Bookish: Song of Achilles

I was worried when this book didn’t immediately start with the introduction of Achilles because I had never heard of Patroclus.

The worry was mostly that we’d be told the story of Achilles as outsiders because our protagonist was merely looking in.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised as the story went on.

This story followed Patroclus who became friend, lover and close confidant of the titular character, Achilles.

Patroclus, a prince himself, is exiled after he admits to having killed another boy. He was about nine or so.

He’s sent to be fostered by Peleus, the father of Achilles and it is here that he meets, befriends and eventually loves Achilles. Who wouldn’t love Achilles? The golden Prince.

Achilles’ mother, Thetis, never approves of this as she believes Achilles is half god and so Patroclus doesn’t deserve him. She keeps trying to separate them but they keep finding their way back to each other.

They meet their end at the battle of Troy. A battle that spanned about a decade.

I tend to avoid reading reviews or summaries of any book or movie before I’ve read or watched it myself. I don’t want to reduce the experience so the story was quite delightful. I only paused at certain point to peek a bit at the myth surrounding some names that had been mentioned.

I had absolutely no idea that they would be lovers, I expected Achilles to be a rude, haughty royal but he was such a sweet young man.

They were kids at the beginning so some issues they had, I had to take a break to picture them as children.

Spoiler Alert! They both die at the end.

I don’t like how Patroclus’ family was never mentioned again after his exile, I’d have loved to see what became of them.

Achilles, I know it’s based on the myth, but I couldn’t get over the fact that he was conceived through rape. A lot of the offspring of divinities were conceived in that manner, I believe, but it bothered me nonetheless.

This book was easy to read, I loved that. It wasn’t the most exciting book as it had a slow and steady build to the climax at the end but it was still so satisfying.

I would recommend it to all lovers of Greek Mythology and LGBTQ books.

If LGBTQ books are your preference then read my other review here Bookish: The Seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Or read my short story Bachi’s Swan Song.