Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

21 reviews

honey_buns's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Death, War, Kidnapping, Violence, and Murder

mylazybones's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective sad fast-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? No

3.75

what can a person say about it that hasn’t already been said. it’s a perfect example of anti-war novel, from he mouth of a veteran. amongst the themes of death and hungry and depravity are still themes of sci fi and i enjoyed Vonneguts take on humanity and religion

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, and War

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Pedophilia and Rape

pershie13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

I tore through this book in less than 24 hours and absolutely loved it. When I picked up this classic, all I knew was that it was anti-war and centered on the destruction of Dresden, which piqued my interest immediately. What I didn't know was that Kurt Vonnegut would use science fiction and time travel to drive his point home. This book is semi-autobiographical and draws off of his experiences as a real-life prisoner of war in Dresden during World War II, which was interesting to consider while reading this book. While the characters were not real, they were based on people he knew, and that made it all the more interesting to consider what happened in the book and the toll that war took on these characters. The Tralfamadorian philosophy in this book was interesting to consider and clashed with a lot of the ways I was thinking about the story, and considering that way of thinking can provide a numbing viewpoint to the concept of war, especially a large destruction like the one that occurred in Dresden near the end of the war. This book was challenging and got me thinking about the philosophy of war, free will, and death all at once. I now understand why this is such a popular novel and a classic that will live on for so long. I loved the writing style and both the humor and darkness behind the book. I appreciate Vonnegut writing this novel over two decades after his real experiences as a POW, and I was surprised to see the portrayal of PTSD symptoms in the post-war sections as well. It is difficult to discuss the book, as it occurred in a non-linear fashion and constantly tore me all across Billy Pilgrim's life, but as you travel throughout the decades, the main themes start to come out and portray the big picture that Vonnegut is portraying. This is one of my favorite classics that I have read, and it makes me want to consider dipping into science fiction more frequently. I was pleasantly surprised by my love for the book, and not for the reasons why I initially decided to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Murder, War, and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Body shaming, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation, Excrement, Gore, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Trafficking, and Vomit

Minor: Car accident, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Classism, Blood, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Death of parent, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, and Suicide

miniingrid's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative sad medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, War, Animal cruelty, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Body shaming

Minor: Infidelity and Rape

ssoha's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Death, Grief, Violence, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Murder, Rape, and War

sarareadingpiles's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I was upset to be honest. It was upsetting, really dark and couldn't find a motive. Definitely not a bad one, but it's the type of book, where you think back to the time you've read it and you get a headache. From the perspective of Billy it seemed that nothing in his life had a point. He was just drifting with the tide. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Mental illness, Gun violence, Murder, Slavery, Gore, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings

brainstewww's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Vonnegut's usual dark humor shines through in this powerful anti-war novel. This is unlike most of the books I usually read, but I knew I liked Vonnegut's work, so I was quick to pick it up AND quick to finish it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, War, and Death

Minor: Body shaming, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Murder, Classism, Rape, Sexual content, and Violence

cptnstphy's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.25

It took me a while to get into it, but I was pleased when it clicked for me. It went from “this is a bit too odd for me without enough reward to get over it” to “alright I see what Vonnegut is doing here! I’m on board” 
I found the main character Billy’s experience of time and space very interesting and worth contemplating, even if just to pull ourselves out of our always-linear understanding of time. I also enjoy some fantasy and worldbuilding, so his recollections of the alien planet were creative and well-received. 
I did also appreciate the moral undercurrent to things that he says that are expressed as casual but read as subtly poignant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, War, Animal cruelty, Genocide, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Pregnancy

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Confinement, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Gun violence, War, Death, Animal cruelty, and Mental illness

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Gore, Ableism, Antisemitism, and Blood

Minor: Murder, Suicide, Sexual content, Animal death, Slavery, Medical trauma, Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Excrement

squareninja's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, War, and Animal death

Minor: Racism