This was really sad but beautiful. I knew a lot of this basic story but had forgotten or didn't know some details, and I hadn't realized how many of these stories were so intertwined so it's made me eager to revisit the originals. 

I did largely enjoy the book, particularly for its connection to Greek mythology. While I haven’t read Homer’s epics, I’m familiar with a lot of the myths and loved when I recognized a character or could catch on to Miller’s foreshadowing, or even better when stories were introduced that I had previously studied completely separately and I got to learn how they were all interconnected. It may not stay true to the original story and characters but if you like reading about Greek mythology, it’s an interesting read. There isn’t much focus on the gods for all that this is about mythology, but I kind of appreciated that because we got to see the more human side of the war and experience what “really” happened.

This is at its heart a love story, but I felt less of an attachment to the relationship as the story progressed. First thing to know: while it’s about a love story, this is NOT a romance novel — no spoilers but it doesn’t follow the rules of romances. We read from Patroclus’ perspective through the whole novel so I feel we get to know him really well, but at times the romance between him and Achilles felt very one-sided. I know the war is a pretty big distraction for Achilles but the huge, powerful love that they both supposedly felt for each other? I was getting nothing from Achilles. I found it a beautiful story and loved the exploration of the war and the myths with a very human approach, but the romance wasn’t the be-all, end-all I’d seen folks rave about.