Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

15 reviews

autonomous_lass's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, War, Violence, Medical trauma, Gun violence, and Medical content

Minor: Suicide attempt, Drug use, and Alcohol

tsolron's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Homophobia

RE: Homophobia, minor spoilers

About halfway through the book to the end, the main character shows disdain and disgust at homosexuality, but is accepting that others are that way. There was also a period of essentially reverse conversation therapy mindset. I think it might have been intended as a means of showing how the returning soldiers return to a different society than they left, and fitting into an unfamiliar society is challenging. The sci-fi and space combat aspects of the story were all pretty good.

david_vercauteren's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Infidelity and Xenophobia

tsuba's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

Intriguing story, inspiring ideas, highlighting the horrors and stupidity of war
BUT

Blatant sexism, misogynism, 0 likeable characters or any character writing at all, apart from the author self-insert. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, War, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

leeseloadenny's review

dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault

itsnicholaslashay's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Violence

Minor: Animal death

spacebornfew's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Homophobia, War, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Misogyny

Minor: Xenophobia

unluckycat13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark relaxing sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Extremely sexist and bigoted. Use of allegory covers up disturbing issues with the content. Implied rape. Heavy sexism and homophobia on the part of the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, War, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Minor: Sexism

athnyx230's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Sexual content

storyorc's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I wish all books that make you a more thoughtful member of society had been serialised initially. The short chapters really keep this one clipping along. The battle scenes had me sweating, cheering, and sometimes wanting to puke.

It starts off with grievous training and first blood where every death is a gut punch, every war crime a sick feeling in your stomach, then tosses in time dilation - how every battle is going to wrench Mandella further into the future, away from what he's fighting for - and you realise you are going to experience whole new dimensions of loss. The times he tries to fit back into a culture that has moved on are a chilling glimpse at how alien we must seem to returning combat vets. I could never understand before what would possess someone to do a second tour.

If I had any lingering romantic delusions about soldier life after Slaughterhouse 5, this held their heads under until the bubbles stopped. Where Slaughterhouse was a more intellectual critique, this one just plain shows the inescapable daily terror, boredom, and general suck of being recruited.

Can't give full stars due to the homophobia and subtle misogyny. Wild to say that for a book that contains more women and gays than any other type of character but see content warning for light-spoilers details.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Misogyny and Sexual harassment

The homophobia is whack because you can easily read the rise of homosexuality as shorthand for the world's decline, which - don't threaten me with a good time. Especially because there is an element of the end that implies hetero = turning back to the Good Path. However, you could also read it more sympathetically as the shock of a Vietnam vet coming home to find that Pride is a thing. The hero does make an effort to accept it and his romantic interest chides him when he is resistant. He is never hateful or rude. In one situation, he is even the only straight guy in the room and looked at as a deviant for it. If only this in-their-shoes experience had made him reflect on his prejudices. ------ Some people use tha/ther/thim pronouns in the future. It is not remarked upon negatively, just curiously. However, the hero does 'flip a coin mentally' to decide between using he and she when they come into contact with someone androgynous instead of using those. ------ A veteran who has had to have a mechanical lower half after an explosion claims it has made him 'not hetero...a cyborg' and is referred to an asexual cyborg which, badass, but yeah. ------ The main form of misogyny is that army women are legally required to sleep with the dudes. This feels like it is meant to shock readers and count against the military, and it does, buuuut it feels like Haldeman wants to have his cake and eat it too. The women are at worst a little tired by this requirement, none ever speak against it, and certainly none rebuke our hero. He doesn't seem to dwell on it like he does the homosexuality either. That said, the book is teeming with women soldiers. At times it feels like he's joined a hyper-competent women's sporting team. Not sure if this was just so he could fuck them all or if that was incidental. They get personalities and proficiencies outside wanting to fuck him too, and some even outrank him, though I don't recall any at the very top echelons. I only wish he hadn't picked the least interesting one for his romantic interest.