From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

The Song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

Start date: March 1, 2021

Finish date: March 31, 2021

Discussion: 2021 Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: March 2021 group read for "a book that won the Women's Prize for fiction"…more
[close] March 2021 group read for "a book that won the Women's Prize for fiction"

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2021 Monthly Group Reads

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What Members Thought

Sep 12, 2018 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was amazing

Shelves: only-reading-because-of-the-buzz, fiction, historical-fiction, all-time-favorites, romance, lotsa-buzz, best-audiobooks, audio, based-on-a-folk-tale, myth

"... They never let you be famous AND happy." He lifted an eyebrow. "I'll tell you a secret."
"Tell me." I loved it when he was like this.
"I'm going to be the first." He took my palm and held it to his. "Swear it."
"Why me?"
"Because you're the reason. Swear it."
"I swear it," I said, lost in the high color of his cheeks, the flame in his eyes.
"I swear it," he echoed.

Oh dear boy, you do not know what your future holds....

This is exquisite beautiful genius.

Madeline Miller is the Chris Evans of ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Jul 16, 2018 Heather - hturningpages rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtq-characters, loved-it, favorites

Rating: 5/5 arrows of Apollo

Format: ebook. In the enhanced version there are great video clips of Gregory McGuire interviewing Madeline Miller!

What it's like: It's like getting your heart ripped out of your chest in slow motion lol

What I loved: GAAHHHH. Everything? YUP. Pretty much everything. I've read the Iliad so I knew the general story and what was going to happen but I fell so in love with Achilles and Patroclus' relationship I was in complete denial until the very end. I love their coming Rating: 5/5 arrows of Apollo

Format: ebook. In the enhanced version there are great video clips of Gregory McGuire interviewing Madeline Miller!

What it's like: It's like getting your heart ripped out of your chest in slow motion lol

What I loved: GAAHHHH. Everything? YUP. Pretty much everything. I've read the Iliad so I knew the general story and what was going to happen but I fell so in love with Achilles and Patroclus' relationship I was in complete denial until the very end. I love their coming of age together, the heartbreak associated with the loss of innocence, and the debate over whether it's more satisfying to live a legendary life or a long one,. The conflicts that arise over that choice were fascinating and heartbreaking to me, especially since Patroclus is so understanding of the dilemma. (I'd be like UH HELL NO WE OUTTA HERE LOL). Although the story and characters are ancient, the Madeline Miller makes them feel fresh and alive with the stakes as high as they can be. She breathes new life into these characters and you can't help but get attached, even if you know you shouldn't.

What was meh: I was SOOOO on Patroclus' side by the end that Achilles was starting to drive me a little nuts. She was showing how his weakness is pride but all I wanted to do was punch him in the face lol also I may have screamed a little bit when Patroclus got in that chariot, and THEN decided to climb a wall for no good goddam reason but that's my own pain and resentment talking haha

Who I'd recommend it to: Anyone who loves Greek stories and myths, stories with powerful love stories and epic battles.

Favorite quotes: Every single one of these makes me want to cry lol THEIR LOVE IS SO BEAUTIFUL.
And as we swam, or played, or talked, a feeling would come. It was almost like fear, in the way it filled me, rising in my chest. It was almost like tears, in how swiftly it came. But it was neither of those, buoyant where they were heavy, bright where they were dull.

I understood, suddenly, the weight of Chiron’s words: war was what the world would say Achilles was born for. That his hands and swift feet were fashioned for this alone—the cracking of Troy’s mighty walls. They would throw him among thousands of Trojan spears and watch with triumph as he stained his fair hands red.

Had she really thought I would not know him? 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.

When he died, all things swift and beautiful and bright would be buried with him.

He had chosen to become a legend, and this was the beginning. He hesitated, and I touched my hand to his, where the crowd could not see it. “Go,” I urged him. “They are waiting for you.”

I am made of memories. “Speak, then.”
The memories come, and come. She listens, staring into the grain of the stone. We are all there, goddess and mortal and the boy who was both.

IN THE DARKNESS, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Feb 23, 2019 Jessica Haider rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: south-shore-bookclub, womens__prize_winners, reading-women-2019

This book counts toward the Reading Women 2019 Challenge task #13: a myth retelling

The Song of Achilles is a retelling of the story of Achilles from the point of view of his bestie/companion Patroclus. I used to have a thing for Greek Mythology way back in my ancient history (grade school). So, I went into this book with high hopes. I wasn't disappointed. The tale followed pretty much the story as told in the Illiad. There were some differences though, in the original tale Patroclus was years ol ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 06, 2020 Lydia Presley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020

I read Circe a few weeks ago. That made me immediately request The Song of Achilles from my library. After finishing it last night I can officially say that I'm a fan.

I've been waiting for years to find novels that do justice to the beautiful stories of Greek legend. Miller not only updates these stories for current times, she does so in a way that doesn't lose the heart of the stories.

I don't have much more to say about it. I'm just a huge fan and the hype that Miller gets is completely deserve ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 01, 2021 stephanie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 2021

I enjoyed Circe more, but I am not quite sure why. Perhaps the forced setting of the Trojan War made it feel more confined than the other, but. I loved the descriptions of Thetis and Chiron, and them as characters. The ending I thought was lovely, but I wasn't quite sure why the whole story took so long.

I enjoyed the narrator and it kept me awake on the road - which is something indeed!

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, just comparing it to Circe is difficult. ...more

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Apr 15, 2021 Joanne rated it it was amazing

I wasn't expecting to cry. This was the end of a book journey for me and it cut me. I'm glad I didn't start here, but ended, and ended up still loving the greek journey.
Again - lost myself in the story and angry and frustrated. Amazing ...more

Like · see review