hfjarmer's Reviews (394)

I was a little disappointed by this book. It got a ton of hype, and overall I enjoyed the book, but I think I just had a completely different perception of what this book was going to be which made me feel disappointed in the end. It also kind of didn't really end, not as much character growth as I was expecting. 

I really really enjoyed this book. I loved watching Patroclus and Achilles grow up together and I think the way Madeline Miller writes really throws you into Ancient Greece. This wasn't a 5/5 for me, because I spent the last third (especially the last three chapters) just completely pissed off with Achilles and then even more so with his son, Pyrrhus. I know that was the point, but I couldn't help but be overshadowed by the anger I felt. A really beautiful book, and overall good read, that infuriated me. 

Just lost interest. 

I found this book to be just ok and not exactly what I was expecting. I thought it was interesting to see how she feels the world would look with an exact flip of power, not the peaceful and loving world one might think women would run, but an equally violent one. I was particularly interested in the way she used real biblical passages and logic to flip Christianity to become a woman-centric religion. 

What I didn't care for as much were the characters. Not to lament too much about what the book could have been, but I wish she had cut some of the characters and focused more on development of the characters in her book and the diversity of the book. While her characters had diverse backgrounds in some regards, it is not as inclusive as I would have liked to see in this setting. Overall I found the book to take a bit of a predictable path, and I somewhat struggled to feel motivated to finish. I felt like once I read half of it I got the picture and could have stopped. Overall an interesting read. Would recommend just for the sheer discussion aspect.