Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - In Memoriam

Be prepared to experience every emotion under the sun and want to throw the book across the room multiple times! It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read though and highly suggest!!

Content Warnings

hmatt's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Starting off 2025 strong with this incredibly powerful read. I won't say I "enjoyed" it as such, because... war novel... graphic, gore-y violence and PTSD, but if you are alright to read on these themes I strongly recommend.

The characters' perspectives and emotions are conveyed in that just-right balance where they are (probably?) historically accurate - some level of repressed, some level of entitled public school boy, etc. Even though the narrative focuses on two privileged men, I thought the author did an alright job of incorporating other diverse voices into the story. The incredible class privilege of the two MCs is definitely consistently acknowledged.

I could "leave" some of the quotations from ancient epics and old poets I haven't read, but I don't feel alienated by their inclusion. In the context of the MCs and their upbringings and personalities, they make sense.

Format note: I really enjoyed this audiobook. The production is exceptionally well thought-through and the narrator does the different character voices impeccably.

I feel that the author did an excellent job acknowledging the not-happy parts of the "happy" ending, e.g. all of Ellwood's friends died, they ended up "in exile" of a sort, PTSD doesn't just disappear, etc.

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jkpotteryu's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I cannot fathom how Alice Winn wrote this book as her debut novel. “In Memoriam” is brutal and blunt, yet also hopelessly intimate. It is less, I believe, a story about finding love, and more a story about existing love and how it changes and shifts under the influence of war and separation. The story does not wish to speak about WHY people love, but wishes to acknowledge the fact that people love and that fact will stay unchanging for the rest of time. We do not get REASONS for why Gaunt and Ellwood love each other as much as we are presented with the fact that they, simply, are in love.

I found the use of newspaper clippings and poetry masterful. It makes your heart clench when a person you’ve just read a graphic description of inhumane death of appears as simply a last name and initials on the weekly news.

The use of poetry, I felt, added a somewhat dream-like experience to the book while being interrupted by the brute horror of World War 1.

This book is not light. It is heavy, and dark, and horrific at times, and I would tread carefully recommending it to others, but I truly believe Alice Winn has written one of the greatest novels of the decade. It is honest, and brutal, and tragic, but ultimately it is hopeful.

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madamelacy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

4.0

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bsparks145's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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