I have very recently finished reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, and this book of poetry jumped out at me while I was at the bookstore. I read the first few stanza before deciding to purchase the book. Its premise and mission—to give voice to the men who were casualties of the Trojan War—spoke to me. It is beautifully written and intends to honor those who were no more than a blip in The Iliad. But I don’t think it is successful.

The poems did not delve deep enough. I think Oswald should’ve done some more inventing with the intention of making these men feel like real people rather than lines on a page. I was more moved by the concept of the poems rather than moved by the poems themselves.