Reviews tagging 'Blood'

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

110 reviews

alexandramillar's review

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and War

lealula's review

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

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide

catorureads's review

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book does not romanticize war, yet it shows us how we can find love even in the cruelest places.
While this book is disturbing and sad, I found the moments that will haunt me the most are the smallest little things. The In Memoriam pages in the newspaper. When you see 16 years old next to a name of a boy in the list of killed in action. When people who're both German and English are forced to fight against their kin. 

The thing that will keep lingering in my mind however, is the very last page of this book. Without spoiling, it's another newspaper article of 10 November 1918. I think that says enough. 

I did not cry but it was a very brutal book so make sure you're in the right headspace to read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Genocide

Moderate: Mental illness, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Antisemitism

Minor: Suicide, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

lc_27's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Cannot stop thinking about this book and the characters. So good. I can't put into words how much I love it! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, War, Blood, and Violence

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexual content

aloe_v's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

Reading time: 6 hours
Intense and compelling read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Grief, War, Murder, Bullying, Blood, Gun violence, and Homophobia

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Antisemitism

arayo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Grief, Violence, Suicide, Medical content, Homophobia, Bullying, Gun violence, Blood, Child death, Gore, War, Mental illness, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Classism, Outing, Cursing, Antisemitism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit, Excrement, Xenophobia, and Sexism

mikkiokko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

Finishing this book I have never felt so mad, happy, sad, frightened, and hopeful. 
War is depicted painfully accurate here. At times it is horribly difficult to read, but it sheds an important light on its reality and helps you empathize with the complexities of each character. Each character, down to the smallest and bleakest ones are also handled with extreme car. Every soldier, every family member, every student at Preshute, felt so incredibly real. It brought life to the soldiers who died in a senseless war, and framed them as individuals that cannot be defined simply by a number of casualties and wounded. Furthermore, I appreciate how Winn handled the end and the deeply painful and complex reality of war after it is over. 
I am a reader that has a hard time with romance, I care for Ellwood and Gaunt so deeply that I don't have many words for it. It is hard to believe they are not real with how well written they are. 
I will always be thinking about this book. Please read it. Thank you Winn for your story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Blood

Moderate: Homophobia

ellislilylovestoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Death of parent

oliverlang's review against another edition

dark emotional relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

It took me a minute to get into this book and connect with the characters but now I'm certain I'll be rereading this.
(I was thinking about the rating of this as I went and it only kept climbing so I'm defaulting to 5 stars for the minute. We shall see if my eventual reread upholds this.)

This was stunning and incredibly managed to capture the guts and brutality of the front lines of war while also providing moments of light and warmth. 

I'm on a constant quest for stories with "old-timey queers" and this delivered exactly what I wanted.

Not really a spoiler, could potentially be described as an anti-content warning but just incase you like to go in knowing nothing about what to expect:

Although this was set in 1914, a time where homosexuality was against the law, this book had a distinctive lack of homophobia woven through it. It seemed that a great deal of the characters were queer themselves or just really cool calm and collected about the whole affair. Slurs are present but not with malicious intent.

I also really like when multiple languages come together and this book gave me French, German and Greek so that was very nice.

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Death of parent

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

Moderate: Homophobia