Reviews tagging 'Murder'

American War: A Novel by Omar El Akkad

14 reviews

foxgallagher's review

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Excrement, Gore, Mental illness, Death of parent, Alcohol, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

keegan53's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

5.0

An amazing book. The world building is fantastic and there is amazing character development. So well crafted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Torture, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, War, and Murder

pollyandthebooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, War, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Mental illness, Grief, Genocide, Death of parent, and Child death

spaghettireads's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.5

The premise is a second American civil war, that started for the most part based on oil. The book follows Sarat through her life during the war, and her role in it.

I read this with a book club, and there was a lot to discuss. It all seems quite plausible that our current world could turn into this one, and in fact many of the dystopian features of this future America are already occurring. Omar El Akkad is a war journalist, and this is evident through the writing. 

I had seen this reviewed as dystopian climate fiction. While it definitely is that, since the war is caused by the decline of oil, and differences in opinion over whether it should be used, I wanted more details about the climate crisis. You see a few details about how the world has changed, but throughout the book climate change seems like something that happened in the past and not something that is still occurring. 

Overall, the book is quite fast paced and engrossing. If the premise interests you, I would definitely suggest picking it up!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Torture, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Mass/school shootings