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gemin1reader's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Gun violence, War, Violence, Mental illness, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death
Moderate: Suicide, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Classism
Minor: Sexual violence
lizziaha's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, War, and Gore
Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Ableism, Racism, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Confinement, Homophobia, Bullying, and Sexism
Minor: Suicide, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
introverted_reads's review
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Gun violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
lillianreads's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Medical trauma, Gun violence, and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia and Alcoholism
Minor: Suicide and Sexism
paulawind's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
This book was harrowing. I thought I was ready for the horrors of war after reading All Quiet on the Western Front, but this book only awoke my memories. Why do leaders decide to go to war when it is universally acknowledged that it is only bringing pain and suffering? And we do it all over again, for millennia. Maybe the Greeks got it more, when the war was more about man vs man rather than automated machines against civilians.
Coming to characters, side from them dropping like flies every other chapter, I think the author made us care about every (or almost every) death. The character development for both MCs was absolutely breaking my heart but
One of my favourite moments is when Elwood is screaming poetry at Gaunt, very blatantly professing his love in all meaning but the straightforward one, and Gaunt is so deep in denial that even thought he loved him desperately too, he can’t believe it’s really happening. Those characters in a nutshell. At least for the first part of the book. Later it would be Gaunt being gentle and endlessly patient with Elwood when he struggles to say anything at all and bursting in anger, fighting his ptsd. Gosh, I love those boys so much. Going to pretend that the book ended with “And they lived happily ever after”
Graphic: Antisemitism, Colonisation, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Rape, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Medical content, War, Vomit, Sexual content, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Racism
luca_18's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Death, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Classism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual content
potterpav's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Violence, and War
sophiemundy13's review
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Grief, War, Violence, Gun violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
kransom'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
4.75
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Death, and War
Moderate: Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
skylar_cr_wolf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
“In this war he’s a god, Ellwood.” He put his face into his hands. “You’ve brought the anger of gods upon us.”
First of all, I need to thank two people kindly for recommending this book to me: Kieran and Harvey.
Thank you two for being part of this journey and being okay with me sharing my inner thoughts about this novel while I read and cried about it.
And now to the novel:
It is more than I can express. And I mean it. The entire topic of world wars is something which usually keeps me away from reading a novel, however, I am glad that it didn’t scare me away this time. Because while WWI is a major point in this book, it is not the central part. The main focus is on friendships and complicated romance, especially as a queer person in the 1910s to early 1920s. It is about how you change through being tormented by the ongoing war and how it changes also the connections you have to people. It is about the loss of them as well.
Another point which I liked but also surprised me a bit is the accuracy of languages. At least for the German part I can say that it is incredibly accurate. It was astonishing to see a novel which is mostly written in English to depict a fair share of languages in such an accurate form. As someone who is a bit of a lingual nerd (not as big as I used to) find this extremely marvellous.
I could say so much more. How much I love Gaunt and Ellwood. How much my heart still aches because of Sandys and how much I enjoyed the friendships between Gideon and Gaunt too. How much I will miss their journey and look forward to read it again at some other time.
And maybe this time I will be better prepared with enough tissues for farewells.
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Animal death, and War
Moderate: Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Confinement, and Bullying