Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexiévich

22 reviews

littleredwinter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

5.0

In the US, soldiers from WWII are lauded as heroes. We tend to view the western front of WWII as being the only front and forget about the men and especially women who fought for the Soviet Union on the eastern front. Further, WWII is seen by Americans even those who condemn other wars as uniquely moral and justified because we were fighting Nazis. What is not discussed is how even a war waged to end a genocide is bloody and brutal. Svetlana Alexievich does not censor the women she interviewed and they do not hold back. The horror of war rears its ugly head in plain view as these women describe in visceral detail exactly what they went through, how they felt about it then, and how they feel about it decades later now that they have been forced to live with it. This book is a thoughtful intersectional feminist view of war from the perspective of women who lived through that and relive it to this day. An especially important read with how few of them are left. I cannot recommend this enough. It will make you stop and carefully consider everything you learned in school and everything you believed about WWII. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Violence, Medical trauma, Vomit, War, Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape

seph5040's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death, Torture, Murder, and War

lizziaha's review against another edition

5.0

This book is just a deluge of pain and grief and raw humanity. And because of that humanity, hope and love manage to shine through, against all odds. This definitely reframed the Russian front for me, and gave me a whole new perspective on Russian women and their part in the war. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Violence, Animal death, War, Antisemitism, Blood, Gun violence, Hate crime, Child death, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Rape, Suicide attempt, Deportation, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

thebowandthebook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Vivid, stark and gruesome, this book spared little detail but provided a remarkable look into the sides of WW2 not often seen. Truly illuminated the difference between the woman's views on war and the men's. Excellent read, so many stories... so many lives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Child death, Animal death, Antisemitism, Gore, Torture, Sexual assault, War, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity, Excrement, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, and Medical content

wiktoria_bojda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, War, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism and Rape

rcsreads's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Torture, Blood, Death, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Rape

cword's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Torture, War, Misogyny, Body horror, Genocide, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Child abuse, Death, and Domestic abuse

paizliibubs's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Rape

na4a1ie's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

yrlaevelyn's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexism, War, Grief, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Gore, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Child death, Torture, Excrement, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Animal death, Genocide, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Mental illness, and Pregnancy