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msouth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
jessicas_library_card's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Violence, and War
arayo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Outing, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Sexism, Xenophobia, Excrement, and Vomit
abookishgoth's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Death of parent
booksletusescape's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Mental illness
writingcaia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What many dream of does come, a war, but little did they know it would be called the War to End all Wars.
One by one, reaching adulthood and even before seeing 18 they depart to the front and butchery.
In a boys school two friends feel differently, but inevitably, one because he doesn’t want to be called a coward or a traitor (being of German descent and eighteen), and the other because he cannot conceive of his best friend, his loved one, dying without seeing him again, enlist.
All the courage and bravado they felt while reading the In Memoriam with the list of the brave boys before them will soon die, along with thousands. It’s not glory they will face but a world of sickness and death, of loss and grief, of trauma and despair. A world they could not in their wildest dreams ever conceive.
Focused on our beautiful love bird boys on a relationship of miscommunication, this book still tells much of the tragedy of WWI especially among the younger boys, their disillusionment with God and Country, their loss of limbs, of face, of mind, of life. It also gives a peek at a world where boys full around with boys when it’s seen as a young boys “thing” but in war it’s a crime to love one another and act upon it.Another of the themes approached is the different ways in which aristocratic kids like these were treated and promoted compared to civil workers.
The love story drives the plot but it is so much more than that, and that depth of feeling, the poetry of love for country, than hate for it, the love for their friends and the grief for the lost ones.
This was one of my favourite books of 2023, and one I won’t forget!
Totally recommend for historical fiction fans, romantic historic fiction, WWI fiction fans, and lgbtqia+ romance fans.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Antisemitism
bexh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail
zoemaleah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail
beanith's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I don’t want to make this the only value of the novel, but if you like Song of Achilles you must read this. War, loss of youth, love, beautiful writing - it’s all here.
I’m completely stunned by the fact that this is a debut novel. It’s so good. (To be fair, Alice Winn apparently wrote three unpublished novels before this, so we see that practice really does make perfect). I wish I had a physical copy to annotate. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Alice Winn.
I really love the the first third of this novel (even the first half). So much is brewing in this stage - we meet many of the main players, we witness and toil over unrequited love, we go to war, we experience tension and terror, and begin to accumulate death.
I love yearning. I love two people who believe they can’t be together, or that the other is uninterested, or who regret not being brave enough to say something, or who regret saying something and losing everything. Now do all of that under the pressure of a world war. Awful. Exquisite.
The last third of third works a little less for me, but I never lost my desire to follow the story to the end.
Gaunt: Thoroughly my type. Tall, broad, wide, quiet, serious but completely smitten on the inside. War changes everyone and by the end he’s no longer a closed fist.
Ellwood: His soul is eviscerated at some point. If Gaunt becomes who he’s meant to be (a leader, a kind man, an open man) Ellwood becomes what he never should have been, and then claws his way back from that.
They’re just boys. They’ll be in their 40s when WW2 starts. War is hell.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, and Antisemitism
Minor: Suicide
sylexlibris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail