I received a copy of this book from the author through a Goodreads giveaway. This does not affect my rating or opinions.

2.5 stars.

It takes a lot of confidence to write from the POV of a famous intellectual, so I have admiration for that in and of itself, as well as all the research that must've gone into writing this book. The intent to "humanize" this historical figure is also an interesting one, though for me it went a little too far and Socrates just came across as annoying and cowardly.

However, despite the storytelling being pretty fluid (minus the awkward little intros before each "letter"), I felt like this book fell short of its goals. Part of it was just that the medium didn't make sense to me: some of the things that Socrates is allegedly writing to his sons are things they would already know, or that aren't relevant to their lives — so those cracks in the fourth wall didn't help; and part of it is that the philosophical sections are just too blunt and overt, none of the nuance or development you might expect from such a renowned thinker.