Anyone familiar with Greek mythology knows how this story ends. Patroclus, dead in Achilles' armor at the walls of Troy. Achilles, broken with grief, avenging him and wanting to die, dying. Yet even knowing how the story ends, The Song of Achilles was a surprise and a page-turner: not simply a retelling of the Iliad, instead Miller chose to focus on the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus only brushed upon in the epi

The Song of Achilles has been on my radar for years. I've a deep appreciation for Greek myth - many stories still being made today have their roots in these ancient tales - and I read and enjoyed Madeline Miller's Circe a few years ago. I think Achilles reaches slightly higher highs than Circe, and Miller does a great job filling in some of the blanks in the story while staying true to the poem.

The first half of the book may seem a bit slow, and it definitely is, at least compared to the second half. But those opening chapters and backstory flesh out the relationship wonderfully, and make the inevitable ending that much more impactful even though we know what's coming. Achilles is built up throughout the novel through Patroclus's eyes into this godlike figure, and later his flaws are put on stark display as his pride and arrogance doom him. The novel might be called The Song of Achilles, but Miller's objective wasn't to portray the greatness of Achilles. This is Patroclus's story, and she tells it well.