Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

18 reviews

nadijya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

lealula's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide

kiwialexa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

kimmag92's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

In Memoriam may be the best book I've read in 2023 and it makes me sad that it's not getting the same traction in North America as it is in the UK as it was absolutely phenomenal.  Winn paints a heart wrenching picture of what the First World War was like for those who fought in the trenches as well as what life was like for gay men at the time.  I spent the whole book worried about what would happen to Ellwood and Gaunt and if they would survive the war.  Besides her depiction of young gay men in the 1910s, she also reminds us how young many of the boys who fought in the conflict were and how it impacted their lives both through what they witnessed as well as through those they lost.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Homophobia

miles's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

I'm an absolute sucker for books that rip out my heart and wreck it into a million pieces only to put it back together by the end of it and give me a soft forehead kiss.
Lots of realistic pain and terror but interspersed with wonderfully tender and funny moments of beauty that capture your heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Antisemitism

bookishthots's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Ableism, Terminal illness, Excrement, and Abandonment

aurora9's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

I bought the book as an ebook shortly after reading the NYT review, as it hit a few key areas for me: LGBTQ+ storyline, boarding school, historical fiction. I did not anticipate it rousing as many feelings in me as it did, however. As a lifelong pacifist (who was very nearly physically ill watching the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, and who did not watch any further than that), the descriptions of carnage were at times difficult to stomach, and the way the author tied the characters and their development into the development of the war did get me more than a bit maudlin thinking of the very real lives lost in conflicts historical and contemporary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

simixfe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

3.25

Well, let's just say I expected or at least hoped for a bit more.
I loved the beginning, liked the middle and hated the end.
I mean I should have anticipated that it would not end with

Henry and Sidney moving into the british countryside, going on long walks, reciting poetry and growing old together.
Still, I at least hoped for a conversation about their true feelings. I wanted Gaunt to let his guard down and tell Ellwood that he is scared that Ellwood will grow bored of him eventually and I wanted Elly to be finally able to voice his feelings in his own words and not the words of other poets. In my Imagination, Gaunt would have stopped calling Ellwood Ellwood and finally would have used his christian name and then they would have grown old together (happily). Sadly, none of that happend, except that Gaunt called Ellwood Sidney, bjt only after Ellwood basically pressured him.
It really was not a bad book by any means. I just went into it with the wrong expectations. 
To end this on a more positive note: Even though it was all quite sad, there were parts where i laughed out loud. Some scenes were absolutely hilarious and Devi was the sweetest soul. And the book had great writing and beautiful  quotes. The quote that touched me most was: "You'll write more poems. They are not lost. You are the poetry."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail