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kindlereads's review against another edition
4.0
It was like MASH but nothing funny about it. It was very well written and very accessible for the reader. But this book was not the type of novel I would normally read. It was about a war that feels too close, too real, to raw. I would recommend it as a book to someone interested about war and the realities of the hardship and effects of combat, but otherwise would avoid suggesting it.
molly_dettmann's review against another edition
3.0
This book had me holding my breath for most of it. Myers does not shy away at all the true brutality of war. Perry, our MC, got into the war because he didn’t know what else to do. He meets and loses men to the horrors of war. He sees and experiences death and destruction and pain. This book hurt to read, but I think it did a good job of depicting the hell that the Vietnam War was.
dazed_confused's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, Body horror, Classism, Blood, Death, and Gore
kittypaws9's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, after reading “Fallen Angels," I just couldn’t find anything that caught my interest. It was that good!
“Fallen Angels” is a book about Vietnam. It starts right in the action, and ends in the action. It’s told from one soldier’s view. A scary look at the war and hoe it affected people. It was quite the page turner.
“Fallen Angels” is a book about Vietnam. It starts right in the action, and ends in the action. It’s told from one soldier’s view. A scary look at the war and hoe it affected people. It was quite the page turner.
cflam38's review against another edition
5.0
"My father used to call all soldiers angel warriors," he said. "Because usually they get boys to fight wars."
My friend recommended this book to me and I first thought that I wouldn't really enjoy a war-story, and maybe that's true, but this book was just so captivating. Fallen Angels is a horrifying story of the Vietnam War from the perspective of a 17 year old boy. This book quickly became a favorite of mine and I think it is a must read for everyone. By the time I finished it I felt so close to the characters. I laughed with them, cried with them, and was afraid with them.
I had never thought of myself as being afraid of anything. I thought I would always be a middle-of-the-road kind of guy, not to brave, but not too scared either. I was wrong. I was scared every time I left the hooch.
I wanted to say more to him. I wanted to say that the only dead person I had ever seen before had been my grandmother. I wanted to say that when I saw her I was ready, walking into the darkened church with family and sitting in the first pews. But Jenkins was different. Jenkins had been walking with me and talking with me only hours before. Seeing him lying there like that, his mouth and eyes open, had grabbed something inside my chest and twisted it hard.
We spent another day lying around. It seemed to be what the war was about. Hours of boredom, seconds of terror.
The guys that our artillery blew away didn't have a reason to die. They hadn't died facing the enemy. They just died because somebody else was scared, maybe careless. They died because they were in Nam, where being scared made you do things you would regret later. We were killing our brothers, ourselves.
I started writing a letter to Kenny. What i wanted to put in it was the reason for my dying, if I should die. I knew that I wanted to live because I was afraid of dying, and I knew that I could come up with reasons for wanting to live.
Sometimes standing alone seemed to be the hardest thing in the world to do, even when being in the crowd meant you could be killed.
I cried for Brew. Sometimes, even when I wasn't thinking about him, or at least when I didn't know I was thinking of him, I would find myself crying. And when the tears came, I thought about Brew and the sound the zipper made in the chopper.
The noise was terrible. Every time a mortar went off, I jumped. I couldn't help myself. The noise went into you. It touched parts of you that were small and frightened and wanting your mommy.
"I started praying to God and to Saint Jude," Manaco said. "I mean some heavy praying. I'm making all kinds of promises, too. You know, get me out of this one and I'm going to be so cool for the rest of my life it won't be funny."
"I thought I was the only one making all the promises," I said.
"If God gets even half the promises we've been laying down, The U.S.A. is going to be holier than the Vatican," Monaco said.
I had never been in love before. Maybe this is what it was like, the way I felt for Manaco and Peewee and Johnson and the rest of my squad. I hoped this was what it was like.
"If they say you ain't hurt bad enough to go home you got to play crazy. Tell them you keep seeing pink-ass zebras running around the room and you want to catch one of them and eat him."
My friend recommended this book to me and I first thought that I wouldn't really enjoy a war-story, and maybe that's true, but this book was just so captivating. Fallen Angels is a horrifying story of the Vietnam War from the perspective of a 17 year old boy. This book quickly became a favorite of mine and I think it is a must read for everyone. By the time I finished it I felt so close to the characters. I laughed with them, cried with them, and was afraid with them.
I had never thought of myself as being afraid of anything. I thought I would always be a middle-of-the-road kind of guy, not to brave, but not too scared either. I was wrong. I was scared every time I left the hooch.
I wanted to say more to him. I wanted to say that the only dead person I had ever seen before had been my grandmother. I wanted to say that when I saw her I was ready, walking into the darkened church with family and sitting in the first pews. But Jenkins was different. Jenkins had been walking with me and talking with me only hours before. Seeing him lying there like that, his mouth and eyes open, had grabbed something inside my chest and twisted it hard.
We spent another day lying around. It seemed to be what the war was about. Hours of boredom, seconds of terror.
The guys that our artillery blew away didn't have a reason to die. They hadn't died facing the enemy. They just died because somebody else was scared, maybe careless. They died because they were in Nam, where being scared made you do things you would regret later. We were killing our brothers, ourselves.
I started writing a letter to Kenny. What i wanted to put in it was the reason for my dying, if I should die. I knew that I wanted to live because I was afraid of dying, and I knew that I could come up with reasons for wanting to live.
Sometimes standing alone seemed to be the hardest thing in the world to do, even when being in the crowd meant you could be killed.
I cried for Brew. Sometimes, even when I wasn't thinking about him, or at least when I didn't know I was thinking of him, I would find myself crying. And when the tears came, I thought about Brew and the sound the zipper made in the chopper.
The noise was terrible. Every time a mortar went off, I jumped. I couldn't help myself. The noise went into you. It touched parts of you that were small and frightened and wanting your mommy.
"I started praying to God and to Saint Jude," Manaco said. "I mean some heavy praying. I'm making all kinds of promises, too. You know, get me out of this one and I'm going to be so cool for the rest of my life it won't be funny."
"I thought I was the only one making all the promises," I said.
"If God gets even half the promises we've been laying down, The U.S.A. is going to be holier than the Vatican," Monaco said.
I had never been in love before. Maybe this is what it was like, the way I felt for Manaco and Peewee and Johnson and the rest of my squad. I hoped this was what it was like.
"If they say you ain't hurt bad enough to go home you got to play crazy. Tell them you keep seeing pink-ass zebras running around the room and you want to catch one of them and eat him."
sc104906's review against another edition
2.0
This book discusses Perry's journey as a soldier in the Vietnam War. Left with no other options, Perry enlists. Believing that he will not be fighting because a previous medical condition. Perry finds that all bets are off when he gets to Vietnam. He is involved in active combat and personally learns of the true horrors of war. Perry and his soldier friends are all left drastically changed through the war.
I found this book boring, which sounds terrible, but the story just didn't make me care. I couldn't keep all of the characters straight, except for the main character Perry and Pewee, the resident jerk. When someone died, I couldn't remember who they were. I felt that this book was lacking substance and character development. Certainly not my favorite Vietnam book.
I found this book boring, which sounds terrible, but the story just didn't make me care. I couldn't keep all of the characters straight, except for the main character Perry and Pewee, the resident jerk. When someone died, I couldn't remember who they were. I felt that this book was lacking substance and character development. Certainly not my favorite Vietnam book.
theallmightyme's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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? No
4.0
coltron's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
missjmart's review against another edition
3.0
War books are not really my genre. They are not something that I am drawn to, but I decided to give Fallen Angels a read.
Sadly, I was bored. I thought the idea was interesting. Follow Richie Perry through his tour in the Vietnam War, a basketball superstar turned military soldier. The way it was written felt choppy. It didn’t feel like it had a good flow. The descriptions were good, but even when there was supposed to be a lot of action, it was still hard for me to see what was happening in the scene in my head.
If you are a fan of military fiction, this might be a good read for you, but otherwise you might want to pass on this one.
shadylane_00's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0