Book Review: Song of Achilles

Ever wanted to relive romance in Greek mythology, Song of Achilles by Madeline Millers depicts a beautiful relationship of friendship and love. Be ready to feel your heart slowly rip into pieces. This stunning retold story of the Trojan War is simply extraordinary. 

The novel follows Patroclus' who is a Greek hero and his budding relationship with Achilles. Historically they are known for their close friendship and companionship. It starts from their initial meeting to their exploits during the Trojan War while slowly forming into their romantic relationship. It is set initially from the perspective of young prince Patroclus who becomes exiled from his home. From this he leaves home and moves to Phthia and becomes introduced to Prince Achilles. Over time they create a bond in more ways than others, developing feelings for each other even though becoming just friends goes against God’s wishes. 

I am a lover of romance novels but never stepped into historical fiction so this was a first for myself but have been known to be interested in Greek mythology so a romance war story in my favourite era couldn't have sounded any better. This book gave you all the typical romance aspects as fate tests the lovers with sacrifices. One thing that was fascinating is that it was interesting to learn about gods, mortals and war heroes. You felt you understood the story more along with the thrill of the fictionlised scenes. It felt more real which definitely created a deeper connection with you and the book. This war story took Madeline ten years to write as it involved mounds of research and work to retell the Trojan War and a famous Greek poem, The Iliad, written by Homer, Greek poet. Involving facts and real events that made it more fun.

Madeline introduces these characters throughout their journey up until the war. The setting was set exciting to delve into a time frame, within the palaces and different kingdoms. A character I loved throughout was Thetis, mother of Achilles who is a sea nymph, a goddess of water. She is a very powerful and dominant character throughout constantly trying to divide the two lovers. The love story between the main characters is passionate and blooms throughout and you could feel the connection. Throughout there were prophecies which predicted what was to come. Even though it told you certain parts that would happen it was still shocking as it built over time as you would hope they wouldn’t come true. .

The biggest prophecy, made it all the more heartbreaking. I do wish the prophecy changed a little by chance but obviously the whole point is that it is to become true. I definitely would recommend this book to people who have a love for Greek mythology. Overall I really enjoyed this book as it was exciting and you built a love for all the characters and was enticed by all of their different stories and myths.