Reviews with content warning for Confinement - In Memoriam

It took me a minute to get into this book and connect with the characters but now I'm certain I'll be rereading this.
(I was thinking about the rating of this as I went and it only kept climbing so I'm defaulting to 5 stars for the minute. We shall see if my eventual reread upholds this.)

This was stunning and incredibly managed to capture the guts and brutality of the front lines of war while also providing moments of light and warmth.

I'm on a constant quest for stories with "old-timey queers" and this delivered exactly what I wanted.

Not really a spoiler, could potentially be described as an anti-content warning but just incase you like to go in knowing nothing about what to expect:

Although this was set in 1914, a time where homosexuality was against the law, this book had a distinctive lack of homophobia woven through it. It seemed that a great deal of the characters were queer themselves or just really cool calm and collected about the whole affair. Slurs are present but not with malicious intent.

I also really like when multiple languages come together and this book gave me French, German and Greek so that was very nice.

Content Warnings

trish_reading12's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

A beautifully written book about love and friendship during WW1.

Alice Winn’s writing style creates a vivid portrayal of active battle during WW1.

The character development from young people at boarding school to individuals who had seen too much death and suffering was incredible.

The relationships between the characters feel genuine.

I am looking forward to reading whatever Alice Winn writes next.

Content Warnings

theunfinishedbookshelf's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

miles's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm an absolute sucker for books that rip out my heart and wreck it into a million pieces only to put it back together by the end of it and give me a soft forehead kiss.
Lots of realistic pain and terror but interspersed with wonderfully tender and funny moments of beauty that capture your heart.

Content Warnings

sjanke2's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

dananana's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

christ.... literally couldn't put this down. haunting and tragic, but strung through with both horrific and beautiful emotion.

Content Warnings

simixfe's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Well, let's just say I expected or at least hoped for a bit more.
I loved the beginning, liked the middle and hated the end.
I mean I should have anticipated that it would not end with

Henry and Sidney moving into the british countryside, going on long walks, reciting poetry and growing old together.
Still, I at least hoped for a conversation about their true feelings. I wanted Gaunt to let his guard down and tell Ellwood that he is scared that Ellwood will grow bored of him eventually and I wanted Elly to be finally able to voice his feelings in his own words and not the words of other poets. In my Imagination, Gaunt would have stopped calling Ellwood Ellwood and finally would have used his christian name and then they would have grown old together (happily). Sadly, none of that happend, except that Gaunt called Ellwood Sidney, bjt only after Ellwood basically pressured him.
It really was not a bad book by any means. I just went into it with the wrong expectations.
To end this on a more positive note: Even though it was all quite sad, there were parts where i laughed out loud. Some scenes were absolutely hilarious and Devi was the sweetest soul. And the book had great writing and beautiful quotes. The quote that touched me most was: "You'll write more poems. They are not lost. You are the poetry."

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