Before he became known as Alexander the Great, he was Alexandros, the teenage son of the king of Makedon. Rather than living a life of luxury, as prince he has to be better and learn faster than his peers, tackling problems without any help. One such problem involves his increasingly complicated feelings for his new companion, Hephaistion.
When Alexandros and Hephaistion go to study under the philosopher Aristoteles, their evolving relationship becomes even harder to navigate. Strength, competition, and status define one’s fate in their world—a world that seems to have little room for the tenderness growing between them.
Alexandros is expected to command, not to crave the warmth of friendship with an equal. In a kingdom where his shrewd mother and sister are deemed inferior for their sex, and his love for Hephaistion could be seen as submission to an older boy, Alexandros longs to be a human being when everyone but Hephaistion just wants him to be a king.
I've always been intrigued by Alexander the Great so requesting this was a no-brainer. Arguably the most prolific conqueror the world has ever seen and all by the age of 32! Incredible, is the only word for that sort of accomplishment. Reames, too, seems to be an ardent fan of him and she's clearly knowledgeable about not only Alexander but this period in general, something that is evident in the writing.
However, said writing is dry and for the most part unengaging. It reads like a textbook at times, cramming in details that weren't folded into the overall narrative in a cohesive or sophisticated way. Undeniably, I learned a few things while reading Dancing with the Lion but I also learned things while reading A Song of Achilles and Axios, both of which were not only didactic but simultaneously found the balance between romance and edification. They both also consumed me and imprinted on my psyche; the same cannot be said of this novel. Nevertheless, this novel is a likable first effort at historical fiction by this author.
Reames' portrayal of Alexander and Hephaistion is both insightful and touching. Both have strengths and weaknesses and both read age appropriate. Fast friends after meeting with a connection between them that's obvious made me crave more of those moments but they were largely subsumed by the aforementioned details which stymied my connection to this narrative. However, it certainly has its moments as they slowly grow closer and feelings develop which confuses them both. There is a slight age difference with Hephaistion being the elder that was enjoyable to read from their different perspectives regarding how their disparate developmental levels affected their inchoate romantic relationship.
"Becoming" lays the foundation for what's to come between them as well as the host of secondary characters introduced. I'm hopeful their romance will be more front and center in "Rise" with more focus on their relationship development, though from the point where "Becoming" left off Alexander is on the cusp of his meteoric rise to greatness, so it'll be interesting to see what Reames does with the narrative in part two of this series.
If you are a fan of friends to lovers historical romance that's fairly chaste or young adult that's strongly historical then give "Becoming" a try.
A review copy was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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