This Greek mythology book tells the story of Achilles, from the perspective of his closest friend Patroclus. As an adoption of some harder to understand words about Achilles, this novel offers up a new narrative where the narrator is not like the strong heroes of the Greek age, or like Achilles. Weak and banished by his father, Patroclus is exiled to Achilles’ kingdom, where he soon falls in love with the legendary Achilles. Achilles is almost like a superhuman, an extremely good fighter and loved by all- and him and Patroclus get close despite the strange pair. The two stick together through thick and thin and Patroclus learns that around Achilles, he now longer feels the constant disappointment of not being the best- Achilles is enough for both of them. However, Achilles’ talents don’t come without a price. He has been doomed to live out a prophecy where he will be the greatest warrior but will end up dying. The prophecy seems like simply a mild disturbance, because everything seemed perfect for awhile. Then, Achilles is called to fight in the Trojan War on the side of Sparta to get back Helen from the skillful Trojans. This book is unexpectedly sad but beautifully written and will keep you interested by the melancholy tale.

From first hearing about this novel on Tiktok, I knew it would be sad. And this book definitely does not have a happy fairytale ending, but ends in a way typical to Greek tragedies. Even though I was sad about the way the book turned out, it was a more of a what-can-you-do sad, because Miller wrapped it up nicely and that’s just how things went. It was great to learn the actual story of Achilles in this way that was much easier to digest. The characters names and passing references were a bit tough to keep track of at times, especially in the beginning, and there were some sensitive topics mentioned. As such, I would recommend this book to high school readers and above.