i can hear ellias screaming in the distance as u say that u will never read song of achilles

I respect your decision not to read The Song of Achilles, and I won’t write an essay, per se, but I do want to talk about why this book is so special to me (and countless others, I’m sure). This book tells the story, not of a young hero and his lover, but of two teenagers, barely seventeen, trying to hold on to youth and love for as long as they can. The themes, of course, aren’t anything special, and I understand that repetition can get boring, but I believe Madeline Miller’s incredible storytelling erases the repetitiveness. Her words are like poetry, and they genuinely make you believe in the purity of love. I’ve genuinely never had my heart broken so much by a book, and I think that comes from the way Miller is able to write these faraway characters in terms that everyone can understand or relate to. So I think if you have any time, picking it up and reading the first couple of chapters might be cool :)

If it's not your thing, it's just not your thing. That's me with thrillers and most horror and YA contemporaries.

Popular books I will never read: 1. The Twilight Saga 2. Game of Thrones 3. Hunger Games

I felt the same way about song of achilles, the summary didn't really draw me in. But it's totally worth giving a try because I absolutely adored it

Jesse's positivity is actually one of the major reasons why i watch his videos. I'm generally a rather negative and cynical person so Jesse's positivity helps me balance out my own negativity lol

You run from romance, I run as soon as someone uses the word dystopian. Luckily there are enough good books for all of us!

I hadn't been reading for years and then I heard my friend Achilles mention how he Named himself after that book, and if that isn't the most resounding praise for a book I don't know what is. So I picked it up and that decision single-handedly cured my half a decade long reading slump.

alright, this isn't an essay but "The Song Of Achilles" is one of my favourite books, so I feel like I ought to try and change your mind about it. While we do follow Patroclus, it's not at all "the two of them trying to track down Helen of Sparta", it's about the Trojan war and them trying everything they can to avoid it because they're both just seventeen and they were supposed to still have time to just be together, without that constant fear of losing one another. It's incredibly sensual and the way it describes love is truly like nothing I've read before. You will be absolutely heartbroken by it but then want to read it again. Those 4.41 stars are really there for a reason. I get that when you see something too often, you can develop a distaste for it - I've had that happen to me much more than once - but if you would just give this book a chance, read the first couple of chapters, you would see why it's got the attention that it has. I honestly think that you would love it, not only because it's beyond beautiful but also because it has some of your favourite tropes like found family and characters trying to get through grief. Thank you for coming to my ted talk

There are alot of amazing books out there waiting to be read. No time to waste in the ones you dont like, it doesnt matter how popular they are 🤗

A Little Life is one of my all time favourites, but I can’t even blame you for not finishing it. Honestly, it was… a lot. I cried for two days straight and would definitively not recommend it to anyone.

Lol everyone in the comments wishes they had a million dollars so you’d read the song of achilles 😭

I’m like a minute in and I already feel better after a long day. Your videos are always so fun and silly and creatively edited!

Who needs room decor when you have books, so instead of an obsession its just creating an aoura

Jesse: I was a fetus in 2006 Me who was actually a fetus in 2006: are you sure about that🤨😂

I doubt I’ll ever be tempted to read anything by Sarah J. Maas or Cassandra Clare-I know they’re well-loved, but I have yet to hear anything about any of their books that sparked my interest. 🤷‍♀️ I think romance can be kind of tricky to get into, especially if you don’t know what tropes you like in the genre. You might want to try something like the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (it’s part romance, part post-apocalyptic paranormal action) if pure romances don’t really appeal. The romance is still an important element, but the characters also spend a lot of time slaying monsters and such.

An abundance of Katherines is by far my favorite John Green book and I think it's sad that no one is talking about it

Three books I’ll probably never read 1 . A Little Life . I don’t want to read 700+ pages of heartbreak. I would like to read a book that makes me feel like crumpled up piece of paper . But not this one . 2 . A Court of thrones and Roses . I feel no desire to read it 3 . The cruel prince . I just don’t want to read about faeries

I recently read and loved A Little Life, but it took me months to get through. The captivating writing style makes me want it to be even longer, so that wasn't the reason, but the heavyness got to me more often than not.

I just had a complete mental breakdown a few hours ago, like bawling my eyes out in my car in an empty parking lot for 2 hours, and after forcing myself in the shower, this is exactly what I needed. Thank you for being the friendly person I need in my life 💖

Me:I am a picky picky reader Also me:ohhhhhh beautiful, magnificent luscious cover gimmie

I completely respect and understand everyone’s decision not to read “a little life”. It is by far one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read, but it broke me and I cried for a week. It is so beautiful, but the tragedy is so profound and realistic that it actually hurt to read. Still a stunning novel

The song of Achilles will now be known as The Song Of Chillies forever more😂😂 that’s it, done. (I will literally think the wrong title every time I look at it) THANKS JESSE!!😂🙃❤️

glad i read tsoa before tiktok crowd jumped in on it. otherwise, would've probably skipped it too lol. and agree with everything else you mentioned. my additional never to read list is everything by sjm, casandra claire, collen hoover, john greene, stephen king.

Okay now the song of Achilles is one of my all time favourites. I'm a Greek mythology nerd so I knew the ending no suprise but yet the book broke me like no other book has ever done to me that's why it's so special to me. I was spoiled about the whole book but yet there I was sobbing so hard on the floor and was depressed for weeks. That's what Madeline's writing style does to you. It's like poetry every single word is so carefully chosen every dialog every sentence will crave in your heart. It's just not about Achilles trynna get back Helen it's so much more. There's so many life lessons inside that book. The easiest 5 star I ever given. It's a book that made me believe in love and the purity of it. I respect your choice not to ever read it but you should know what you are missing out.

I'll never read Serpent and Dove, any of the ACOTAR series or Cassandra Clare books. I'm like you about romance books; I had to warm up to the genre but even then I'm still picky. Funny thing is Talia Hibbert is my go-to because, for the most part, her romantic dynamics are solid and banters top notch. XD

I have to admit, I let out an audible gasp when the first book was The Song of Achilles👉👈 I'm from Cyprus so growing up in middle school and highschool I had a mandatory lesson called Knowledge of the Ancient where each year we read and analysed a popular book from the Ancient Greek or Cypriot history and the year we analysed the Illiad was by far my favourite. So going into the Song of Achilles I was a bit sceptical, I had high expectations and I dreaded reading it only to find out it wasn't an accurate represantation of the Illiad. But after reading it I loved it more than I ever thought I could. So maybe give the Illiad a chance and then reconsider wether you want to read The Sing of Achilles or nah...

9:07 Jesse as John Green: "Who do you think you are?" Me: "running round leaving scars..."

JESSE! Your background and camera set up makes the video quality look amazing! So mystical and whimsical. 💙

“Emotional Carwash Situation” I’m totally using that expression

The fact you don't want to read The Song Of Achilles kinda breaks my heart cause it was one of my favourite reads this year 💔 but I understand and respect your decision cause honestly, I have tons of popular books on my non-TBR list😅 (like Percy Jackson or Cassandra Clare's books), and I don't feel like anyone's ever gonna convince me otherwise, so...🤷

A Little Life is my #1 favorite book and SOA is #2! I totally understand the distaste for A Little Life, but SOA is truly amazing and I urge absolutely everyone to read it because I felt the same way but it was not what I expected at all!

So I have this issue where I start out reading a popular book series than def it half way. For example, Percy Jackson, throne of glass, shatter me, the 5th wave, The list goes on and on 😂

To be fair, John Green himself hates on the "Katherines" book all the time on the Dear Hank and John podcast and considers it a failure.

The Time Traveler's Wife is my absolute favorite book! I just love the writing and the small little details. I was in the same boat, it sat on my shelf for a good year before I was bored enough to pick it up, and I was so glad that I did! I finished it that night, I was invested so much. Read it!

For me, I'll probably never read a Cassandra Clare & Sarah J. Mass book again. Read several of their older stuff n just found it okay-ish at the time. N I totally have no interest in their stuff now. Leigh Bardugo is also kinda meh for me. But I know all these authors r super popular n has a gigantic fan base. I can see why ppl like them. I do love Song of Achilles & Circe tho. Love how that author craft her characters. But no one should ever feel obligated to read something just bcoz others like it. U do u.

I'll never read Normal People by Sally Rooney. It just seems like a boring book that claims to be deep and realistic.

Your disinterest in romance-focused books is one of the MAJOR reasons I subscribed to your channel and Booksplosion. I have since binge-watched all of your and Booksplosion's videos. Thank you for being authentic and unique.

Your bookshelf is the brownish-pastel, woody, cozy, coffee-like aesthetic AND I LOVE IT😌

I will never read Throne of Glass or any of Sara J Mass’s other series. And that’s my hot take for today

For a good Romance book you should read Outlander!! Its not a YA BUT It is so dang good!! Romance, history, war! Also I would try the audiobook. The narrator does an amazing job with different voices!

come on jesse with the honestyyy!

honestly knowing you tried a little life so many times and still didn't finish like... you totally gave it your best shot I feel like no one can be mad about that, even the most hardcore stans

Alright but Song of Achilles? You gotta try it dude, it's pretty good

This is my favorite video of yours so far!!! You feel more rounded out as a person??? Idk if that makes sense or not😅 but I meant it with love💖 please feel like you're able to make negative reviews without apologizing or adding a disclaimer, we are here for you, you give great book content, but honestly if you just posted a video and ranted about life that would be cool too. I know I'm rambling, (I'm running solely on caffeine for the past 72 hours so please for me). I wish you all the love and hugs❤️❤️

Your videos are always so funny and aesthetically pleasing 🖤 (also, An Abundance of Katherines is probably the weakest of John Green’s books overall so I don’t blame you for not wanting to read it lol 😂)

I totally understand you don’t want to read The song of Achilles but I feel like you’d love it😂

The last time you made a video like this, you mentioned King’s IT and also Les Misérables, you almost broke my heart with those 😭😂

Personally I will never read or watch the twilight saga! Nothing against it, it just doesn’t peak my interest.

My favorite genre is dystopian/romance. You have to read Fable and its sequel, Namesake. These kinda fall in to that category, but they are SO GOOD! Favorite book ever for sure. It has romance but not to much, and it has betrayal, and secrets, and danger. It's just so good. I dont think you will regret reading it.

I laughed out loud when you said you read it “A Song of Chiles” hahaha. I respect your decision not to read A song of Achilles but also 😩 it’s sooo good A Little Life is on my list of books I’ll never read…..

I'll never read anything by Cassandra Clare. She could be a fine writer. But I've heard so much of the drama surrounding her that I can't get that out of my mind so any books of hers I'm like, nah pass I do want to read The Song of Achilles tho :P

Okay, I’m saving this to my watch later, but I saw a pixelated TSOA in the thumbnail & that just HURTS

I like these kind of videos because it makes me think about books besides just their hype.

Don’t blame you for not wanting to read The Time Travelers Wife. I read it twice and dont even remember what it was about except they have a kid who also time travels.

For me it would be the shadow hunter chronicles, the acotar series, throne of glass, serpent and dove trilogy 🙊

I love your setup!!🤩🤩

Read Audrey Niffenegger's other novel Her Fearful Symmetry. It's about ghosts - and also a pair of twins who inherit a home in London.

Some good romance recs are The unhoneymooners or Red white and royal blue. They are a bit big but so worth it 👌🏻

WTFFFF JESSE!!!!!????? The song of Achilles I’m- The fact that we talked about this book and I told you to read it foR YOU TO HAVE THE AUDACITY TO PUT IT ON THIS LIST!!??? BITCHHHHH “THE ONE THING I SEE IS GROWTH”……WHERE IS THE TRUTH HERE

it’s so funny because i’m reading The Song Of Achilles *right now* and i really like it

I wanna read “A Song of Chiles”!!! 🤣 Also I never plan on reading The Shadowhunter Chronicles so that’s the 🌶spicy🌶 take I got 😉 (confession: I actually enjoyed the first couple hundred pages of City of Bones. Yeah it’s corny but it gave me early 2010s vibes and gave me comfort. I stopped reading after I had to return it to the library. Interest soon faded away. I’m not continuing because 1) there are WAYYY too many books to catch up on, 2) I feel like I missed the hype on the previous books and 3) I am not a fan of the author with how she is known for plagiarism and bullying young fans. I got more reasons but that’s a whole other story.)

I have no desire to read anymore Cassandra Clare. I read the first two in the mortal instruments. I thought it was ok but then I heard so many people talk about the other series that I don’t care.

Every video you do gives me life and keeps me going you are one the of the best booktubers thank you Jesse for always being you and sharing these videos.

Its okay Jesse I'm a picky reader too. Thanks for another great video.

I agree with all the books PLUS House of Leaves. I tried a bunch of times but no I really can't. I just won't be quick to grab to read a book that I know will tore my heart into a million pieces. Maybe if im feeling too shattered and no one's around me ill read it so i can cry while reading 🤣🤣🤣🤣 And was laughing so hard with that people pressing you by asking 'have you read ..' a lot of times. So relatable.

I have already bought 6 books today so I really don’t need more booktube videos, yet here we are.

1 minute of Jesse bloopers? 🙊 We’ve been blessed! 🙌🏻✨

I’ve tried to read “An Abundance of Katherines” a bunch of times (it came in a box set of John Green books I got as a gift) I was never able to get into it tho I’m also reading “The Song of Achilles” right now and I’m kinda really into it. I had heard a lot of mixed things about it so I wanted to give it a read. I’ve vibing with it but we’ll see i guess lol

I am crying because I laughed so much during this video... Jesse keeps making my days with his video's

the fact that you will never know the absolute perfection of song of achilles makes me cry for you jesse

I've read An Abundance of Katherines and remember NOTHING about it. What happens? Don't ask me! Which is weird, because most John Green books are unforgettable to me, whether I love them or not!

On my "Not gonna read unless you want to give me a million dollars" list: Big Little Lies, The Handmaid's Tale, the Outlander series, the ACOTAR series (however I'm not completely opposed to the Throne of Glass series)

I haven't read the vast majority of the books you've pointed out, but I have read Song of Achilles and Get a Life, Chloe Brown. As with most people, I really enjoyed Song of Achilles. I listened to an audiobook version of it while at work, and I think that worked well for me since I was already familiar with the story and didn't have to focus too intently. It's a retelling, so the audiobook version wasn't too much of an investment, but I still got to hear the beautiful way that Madeline Miller wrote it. As for Get a Life, Chloe Brown, I definitely can see why people liked it. There were aspects to it that were really nice to see represented, but it hasn't been my favorite read this year. In fact, I kind of forgot I had read it until you mentioned it on this list. Additionally, I was going to note a few books I have no desire to read, but I can't think of any at the moment (if that tells you how uninterested I am in them).

I'm probably never going to read "Acotar" and "Throne of glass" series 🌚

Same. I might read The Song of Achilles at some point because I love Circe. But couldn't read An Abundance of Katherines and it is still on my bookshelf.

I think you've dodged a bullet with An Abundance of Katherines, I've read most of John Green's books (if not all of them) and I cannot remember much of An Abundance of Katherines. I know my memory isn't great but I usually remember something about books even if it's not the whole plot, so to not remember single thing about it is hinting to me that it might be a bit boring?? haha

So I felt the same way about Song of Achilles. It was too much hyped up and I typically don't read book like that, but I finally broke down after the surge on booktok. It was written really well and the relationships were so well written. Co sider this my very short essay

I SUPER feel you on A Little Life, my dude! I too read ending spoilers (the ending plot point section on Wikipedia) and was just like "d@mn, thanks but no thanks"

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson is a great bucket list read if you haven’t already read it. More about friendship than romance if I remember correctly!

if you like books with bucket lists, then you should read The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott. it's sooo good and i love it so much!!

Hmmm...could I possibly recommend XOXO by Axie Oh for your romance read? It's a love story between a cellist and a Kpop idol set in Seol. I consumed the entire thing in a couple hours and absolutely adored it. And this isn't *really* a romance, I mean there is romance but it isn't the center of the story, but you should read Parachutes by Kelly Yang. Just emotionally prepare yourself, because I didn't, and I was sobbing on the floor at midnight when I finished it.

I read The Time Travelers Wife ages ago and loved it, but from what I remember, you would totally not like it. Good call.

Don't we all need more fuel to our book buying obsession lol

I listened to A Little Life on audible while working on my architectural design work this summer andddd OH BOY was that a mistake. Every night I'd be chucking along on a project then immediately dissociate and/or cry over that book. EVERY. NIGHT. FOR WEEKS?!?!? Still have not finished it either :/ I need a support group to get through it

jesse’s videos are always so quirky and aesthetically pleasing 😁😁 they are honestly my happy pills

Jesse: That is... {Audible ad starts playing} Audible... Jesse: ...heartbreak

What makes me happy? A Jesse video!

I loved The Time Traveller's Wife but that was YEARS ago and since then I've fallen in love with Outlander. It was slightly outdated so I get it. Also time travel is tricky sometimes.

I will never read the rest of the mortal instruments series and anything else by Casandra Clair or anything else by John Green and anything with romance! also same for the Song of Achilles!

i feel you with song of achilles, i’ve tried reading it and i just wasn’t feeling it, but i might try it again soon :)

I wrote an entire paper comparing the song of Achilles to the Iliad (which it's loosely based off of) so I really could send you the entire paper if you want lol. In all seriousness, this is less about the tragedy of war and more about the bond between two boys that grows to an irreplaceable love between two men. So if it turns you off because of the war, just consider the beauty in such a love in such a hard time.

I have always pronounced the first book's name as A song of 'A-chillies' too. It just makes more sense to me 😂

These videos always brighten my day!

Everyone was like “omg The Song of Achilles broke me, I cried so much!” And I’m over here going “3 stars 😬”

i had a bad day today but your video notifications always makes me happy

I am curious about the song of Achilles, but I'm afraid of the pain... It seems to be a sad one.

Yeah...A Little Life ain’t for everyone, that one wrecked me and was a kinda miserable experience, but I enjoyed it.

The bloopers are all aways me favorite part if the video! They always make me laugh 😅🤣😂😆 Love You Jess!❤

BONUS: Here's a list of books I'll probably never read/don't wanna read. -The Communist Manifesto (social media has practically already done that book's job already for the last 5 years) -Any book by Orson Scott Card (That guy is hella problematic and uses his money for evil) -Any further books by Rainbow Rowell (After Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, I had enough, and I won't even read her run on Runaways) -Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (The preview of this book on Apple Books is 250 PAGES LONG, I thought I was in for a treat, but the first foreword was more interesting to read than the first 10 pages of the story. Reading/hearing about the book is better than the book itself) -The Boys by Garth Ennis (The TV show is better written, but the comics are still messed up AF, and the author hates superheroes, so I don't stan) -Call Me By Your Name by IDEK (The book sounded trash, the movie looked good, but was still trash. Imma stream the Lil Nas X song instead) There's probably more, but my laptop's battery could die any moment. See ya!