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bibliogouine'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I would never normally go for WW1 stories but this is just the most brilliant lovely book. Harrowing and traumatic certainly but the characters are wonderful and I didn't want it to end. Gaunt and Ellwood felt like close friends by the end. Sobbed more than once.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
paulawind's review against another edition
dark
reflective
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
4.5
To be perfectly honest, I expected more of a kill your gays type of a situation , especially considering time period, but I’m so happy I was wrong! The more I think about it, it was the happiest ending that would be realistic in this situation. We’ll always have Brazil, fuck the Old World.
This book was harrowing. I thought I was ready for the horrors of war after reading All Quiet on the Western Front, but this book only awoke my memories. Why do leaders decide to go to war when it is universally acknowledged that it is only bringing pain and suffering? And we do it all over again, for millennia. Maybe the Greeks got it more, when the war was more about man vs man rather than automated machines against civilians.
Coming to characters, side from them dropping like flies every other chapter, I think the author made us care about every (or almost every) death. The character development for both MCs was absolutely breaking my heart butI’m so glad they found each other back in the end and are learning to love each other again An almost complete emotional flip Gaunt and Ellwood did throughout the book hit me like a whiplash, but it was done in a way that it made sense. After all Gaunt’s prisoners of war camp chapters were the most peaceful and cheerful of the entire book, whereas Elwood was facing bloodbath every day, seeing an orchestrated massacre on a daily basis
One of my favourite moments is when Elwood is screaming poetry at Gaunt, very blatantly professing his love in all meaning but the straightforward one, and Gaunt is so deep in denial that even thought he loved him desperately too, he can’t believe it’s really happening. Those characters in a nutshell. At least for the first part of the book. Later it would be Gaunt being gentle and endlessly patient with Elwood when he struggles to say anything at all and bursting in anger, fighting his ptsd. Gosh, I love those boys so much. Going to pretend that the book ended with “And they lived happily ever after”
This book was harrowing. I thought I was ready for the horrors of war after reading All Quiet on the Western Front, but this book only awoke my memories. Why do leaders decide to go to war when it is universally acknowledged that it is only bringing pain and suffering? And we do it all over again, for millennia. Maybe the Greeks got it more, when the war was more about man vs man rather than automated machines against civilians.
Coming to characters, side from them dropping like flies every other chapter, I think the author made us care about every (or almost every) death. The character development for both MCs was absolutely breaking my heart but
One of my favourite moments is when Elwood is screaming poetry at Gaunt, very blatantly professing his love in all meaning but the straightforward one, and Gaunt is so deep in denial that even thought he loved him desperately too, he can’t believe it’s really happening. Those characters in a nutshell. At least for the first part of the book. Later it would be Gaunt being gentle and endlessly patient with Elwood when he struggles to say anything at all and bursting in anger, fighting his ptsd. Gosh, I love those boys so much. Going to pretend that the book ended with “And they lived happily ever after”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Colonisation, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Rape, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Medical content, War, Vomit, Sexual content, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Racism
anna_kp's review against another edition
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Homophobia
luca_18's review
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Death, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Classism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexual content
potterpav's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
rating this book 3.5 stars makes me feel so undeniably let down. this was on track to be my favourite book of the year until i actually started reading it, and then the stars fell less and less as it continued. don’t get me wrong, the descriptions and violence is done so masterfully alice winn needs to be given several awards for how sick it made me, she rlly achieved what she set out to do with the displays of the horrors, but as for ellwood and gaunt… their story did not play out how i expected nor wanted from how the blurb describes it. i think the problem was i didn’t like ellwood. even before the war, i didn’t like him and the whole book i just spent feeling sorry for gaunt for liking someone who’s so hot-and-cold. obviously ellwood’s behaviour after fighting is different and can be explained differently, but i feel like as a reader i’m still allowed to dislike a character despite the trauma they’ve experienced. and i also didn’t really like the choice of ending, but i think that’s just a me thing. anyway, yeah i feel so disappointed but if you like (fictional) first world war novels, i would recommend this highly! but if youre into the romance aspect, i would come into this with caution
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Violence, and War
madstone's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, and War
aromarrie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My dearest, darling Sidney, ….
it feels hopeless to be picky about this book to be honest; in all its vivid historical recounts of WW1 through the povs of a few privileged men who were cut off from civilian society, and always will be after the war, as well as the ones who had no privilege to speak of.
it was raw, emotional, and graphic as hell, full of anger and grief, but also a weak longing that tore these characters apart in every page. it was written startingly well and as another reader friend mentioned in her review, it is a timeless story for all.
sidney & henry’s povs were gripping and i felt a part of myself sink with every character who stood by them and then split away. the newspaper clippings added to the bleakness, ill say…
it feels hopeless to be picky about this book to be honest; in all its vivid historical recounts of WW1 through the povs of a few privileged men who were cut off from civilian society, and always will be after the war, as well as the ones who had no privilege to speak of.
it was raw, emotional, and graphic as hell, full of anger and grief, but also a weak longing that tore these characters apart in every page. it was written startingly well and as another reader friend mentioned in her review, it is a timeless story for all.
sidney & henry’s povs were gripping and i felt a part of myself sink with every character who stood by them and then split away. the newspaper clippings added to the bleakness, ill say…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Grief, War, and Death
sophiemundy13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
5.0
One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. So beautifully written, incredibly moving and poignant. Winn so harrowingly describes the horrors of the battlefield in such a way that you can’t help but think about such a waste of human life. Utterly drawn to the story and characters of Ellwood and Gaunt, who are just remarkably written. Haven’t loved a book like this in a long time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, War, Violence, Gun violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
kransom's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Death, and War
Moderate: Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
skylar_cr_wolf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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? N/A
5.0
“In this war he’s a god, Ellwood.” He put his face into his hands. “You’ve brought the anger of gods upon us.”
First of all, I need to thank two people kindly for recommending this book to me: Kieran and Harvey.
Thank you two for being part of this journey and being okay with me sharing my inner thoughts about this novel while I read and cried about it.
And now to the novel:
It is more than I can express. And I mean it. The entire topic of world wars is something which usually keeps me away from reading a novel, however, I am glad that it didn’t scare me away this time. Because while WWI is a major point in this book, it is not the central part. The main focus is on friendships and complicated romance, especially as a queer person in the 1910s to early 1920s. It is about how you change through being tormented by the ongoing war and how it changes also the connections you have to people. It is about the loss of them as well.
Another point which I liked but also surprised me a bit is the accuracy of languages. At least for the German part I can say that it is incredibly accurate. It was astonishing to see a novel which is mostly written in English to depict a fair share of languages in such an accurate form. As someone who is a bit of a lingual nerd (not as big as I used to) find this extremely marvellous.
I could say so much more. How much I love Gaunt and Ellwood. How much my heart still aches because of Sandys and how much I enjoyed the friendships between Gideon and Gaunt too. How much I will miss their journey and look forward to read it again at some other time.
And maybe this time I will be better prepared with enough tissues for farewells.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Animal death, and War
Moderate: Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Confinement, and Bullying