From the Bookshelf of ༊*·˚ Stuck On The Book ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧…

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

Start date: November 3, 2024

Finish date: December 1, 2024

Discussion: BOTM

Discussion leader: Alexia･ﾟﾟ･｡༉‧₊˚. ❧

Why we're reading this: NOVEMBER BOTM- Young adult
[close] NOVEMBER BOTM- Young adult

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last updated May 09, 2024 12:16PM

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last updated Apr 07, 2025 03:34PM

What Members Thought

Aug 23, 2022 caroline ౨ৎ FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sad, love-of-my-life

one of the absolute best books i've ever read. you will cry. but read it. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 12, 2023 autumn ✶ (ia) added it · review of another edition

I read this a while ago but never finished it maybe someday I will ♡

3 likes · Like · see review

Sep 29, 2023 veska rated it did not like it · review of another edition

“Achilles’s heel” has left the chat

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 14, 2022 arm rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy

updating my review of this since i didn’t have words to describe the whirlwind of emotions this book put me through. finished back in sept ‘22 but this is one of my roman empires, this is one of those books i couldn’t shut up about. this book made me fall in love with reading again. most people think anything to do with greek mythology is boring but this book was anything but, the characters, the plot, everything was written so beautifully, it captivated me from the start that i never wanted to ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2025 evie *s-ia* rated it did not like it

dnf at 28%

listen if i wanted to read a book about a passive main character who does nothing but look up to the golden boy love interest, i'd reread shatter me. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 03, 2023 Em ౨ৎ (semi-inactive) rated it it was amazing

➳ 𝟒.𝟓/𝟓 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨

"𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙗𝙮 𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙡; 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙, 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝. 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛, 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚.”

I love men who aren’t afraid to be sassy and petty (Achilles)
・❥ right person, not enough time
・❥ Forbidden romance
・❥ MxM
・❥ opposites attract

Achilles
“The Aristos Achaion,” son of the sea goddess Thetis, and Kind ➳ 𝟒.𝟓/𝟓 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨

"𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙗𝙮 𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙡; 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙙, 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝. 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛, 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚.”

I love men who aren’t afraid to be sassy and petty (Achilles)
・❥ right person, not enough time
・❥ Forbidden romance
・❥ MxM
・❥ opposites attract

Achilles
“The Aristos Achaion,” son of the sea goddess Thetis, and Kind Pelus. Achilles is described as strong, swift, and beautiful.
Patroclus
An awkward young prince who was exiled from his homeland. Son of Menoetius.

These two are brought together by chance and from an inseparable bond, despite being told many times it’s not safe.

The song of Achilles is going to leave me thinking about it for the next week, even while doing something totally different and unrelated I will think about it. It is a retelling of Iliad by Homer, and is mainly focused on the Trojan war.
The book is told from Patroclus’ perspective, which gets kind of confusing at some parts (for me). It follows Achilles and Patroclus, who are both princes, one of which is exiled. Their love story is the main focus of the book, but it seems to not be what the book is mainly about.

The story is well written, despite all the jumps in the timeline. I enjoyed how well the story was. The main thing I didn’t enjoy, which is my fault, not the books, is how many times I got confused on the plot and had to go back and re-read almost every other page. I don’t think I’ve read a book that has made me cry so much. Some of the tears were of joy and the others were of pure sadness. This book plays with your emotions in one of the best and worst ways possible. If I’m lucky I can go to sleep and wake up without puffy eyes.

₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 10, 2023 Ani rated it it was ok

The writing style of Ms. Miller is good. I wanted to love the storytelling and the modern take on Greek mythology and the tale of Achilles and Patroclus.

However, there were some things that just lowered this book from what it could've been.

For one, the story is told from Patroclus's point of view. And it is freaking exhausting. I thought that I would see some character development on his part (trust me, it was very much needed), but there was none whatsoever. He was a coward and even a bit skitt The writing style of Ms. Miller is good. I wanted to love the storytelling and the modern take on Greek mythology and the tale of Achilles and Patroclus.

However, there were some things that just lowered this book from what it could've been.

For one, the story is told from Patroclus's point of view. And it is freaking exhausting. I thought that I would see some character development on his part (trust me, it was very much needed), but there was none whatsoever. He was a coward and even a bit skittish at times. His whole identity revolved around Achilles. I mean, I get his love for Achilles is supposed to be the main theme of the novel but he severely lacked individuality. Except Briseis and Achilles, no one really cared about him.

Let alone cheer for this character, I could not even connect to him. He was clingy and unusually possessive of Achilles. It felt like he couldn't do anything without him. So at his inevitable death, I didn't even feel anything. I just wanted him to have his own identity, you know. Though he did kind of (?) found his place but it was negligible compared to his lover's existence. It just didn't feel as legendary a love story that it could have been.

As for Achilles, I liked him for most of the novel. So that's that. He was majestic and endearing at the same time. But bro f-ed up during the arc of Briseis. I guess, I cannot blame the author for this either as she only maintained the original storyline of Iliad. However, later he became this selfish prick that whatever gaslighting I did to myself into liking this character evaporated into this air. The author could have handled the situation in so many ways but she chose the way that made me hate his character and I was like, please Hector kill Patroclus NOW! I cannot take it anymore!

I only liked some of the female characters and Odysseus in the whole book. I liked Briseis the most. She was the only one that I rooted for. I didn't hate Thetis either. She might've been a homophobic tiger mom but at the end of the day, she loved Achilles so I didn't really like the tug-of-war of possessiveness between Thetis and Patroclus over Achilles.

"I bristled at the thought of her (Thetis) fretting over him; that was mine to do." (This is one of many examples of the inner monologue of Patroclus. Get it now? Why I hate him so much? I read in a review that he is Bella to Achilles's Edward. Yeah, I can see it)

So yeah, taking account of my feelings towards the two main characters of this book, the tragedy did not really strike me as hard as it did seem hit others. Mind you, I am a crybaby to the point that I often avoid tragedies and it did not make me cry. At. All. So I was disappointed when previously I looked forward to this book so much after seeing all the hype it had garnered. That's all. ...more

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Mar 31, 2024 Angie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I did think it was sad but I was also happy, it ended!! I wish this could have book that I loved, as everyone was telling me, but it just want for me. The beginning, slow, had to stop reading but then I came back to it with hope, that hope died when I remembered why I closed the book. Finish it in a total of 4 days from last month, but at what cost😭 thought needing was good, but the personality of Achilles and Pat. Not my type, wasn’t my favorite book, but if it’s yours I’m glad!!❤️

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Aug 27, 2022 emmie♡⋆｡°✩ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, gut-wrenching, retellings

5⭐
first time i've read this since 2020, and i didn't think it was possible, but this time was even more painful

rip patroclus, you would've loved the eras tour

𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:
"Where's My Love - SYML"
01:23 ━━━━●───── 03:43
⇆ ㅤ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ ㅤㅤ↻ ...more

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