two souls written in the stars

I can check another wildly popular BookTok title off my list! This one was a long time coming, especially considering my obsession with Greek mythology retellings. I wasn't entirely familiar with the legend of Achilles, so reading this novel didn't feel like rereading a story I already knew at all. In fact, I'd never even heard the name Patroclus before. His voice as narrator felt achingly perfect to reflect the bittersweet, secretive kind of love he shared with Achilles. To take a small portion of the infamous The Illiad and build not just a larger narrative but an entire relationship between two figures which could have otherwise never been found together in such a beautiful story such as this one pulls on my hopeless romantic heartstrings as well as my admiration as a writer trying to do something similar with a small portion of The Odyssey. My favorite parts of the novel were the chapters spent describing Achilles' and Patroclus' young teenage years living with Chiron and learning the ways of the world in peace - before being sent off to war. I didn't completely and utterly get lost in the star-crossed loveresque aesthetic of this novel, though it's certainly present and written flawlessly. But I certainly grew attachments to the characters and appreciated how Achilles is presented as a nearly perfect half-mortal, half-god who's still capable of getting caught up in his own hubris; the essence of humanity could still be found within the desires and actions of this character which I think is incredibly profound and beautiful. And Patroclus, lugging around childhood trauma, the blood of a noble boy's death, and the insecurity of being incessantly told that he isn't good enough for the one person he loves most - I love everything about his character and mourned his half of this story's end greatly. The entire novel's ending, however, is what I love most about this narrative. Its redemptive quality and offering of closure for a pair that, in my eyes, deserve happiness that isn't marred by a prophecy destined to throw a wrench in either of them finding complete and true peace in each others' arms, made me tearily happy as I read the last page and set this book aside. I love the messages this book contains about grief, true love, duty, what it means to let "Fate" rule your life, and the idea of two souls being made and meant for each other. :)



Some of my favorite quotes from The Song of Achilles:

"I would know him in death, at the end of the world."

"And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone."

"He is half of my soul, as the poets say."

"I will never leave him. It will be this, always, for as long as he will let me."

"We reached for each other, and I thought of how many nights I had lain awake loving him in silence."

"We are all there, goddess and mortal and the boy who was both."

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