Late last year, somehow my TikTok for you page became a bookshelf as I found myself on the side of TikTok lovingly denoted “BookTok”. Mind you, at that point I hadn’t read a book for fun in literal years, so I wasn’t planning on doing much with any of the information I was being fed. However, one book kept being recommended to me over and over again: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. At this point I had honestly become so confused as to why it was recommended so much and had to see for myself what the hype was truly about.
The Song of Achilles is a retelling of the Iliad, a Greek poem that tells the story of the Trojan War. Specifically, this book focuses on Achilles, the demigod famously known for his heel, and Patroclus, an exiled prince from a separate region, and their relationship.
I highly recommend this book to absolutely anyone, especially people who are in the same spot as I was and want a good book to get into reading again. The chapters were short and it was really easy and quick to read-although I didn’t read it in one sitting, I probably could have in a few hours. The story was super engaging and the characters were really interesting, even if some of them make questionable decisions at times.
The end of this book sort of destroyed me though, leaving me sobbing for about 20 minutes after I finished reading. I have heard about people who cried for hours, but also people who didn’t cry at all so if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing or just not ready to handle those emotions, I might be cautious going into this. However, if you’re just looking for a good ol’ cry, this will definitely help you there.
I think that Madeline Miller does a really great job retelling this story and even though I didn’t know anything about Greek mythology or the Trojan War, there was a really helpful cheat sheet at the end of the book that helped me understand who all of the characters were (I might be careful using this though because it does contain spoilers-Miller stays true to the original source material).
I would definitely say that this is worth the hype on TikTok and I would say that if you want to start reading again or taking recommendations from TikTok, this is a great one to start with.
Another book that I read that was recommended to me from TikTok was Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, a historical fiction surrounding a Chinese-American girl discovering her sexuality, set in 1950s San Francisco.
I thought that this book was extremely beautiful and poignant, and was such a good coming of age story. Not only does it highlight the struggles of a young lesbian girl, but also the struggles of a Chinese-American girl, all during a time where neither identity was accepted.
As Lily, the protagonist, explores her sexuality and the world outside of Chinatown, where her family and friends live, we get to see her struggle as people throw microaggressions at her in places that are supposed to be safe spaces and her completely disregarded in places that are supposed to be safe for her during Chinese New Year.
I think that it’s important for all readers, especially white ones like me, to read these stories and understand intersectionality and how it plagues so many people of color, women and people in the LGBTQ+ community, and how forms of discrimiation appear for them. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, especially fans of historical fiction.
I was glad I read this after The Song of Achilles because not only was it another book that was pretty easy to read (in that the chapters were short), but also because it helped me understand the struggles between MLM (men-loving men) and WLW (women-loving women), and how the stories that are told of them contrast.
I consider this book to be extremely underrated on TikTok, and although I’ve seen more recommendations for it recently, I believe that it deserves to be up there with The Song of Achilles.
A continuous discussion that I see happening on BookTok is the constant erasure of WLW stories, especially by straight people. When someone asks for queer book recommendations, often they are overwhelmed by MLM stories, and when asked why there are less about WLW, excuses are made like “there aren’t good WLW books” or “I don’t know where to start”, which just means that they aren’t willing to try.
I think that as a whole, everyone, including myself, could do better in this regard. If you are looking to BookTok for recommendations, I urge you to make your bookshelf equal in terms of MLM and WLW stories, and take recommendations from those who feel their experiences are represented fairly in these books.