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tanner9905's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Suicide, and War
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Gore, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Homophobia, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Blood
milesjmoran's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, Child abuse, Gore, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Homophobia, Blood, Gun violence, and Grief
dozicasey's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, War, Homophobia, and Body horror
samvgass's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, War, and Violence
hannahchristine's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I wholeheartedly hate war and everything that comes with it. I feel like most pieces of media glamorize it in some way, in this case I felt like war was made out to be what it is. A cruel game that has no winner. The story was told pretty well, still not a fan of explicit battle scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, and Homophobia
annijk's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Homophobia
johnreadsthings's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There is a sadness, palpable and enveloping, in John Boyne's The Absolutist, but you won't know why until the end. Having loved The Heart's Invisible Furies, I trusted Boyne as he guided me through a day in 1919 in Norwich where ex-serviceman Tristan met with Marian, the sister of the deceased soldier, and his best friend, Will, to deliver letters and as he brought me to the Aldershot training grounds and in the French trenches fighting the Great War. Boyne can write a hell of a story, that's for sure, and his greatest feat is writing dialogues between characters that are so engrossing, it felt like actually eavesdropping. In Norwich, Marian and Tristan talked for pages about people and events and didn't talk about people and events, but it was never boring, these conversations. The complete opposite, in fact. Because it is through this talk, in what was said and more importantly, what wasn't said, did Boyne and Tristan told the tragic story they had in store for us.
The beginning (its humorous encounter) and the ending (the years after) reminded me a bit of Invisible Furies, but The Absolutist is an original story in itself. It had its own, different strength that the aforementioned novel, and though written by the same writer, seemed unfair to compare so I won't and will stop doing so. What I loved so much about The Absolutist is Boyne's control and incredible storytelling. There is a mystery that has been dangling and hidden just about from the readers, but Boyne didn't reveal it until the most heightened moment, until the right time, that is, where its effect, as was possibly expected and hoped for, gut-punched me so hard I had to close the book. Instead, he unfolded Tristan's story and of the people around him, layer by layer, until what remain are these incredibly created characters that would take a whole lot time until they are forgotten or not thought of.
The beginning (its humorous encounter) and the ending (the years after) reminded me a bit of Invisible Furies, but The Absolutist is an original story in itself. It had its own, different strength that the aforementioned novel, and though written by the same writer, seemed unfair to compare so I won't and will stop doing so. What I loved so much about The Absolutist is Boyne's control and incredible storytelling. There is a mystery that has been dangling and hidden just about from the readers, but Boyne didn't reveal it until the most heightened moment, until the right time, that is, where its effect, as was possibly expected and hoped for, gut-punched me so hard I had to close the book. Instead, he unfolded Tristan's story and of the people around him, layer by layer, until what remain are these incredibly created characters that would take a whole lot time until they are forgotten or not thought of.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and War
wildflowerragdoll's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
id give it a 5 star but I was so emotionally drained and hurt by this book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content
hannahmayreads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
**September 2019**
Even on this second reading, I am no less shocked, appalled, confused, angry, saddened... this is a brilliant and confronting book. Again, it was no less immersive on a second reading than it was the first time around. The breaks between time shifts are sudden, like the moment the surface breaks when you come up for air.
**February 2013**
This is not the book you think it will be. It is so much better! This a new perspective on a familiar tale, constantly developing and surprising; keeping you engaged and enthralled as the story takes shape.
And oh does it hurt to read some of it. Some sentences are a slap in the face or a punch to the stomach; some images are so tragic they are beyond belief. And yet you know it would all be true for some poor soul, for those were the times. Like Boyne's The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, you will be shocked, heartbroken and relieved all at the same time. Again, Boyne makes a tragedy beautifully poignant.
This book is so unexpected and exceptionally written that anyone would find it hard to put down. Just be prepared, for there is an ending not entirely happy (and yet not unhappy either) and it will shock you beyond tears.
Even on this second reading, I am no less shocked, appalled, confused, angry, saddened... this is a brilliant and confronting book. Again, it was no less immersive on a second reading than it was the first time around. The breaks between time shifts are sudden, like the moment the surface breaks when you come up for air.
**February 2013**
This is not the book you think it will be. It is so much better! This a new perspective on a familiar tale, constantly developing and surprising; keeping you engaged and enthralled as the story takes shape.
And oh does it hurt to read some of it. Some sentences are a slap in the face or a punch to the stomach; some images are so tragic they are beyond belief. And yet you know it would all be true for some poor soul, for those were the times. Like Boyne's The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, you will be shocked, heartbroken and relieved all at the same time. Again, Boyne makes a tragedy beautifully poignant.
This book is so unexpected and exceptionally written that anyone would find it hard to put down. Just be prepared, for there is an ending not entirely happy (and yet not unhappy either) and it will shock you beyond tears.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Suicide, Grief, Sexual content, and Violence
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