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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Was very interested to read this book after reading a review of Omar El Akkad’s newest release, One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. I found the premise here more intriguing. I’ve been wanting to confront the monster squarely since this seems almost certainly to be our future. Other versions of this idea have disappointed, been too imaginative, or taken a perspective that missed the mark for me. American War is the most plausible depiction of what modern civil war in the U.S. might look like. In the end, war is the same everywhere and whatever is unique about one taking place in the United States is lost in the complexity, the gray areas, the stripping away of humanity that occurs wherever war breaks out. Appreciated it more than I loved it. It’s one of those “necessary” books, even though I generally hate books being lauded for their “good-for-you” qualities.
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Blurring lines of morality, with very imperfect and flawed human decisions being made. Thought provoking in regards to the world building. There is room for more stories to be told in this new world that I would love to see written in the future.
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
sad
A moving tragedy about how systemic cultural violence breeds terror and brutality. Really phenomenal character work, and one of the most sadly believable portraits I've read of radicalization.
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one took me a while to get through. A lot of suffering, and I struggled to get on board with where people were coming from. Everyone hated everyone else, but the reasoning didn't really seem plausible to me. But I guess that could be said about day to day life in America on any current day reality as well.
This beautifully written novel looks at the effects of war - a 2nd Civil War fought in the U.S. from 2074 through 2095 - on both individuals and communities. It is a moving, powerful, and thought-provoking story of a bleak future that feels like it could really happen, as seen through the eyes of one family and one girl/woman. Highly recommended! Read my full review and listen to a sample of the audio book (which sounds just as good):
https://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2018/12/fiction-review-american-war.html
https://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2018/12/fiction-review-american-war.html
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Written in 2017, a lot of the events almost seem quaint after the last 8 years. The fact that the author put the war 50 years in the future seems like a stretch; I wonder how far in the future it would be if it were written today.
Liked it but didn't love it. It has a strong premise but i just feel like it didn't deliver the way I expected it to. The last 30% of the book was really good but before that point I had a hard time getting myself to pick it up. This was a good book with an interesting storyline taking place in the not so distant future America. I was pulled in by the idea of a second civil war, which doesn't seem like such a far fetched idea these days. As a whole though, American War didn't measure up to my own great expectations for it.