Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

100 reviews

melanija's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Antisemitism, and Colonisation

sunsetsyd's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Speechless. I almost cried at three different points. I completely understand why this book received the praise it did when it debuted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, and War

Moderate: Sexual content, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia

el90's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, and War

marmaladereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Beautiful. Literary. Utterly devastating account of war. Winn wove an absolutely gorgeous tale of how the naive and poetic Ellwood and the angry and stoic Gaunt are transformed by the trauma and brutality of war. 

This book makes you feel a lot of things. It's filled with love and hope and poetry amid some of the most terrible destruction and gore and the constant drumming of death. Winn manages to strike an incredibly delicate balance of never sugarcoating the brutality, with no character being safe or protected from it, and at the same time giving us just enough of a hopeful undertone that it never feels like trauma porn. 

The character development, war accounts, and love story are all masterfully woven throughout. This is definitely a book I'll be coming back to again and again.

Seeing Gaunt find true clarity and friendship during the war at the same time as Elly is utterly broken by it is possibly as devastating as the constant and rather gory accounts of deaths. It feels incredibly honest that no one comes out unscathed from this book, both physically and mentally, even the characters we come to care for the most.

I love that Winn found a way for Elly and Gaunt to be together in the end in a way where they didn't have to hide, despite the time period. After all they'd been through, I think they deserved at least that, though I would call their ending bittersweet at best.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

emlibe'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Homophobia, and Outing

pitsikakku's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Antisemitism, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent

beate251's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative 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? Yes

3.5

This book is about World War I and two privileged gay British soldiers quoting poetry at each other when they are not reading Adam Bede and Thucydides, whoever he is. Weirdly, their whole class somehow seem to be gay or at least experimenting.

We all know the horrors of war, there is nothing new here. It is well-written, and I was interested in the characters, but almost everybody died!

Hated the women who gave white feathers to young men they perceived to be cowards. They had no idea.

This is a heart wrenching and brutal debut novel well worth your time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Classism

radikaliseradgroda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This is the best thing I've read in years.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Antisemitism

lou702's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is one of the most devastating books I ever read. Even with the knowledge of it being set in the first world war, I was not prepared to cry so many tears for fictional characters.

You start to love them and read about funny moments and just some word later you find out that they died.

I cried horribly and will probably never touch it again, even if it was such a good written book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

heuteschongekurtet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail