Book Review: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

 

Goodreads Summary: 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.

Goodreads Rating: 4.36 stars with over 1.1 million ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Greek Mythology, LGBT+

Goodreads Challenge: 27/30

2023 Reading Challenge: #1 Read a book recommended to you on social media or by a friend (find the entire challenge here)

Book Review: 

Hello, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well. It's feeling good to get out of my funk and back into reading and blogging. I've had The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller on my shelf for a while but had yet to pick it up. It's a consistent recommendation in the Facebook book groups for Historical Fiction, so I decided to give it a chance. 

The story is narrated by Patroclus, who is bound to the famed Achilles by an oath. Watching their relationship grow from friends to lovers throughout the years was interesting. I thought Achilles was a little self-centered and selfish most of the time, but I felt he could show his true self when it was just him and Patroclus. I don't want to give too much away. I don't think anything would really be a spoiler, but I don't want to take away from the sweetness and poetic ending Madeline Miller provided them. It was so sweet and really made the story come full circle. It was a beautifully told story.

My only issue with this book is that it covered about 20 years; in some places, the story drags on a bit. There's a lot of waiting for the war to actually happen. If you are a reader who needs things to move quickly, that may be a drawback to enjoying the story. It wasn't a massive negative for me. I liked reading about the mythology and the culture. I prefer Circe by the same author I read a few years ago.

Book Review: Circe by Madeline Miller

 

Goodreads Summary: In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft. When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe's place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home.

There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe's independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from or the mortals she has come to love.

Goodreads Rating: 4.26 stars with over 441,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Fiction, Mythology, Historical Fiction, Retellings, Greek Mythology

Goodreads Challenge: 13/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #38 Read a book with an orange cover (Find the full challenge here)

Book Review: 

I have not slept much since I started this book. So now that I'm done with it, I'm both sad and relieved. I enjoy reading about Greek Mythology but am not by any means fluent in the stories of a lot of the lesser deities. Circe by Madeline Miller takes readers through the long life of minor goddess and witch, Circe, and all of the heroes and Gods she encountered during that time.

I don't know that I've ever read a book from the perspective of a goddess, and Circe wasn't one I was familiar with. I was instantly drawn into the world Madeline Miller retold. I felt sorry for Circe because she was mistreated by the other characters. For the majority of the book, when anyone was nice to her, it was because they thought they could get something out of her. 

I haven't read any of Homer's work, so I don't know how prevalent Circe is in them. However, reading Madeline Miller's take on the myths was interesting, and I liked seeing how connected to more well-known figures she made Circe. I really liked how she started as this meek character trying to disappear to really finding her power while in exile. I do think a lot of her energy was driven by her fear, but it was in a lot of ways understandable. She feared Athena's coming after her son. 

Just for reference, some of the mythology characters encountered or mentioned are (based off of Madeline Miller's website):

• Boreas
• Calypso
• Helios
• Oceanos
• Pasiphae
• Perse
• Prometheus
• Apollo
• Artemis
• Athena
• Hermes
• Zeus
• Daedalus
• Glaugos
• Icarus
• Medea
• Jason
• Odysseus
• Penelope
• Telemachus
• Telegonus

The way that the story was told was really easy to read. Even though it spans at least a century, it flows nicely, and I never felt bored with it. It was definitely one of those books where I was bargaining with myself on how many chapters I could read before I had to go to bed. A lot of nights, I ended up reading well past when I told myself I would stop. This is partly because the chapters are longer, and I'm a person who refuses to stop mid-chapter for the night. Needless to say, I really enjoyed it, and it made me want to read more mythology books (not that it takes much.) It's not a subject I read up on very often, but one I always enjoy when I do. I highly recommend it to anyone who is into mythology. The great thing about Circe by Madeline Miller is how she explains the story readers don't have to have prior knowledge of the deities, heroes, or monsters to read this. It helps keep them all straight, but not necessary.