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The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

"The story of Achilles, renowned for his strength, speed and skills at warfare but as told from his ever faithtful friend and companion, Patroclus. Though it had its cliche moments as every romance will, I was pleasantly surprised at how true Miller stayed to the original source of The Illiad. This was a pleasantly surprising and unique take on Homer's epic tale." 

⭐⭐⭐

Pros: I liked that it was told from Patroclus POV/Miller stays true to The Illiad, which I greatly appreciated. 

Cons: Lots of “burning pleasure” and “fierce, fervor”, all the romance cliches/Achilles arrogance is staggering but that's what Hubris is and that's why it's always the heroes' downfall.  

Full Review: 

When Patroclus is exiled from his father's kingdom for inadvertently killing a boy and sent to Phthia, he's alone and terrified. At first, he goes unnoticed by basically everyone. When he first sees Achilles, the young Prince, he's enraptured but far too shy to say anything. He knows the story of Achilles birth. How his father, Peleus, overpowered the sea-nymph, Thetis, and Achilles was the result. The stories of his beauty and strength are not an exaggeration and Patroclus is in awe. Even more so when Achilles eventually notices him as well and decides that they will be companions and since he's the prince, he gets what he wants. 

They are inspearable and what first begins as a friendship, soon turns into something more. Patrcolus is constantly at Achilles' side and no one seems to mind, except for Thetis, Achilles' mother. She despises Patroclus, thinking he's nothing more than a foul, foolish commoner/mortal and unfit for the likes of her son. But Achilles defies her by keeping Patroclus at his side. 

When Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, is kidnapped from Sparta and spirted away to Troy, Agammemom calls upon all the men of Greece to fight with him and rescue her. Though boys both know the prophecy, as told to them by Thetis, that Achilles will die at Troy, they join the fleet anyway. It's the threat of dying in obscurity, of never being remembered for his skills that terrifies Achilles enough to join Agamemmnon and the other Greeks. They appeal to his vanity and that arrogance, his assurance that he is the best of the best, will, of course, eventually be his downfall. And always the faithful friend, Patroclus never leaves his side, even though they both know how this story will end. 

I was pleasantly surrpised at how closely Miller stayed true to the source of The Illiad. It's been a very long time since I read that particular story but from what I remembered, the few parts that were exaggerated or skewed slightly by Miller to fit into the story of Achilles and Patroclus relationship actually worked rather well. Though there were definitely parts that were overdone and full of romance cliches, overall, this was an entertaining read and a unique take on the background of one of Greek Mythology's greatest heroes. 

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