Book Review: the Song of Achilles

June 28, 2024

I am not sure how I feel about this book. At the end I wept, but there was a lot of time that passed that I wasn’t terribly interested in. I became very fond of the characters, but the way that time passed was interesting, and felt almost strange. This being said, I do feel like it was written in a way that felt like it was someone trying to tell you their story, and when telling your own story, you do not often tell something happening in each and every year of your life. Just a sweeping overview is necessary.

This book follows the story of a young prince named Patroclus and his fall from grace with his family and being exiled to a neighboring kingdom. Here he spends time with young men who have also been exiled from their homes, for one reason or another, and finds out that he is to learn how to fight. It is here that he meets the prince of this kingdom: Achilles. We get to read through their life they get to live together as they grow up into young men, and learn of the prophesy of the battle that will end his life.

This is book filled with adventure, fear, battle and, above all else, love. While I am not sure how I feel about it, I do suggest this book. It is a beautiful love story rooted in a greek myth, where Achilles heel isn’t in his foot at all, but is in his heart.