!
Buy, Borrow, or Skip: Definitely do not skip this one! In whatever format you read pick up!
