Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

187 reviews

lexcellent's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Quiet, beautiful and completely intoxicating. I was terrified it was going to break my heart but I couldn't put it down. 

This book is filled with bleak and unflinching depictions of war (which are all based on historical accounts) that utterly broke me. But with it there is such beauty in the characters and the way they protect and love each other. It even manages to be funny, throwing in some gallows humour that only adds to its appeal.

An incredible love story that has enormous emotional power, and one that will stay with me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail

rachel101's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

basil_touche's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

I can't remember the last time I had to pause during a book in order to comprehend what I had just read. This novel doesn't hide the gruesome aspects of the war, it's shows it all in detail and even I found it difficult to stomach at times. Characters are introduced and dead within a few pages; some you get to know for huge chunks of the book until suddenly there's a part where you see their obituary or their remains. A lot of topics are covered in this (chivalric mindsets of britain to war pre ww1, queer love, colonalisation, duel identities, classim etc) that it feels like it really captures the period.

But this is also a story about love. Gaunt and Ellwood's relationship throughout is touching as you see them pinning for each other in their youth, to their optimism for the war being destroyed once they reach the trenches and then how they slowly start to pick up the pieces after. It's interesting to see how each of their traumas display differently, and surprising too.

I listened to the audiobook and Christian Coulson does a wonderful job throughout. He gives each character a distinct voice, along with pretty accurate accents. I think it truly adds something to the book. 

A haunting and beautiful debut for Winn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Sexism, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This is one of the most moving love stories I've read in fiction. Winn's descriptions of yearning and forbidden longing are so tender and raw, and the weight of the characters' situations brought me to tears several times.

The passages describing the war are brutal, visceral, and full of horror, as are the psychological torments inflicted on the men by the inhumanity they are forced to endure. 

While the ending of the book is beautiful and hopeful, I really appreciated that the romantic impossibility of Ellwood and Gaunt's reunion didn't offer a panacea for their trauma. Instead, it realistically provided them both with a glimmer of hope that eventually, a normal life could be achieved.

My only (minor) critique of this book is that occasionally the 21st century sensibilities of anti-colonial sentiment felt a little too on the nose coming out of the mouths of British public school boys, but that really is a minor nitpick. 

Despite its heavy themes, this book was readable and engrossing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

wardenred's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

The Hague Convention sought to make war more humane. We had reached a point in history where we believed it was possible to make war humane.

I’m legit not sure if I can produce a coherent review for this one, just as I’m still not sure if it was the right decision for me to read a war novel right now. But I’m kind of glad I did this to myself, because honestly, the book is pretty great. It’s as character-driven as you can get, and the character development is absolutely glorious—both for the two protagonists and the numerous supporting characters around them. Though of course I don’t know if “development“ is the right word, given the circumstances of the plot and the subject matter; more like, the act of breaking the characters down.

The bulk of the story takes part in the trenches and the prisoners of war camp, but there are the early chapters and the occasional flashbacks about the characters’ school days, and damn, do those add to the devastation. It’s just this constant juxtaposition of who these boys were, who they could have been, and who they had to become. I felt it’s particularly evident in Sydney’s arc, with some of the late-book scenes showcasing his worldview and personality traits being literally a dark mirror of similar scenes earlier in the book. And then there’s also Sydney and Henry’s love story developing from those school days through and past all the horrors of war, from juvenile misunderstandings to supporting each other through shell shock, and I can’t really put into words what that development did to me and how unfair the world was to those characters—and how much worth things could turn out to them at any point.

There’s no real happy ending here, but there’s hope—except knowing the century of history that followed, that hope feels bitter and misplaced. After the entire harrowing story, it was the very last paragraph that kind of broke me: the quote from an obituary for a fallen soldier, expressing a hope for a century of prosperity and peace as World War I comes to an end. We all know there was no such century. 

All in all, this was a beautiful, painful, very well-crafted book that left me profoundly angry at the entire world that stubbornly refuses to learn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lil_owl_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War

Moderate: Homophobia

puddlemud's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

5.0

Loved it, but ouch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia

lostintime_73's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

I'm crying. This was so beautifully written and I deeply adore both Ellwood and Gaunt. Absolute emotional rollercoaster of the best kind. I found all the references to little historical details really 'fun' to spot, clearly, Winn has put a great deal of research and time into this masterpiece. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Minor: Homophobia

brynpemery's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This was beautiful. Can’t believe it’s a debut, but I will be looking forward to what the author does next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic