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[ikea-clock]

Hi! I kinda forgot i started rating books here. My need to explain my thoughts hadn’t gone away, i really just forget things easily.

Today I’m just going to talk about “The song of Achilles”

At first I wanted to say that I’m really picky about romances. The problem is not them being straight or gay or whatever, cause for me that doesn’t really matter. But I need to connect to the book and the character to enjoy it. Ig that is one of the perks of being aromantic but let’s just move on.

I terribly loved this book. I’m willing to say it. First of all: It’s historically accurate, we need to remember that Medaline Miller studied the classics, she’s a Latin and Greek teacher, and I’ve seen a bunch of people (classic history teachers, …) talk very well about the book… so yes, high standards from the beginning. This blessed woman also manages to write so damn beautifully that I don’t even know where those pretty words come from - especially those times in the book when Patroclus is talking about Achilles.

Ok now more about the book itself (contains spoilers):

I adore Patroclus, and the book only has more value because it was written from his perspective about everything and mostly about Achilles. We all know Achilles is not perfect, not only because we have that demi-god dinamic of him not exactly acting human-human like but not at all being like a god, but also because of all the mistakes he makes. But even though it's clear to us readers that he is like this, the adoration of Patroclus towards his lover brings us the idea that Achilles is better than he actually is, and I definitely find that perfect in the book. Just as Patroclus loves him so much that he describes him to us as more beautiful, more athletic, more GOOD just because love somehow blinds him.

Patroclus spends the entire book repeating that regardless of what Achilles possibly does, he will always and always forgive him, even if its the most horrendous and unforgiving thing, until… until Achilles does something that not even Patroclus can forgive. This is really heavy to process, when you see Patroclus needing to go through the most heartbreaking moments like they were just a bit unpleasant.

The book is so heartbreaking that you cannot even hate a character for something unforgivable they make, really because somehow deep down on your guts, you know that action is probably just a reflex of past horrendous scenes. (Like ok i will never forgive Thetis for lying to her son and making him lay with Deidamia but we need to remember the Gods made her lay with Achilles’ dad, you understand my point here? It’s just a big ass horrendous ball that just gets bigger and bigger).

Even when we stop to think about Achilles’s son and how cruel he was… I mean he did devious things but he was taken from his mom as a baby and his father never wanted anything to do with him, he was raised by a goddess, and even tho, by blood, he was less of a God compared to his dad, he was never human. And this is also a good side reflection - if we stop and think about it, Patroclus was the one and only thing that represented Achilles’ mortality. The vulnerability, the love, the imperfections… That’s all what his relationship with Patroclus represented - what is it like to be a human being - and that’s why Thetis always despited Patroclus, because he represented all the things he didn’t wanted her son to be.

I can also guarantee you that the most depressing parts of the book are not Patroclus’ death BUT all the moments that succeed. The entirety of chapter 33 (the final one) was me covered in tears and believe me when I tell you it's not that common to see me cry. Every single moment after his death is both heartbreaking and breathtaking… Achilles obsessively mourns Patroclus' body, and that whole final chapter where we have Patroclus and Thetis mourning over a boy who belonged to both.

I get sad all over again when i think how young they died and how they spent like 1/3 of their lives on a war they never came back from, just because Achilles was too proud.

An outstanding book, a hard book to put down, and probably one of the best romances I’ve ever read. (And I’m definitely going to read the Iliad, I’m a nerd, don’t mind me)

Rate: 9/10

[ikea-clock]

I recently finished reading Loveless by Alice Oseman, amazing book.

It’s about this girl, Georgia, that never had a crush in anyone, and she goes to college and it has been kinda difficult to her because everyone else is going out and kissing people and falling in love, and she doesn’t actually want to do those things (she really just wants to hang out with her best friends) but she ends up being pressured by the idea that she NEEDS to fall in love.

It’s basically a self discovery journey, not just for Georgia but for her friends as well, which I found really interesting since there’s this variety of different problems that have to outcome, such as different life experiences. Plus, the book really explored the true importance of platonic relationships, which are rarely representardes in media or in books. And I think that’s very important. As an aro ace person, I felt so comforted by this book, it made me realise things i didnt knew about myself and assured that there’s people out there that feel the same and that feeling is just amazing.

I may say i believe this book is not only for arospec/acespec people but for everyone. I often find myself having a hard time explaining how being aro/ace feels like to other people, and believe me when i tell u that there’s just a few books that actually are able to explain it, and this one is definitely one of them.

Rate: 7/10