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autonomous_lass's review against another edition
- 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
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
Moderate: Violence and Homophobia
RE: Homophobia, minor spoilersdavid_vercauteren's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: War, Death, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Infidelity and Xenophobia
tsuba's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
BUT
Blatant sexism, misogynism, 0 likeable characters or any character writing at all, apart from the author self-insert.
Graphic: Sexism, War, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia
leeseloadenny's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual assault
itsnicholaslashay's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, War, and Violence
Minor: Animal death
spacebornfew's review
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Homophobia, War, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Misogyny
Minor: Xenophobia
unluckycat13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Homophobia, War, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
Minor: Sexism
athnyx230's review
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Death, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Sexual content
storyorc's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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.