Michael

Name one hero who was happy...They Never let you be famous AND happy... I'm going to be the first

I had a good time with this one. I think the best choice that Miller makes is definitely centering the book on Patroclus rather than Achilles. Doing so means we get this lack of understanding of Achilles himself which results in a sense of otherness from him giving him that feeling of being “more than” and slightly above humans like Patroclus. This choice did surprise me at first as I had assumed it would’ve been from Achilles POV and then towards the last few chapters was surprised that we stuck with the Patroclus POV.

Another benefit to the focus on Patroclus for me was that when you get to the section of the book that focuses on the battle of Troy, it’s a lot more grounded and smaller scale that you’d expect, focusing more on individuals at camp rather than the battle itself which I appreciated.

Following the stubbornness of Achilles and watching him struggle with the idea of his death and being remembered could be frustrating at times but you always understood where is was coming from and it kept things compelling throughout for me.

It’s impressive just how quickly Miller was able to make me hate Pyrrhus though. Pops up for the last chapter or two and is insufferable the whole time.

I give this a five out of ten with the MOST enthusiasm possible. At times I really enjoyed Le Morte d’Arthur, the whimsical, straight forward nature of the group of knights is endearing in all the best ways as they bumble around for hundreds of pages on end, but I couldn’t say I would recommend someone read it either.

First thing you’ll have to get used to is the way its written, it’s very “old time english” and at first is very difficult to get into. Once you do, I think the flow of it can be charming but it is a barrier to entry. Secondly at times it can drag A LOT. There is a whole midsection of the book (books 8-10) which are much longer then any other section and are also just filled with endless nothingness that made me put the whole book on hold for half a year.

There’s also what feels like a lot of repetition in events throughout, almost every book contains multiple joust tourneys where inevitably Lancelot will disguise himself as someone so he can fight against the round table.(happens so often, Gawaine calls it out in book 19). The most egregious moment is when Malory writes out the names of 86 knights back to back that show up to help someone. It goes on and on.

Probably best to stick to an abridged version. There's a lot to enjoy here to me but A LOT to sludge through as well

Island of Blue Dolphins was a short, fun time. While it starts off pretty serious with the instigating series of events, the majority of the read ends up being a pretty cosy, chill island survival.

It was just pretty pleasant to watch Karana’s transformation over the decades she was left behind from just “a village girl” to someone who’s mastered the elements and tamed most wildlife on the island.

The bonds Karana has with the wildlife especially was one of the highlights, Rontu and her together were super wholesome and connected with me in the most emotional moments.

The writing itself stays pretty basic throughout which makes sense as it IS at the end of the day a kids novel which does limit how much you can feel invested in the story being told but I did enjoy my time reading it by the end.

Caught me off guard at the end when i found out it was based on a true story though, Made me rethink how impressive the whole thing was.

This one is from the pile of books i’ve been receiving from Polish scammers for free and just read it on a whim to clear down the TBR honestly so I might not have gone into this with the most enthusiastic mind, but it’s also just generally not the sort of book I'd read anyway.

I do think it’s good for stories for this to be told though. It’s just that as a kids book, there's not much to be gained from it now for me. It’s the sort of thing I'd rather read an article on than a story like this as it doesnt give the time to get attached to anyone.

Probably great for a kid who’s first learning about issues such as Apartheid but didn’t grab me at all. You get the basics like the Pass Law and segregation of buses to whites only but not enough is really said about them apart from one admittedly good scene of the police at the train station rounding up innocent people who forgot their pass.