songmingi's Reviews (199)

emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I had heard lots of people rave about this book, how tragic it was and how it was one of the best things they ever read. I am happy to say I'm also someone who is going to join the tsoa fanclub. 

I honestly dont know where to start with this book, I dont know there is so many words in my head and heart but none of them seem fitting. Yet I feel the need to share my thoughts right away while it is all fresh in my head. 

If I were to describe the pacing of this story it's like a slow poison, there are moments in this book that are sickeningly sweet and tender. There are moments where it's so peaceful and serene and you begin think maybe you too can find peace in a mundane life. However the last few pages of this book are so painful, so incredibly intense and painful. I had to put the book down several times to process everything. Everytime I felt like the poison had finally done me enough damage, it seemed to find it's way further into my system. My very heart ached. 

The writing of this book is so beautiful, I dont think there was quite any other way to have told this story more beautifully. I have never wanted to annotate a book before but there is so much of this book i want to revisit over and over. 

I felt it in my very core that patroclus and achilles were meant to be together. No matter how less than ordinary patroclus may feel he is, he is in my eyes just as much of an awe inspiring character as achilles. He loves and loves, he tries to make those around him flourish. He was genuinely just as incredible as achilles. There were parts I felt frustrated by them both, especially Achilles but to me it adds to their depth of character they are not defined by one single trait and also not simply by each other. 

Its been awhile since I've read something that has blown me away to this extent. I feel like I've been filled with passion and also emptied out of my emotional strength.

The Song of Achilles is worth every second spent reading it. 
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
emotional mysterious sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous challenging sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was a book I was very excited to read. I love Xiran Jay Zhao's youtube content and everywhere I looked this book had amazing reviews. I will say that unlike many others I don't think this is a flawless book. The writing quality is a little amateurish at times for the first half of the book, the portrayal of wu zetian's character feels a little childish at times for that section. I feel like her frustration and thoughts could be conveyed better in a more refined way. However! I am glad I stuck with this book the quality of writing improves immensely once the character background is set up and taking into the consideration this is the first book in a series I'm forgiving of its rocky beginning. The concept of this book is so cool, I loved reading about the chrysallis and different qi types. The mechanics of the chrysallis kind of reminds me of evangelion which I adore so plus points there. I will not lie and tell you that adored wu zetian from the beginning but man did I love to see her character evolve and grow. Shimin was also a great male lead, although I wish I got to see more of Yizhi also in the book. The love triangle also gave me butterflies when I read it and it's the first time I've read a book where the triangle is actually a triangle lol. I'm excited to see where this series goes. I hope the next book can deliver something I can give 5 stars because I absolutely see the potential if the author just fine tunes their writing a bit more.
adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Review of the total series
This was a quick read (as most comics/graphic novels are for me) and i thought this was a good series overall.It wasn't the scariest but it was thrilling at times. The characters were likeable but i feel like the plot was a bit weird there were too many plot twists honestly. I still enjoyed it but this wasn't anything spectacular.