My heart was broken after reading The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller.

Finding something that can make me cry as much as this book has, is difficult. This is a different take on Illiad's classic story, but it is as enjoyable as the classic is. The story is filtered through the eyes of Patroclus, which takes a different take on the happenings. It is quieter and more serene. The fantasy is toned down as Madeline Miller uses the real myth to make it more charming; she does not overuse it and doesn’t use too little to make it just a romance story. It discusses both the positive sides of humanity and the opposing sides of the take of power and stubbornness.

Patroclus takes the story to another level. We know the ending to his story and the Trojan War's termination, but that does not drive us to keep reading but rather his view on the happenings. His beautiful words show how much he adores Achilles, but that does not mean that he is affected by his thirst for power. It shows what the 2004 film ‘Troy’ did not want to show, actual homosexuality, and we get to see it from the gentle Patroclus, which made me feel like the story was filled with gold.

The prose is magical, charming and enchanting. The language is straightforward and straightforward, while the description is forward and deep. The combination of both makes the read an easy but drowning experience. I enjoyed the imagery used as it uses light as a powerful tool to show Achilles power and stubbornness. If you like poetic writing, this is for sure a read you should take on as it manages the words to feel golden on the tongue. I have read people mentioning the prose as purple prose, but I could not disagree more. It is extravagant in a positive way. The description moves us in thousands of patterns and takes us back to 1180 BC.

As mentioned before, the story seen through Patroclus eyes takes the theme of thirst for power further into the choking feeling of inflexible thinking. However, it keeps discussing the beauty of faithful and innocent pure love. It makes us wonder whether we, as ordinary people, might belong with this type of epic love in our lives. It is portrayed beautifully, organically and perfectly. They grow up from young boys to powerful grown men, making the passing of time makes sense.

Achilles is not the perfect hero, as Miller discusses in the Center of Fiction in November 2012; it shows the authentic and exciting life that greek mythology has. It has many historical facts taken for the Iliad, which are accurately portrayed and changes others to make the fictitious side of the story more prominent in our minds. Even though known by most of us, the ending of the story does touch us in many different ways that the Iliad does not.

This story drips with emotions. There could not be enough words to describe the effect this story has had on me and how much I have loved it. The golden story of Achilles is made ten times better when Patroclus tells it to us which, makes it love it even more.