Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles is not an unfamiliar title to most, and it’s been mentioned recently everywhere from booktok and booktube all the way to Goodreads. Some have claimed it to be a heart-wrenching masterpiece while others fancy it as being overrated and were left underwhelmed. So I decided that I would read for myself. Do I think it’s deserving of all of the praise, or does it need to be knocked down a few places on the recommendation list? 

Well, I can say with complete genuity that The Song of Achilles is one of the best books that I have read in my life. The detailing and imagery that this book has is so incredible that you’ll find yourself craving for all of the moments you don’t get to read in the time jumps. The interactions and chemistry between the characters are so vibrant that you will become consumed in them from the beginning. I felt as if I was right there in Ancient Greece, a part of a riveting epic, and I experienced all of the joy from the accomplishments and all of the sorrow from the tragedies that the characters endured as if they were my own. I loved how I got to witness the growth of the protagonists, Patrocilles and Achilles, and see how they changed throughout the story. You truly feel like you know them by the end, and the love that they develop for each other is truly astounding. It’s the type of love that lights you up from the inside and clings to your soul, a love that is so rare to find that the loss of it is a tragedy in its own right.  This connection you develop with the book contributes to why the ending is so devastating in a way that breaks you apart into a million pieces. In short, this book is completely captivating and is able to invoke vivid emotions from readers, and aren’t those the qualities of a fantastic book?