Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Durch das große Feuer by Alice Winn

176 reviews

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alex_olive's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

A queer romance set in WW1? As soon as I saw the concept of this book it jumped to the top of my to read pile. And after finishing it, it will stay with me for a long time. But not for the reasons I expected.

The romance is touching, and its grip kept me invested in the narrative from beginning to end. There was angst, emotion and challenges to the relationship that felt raw and real. But what really struck me were the horrifying, grounding depictions of the war. Winn tugs at the heart strings as she thrusts a cast of supporting characters into an uncertain future. I teared up a few times, and sobbed when I read the final page.

I was close to rating this five stars, but I will admit I struggled with the writing style to begin with. I appreciate Winn takes inspiration from writing of the war era, which was apparent in her prose. But I can also see how this might deter some readers, which is a shame.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Suicide

gemloukay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

When World War 1 breaks out, poetic Ellwood and classicist Gaunt, along with all their public school friends, enlist despite being underage. Gaunt is a little older and enlists early due to family pressure. Ellwood can’t stand to hear the letters from Gaunt sounding more and more resigned to death and enlists too. What follows is far more harrowing than either of them anticipated.  

But their secret love for one another blossoms in the trenches and we’re left wondering whether they’ll survive to discover it for themselves. And if they do, what will happen since homosexuality was still illegal in England at that time? 

It’s a stunning debut that made me root for both of the main characters alongside their ever dwindling group of friends. It’s horrifying to hear about life in the trenches and the major battles of the Great War but I realised in reading it that I don’t know much about it despite having family members that died in Gallipoli and the Somme. The numbers of dead is just staggering to think about. 

Such a good book, and although it’s never going to be a cheery topic, it leaves you wanting them to survive and be able to celebrate their love for each other after the war has ended. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, and War

Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

sha's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

milliefitz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicide, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

rebeccaquinton's review against another edition

dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

loveclairebearx's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I haven’t read many (any?) other WWI books to compare this to, but Winn paints a vivid portrait of the day to day atrocities of the warfront. I expected a bit more gay and a lot less gore, but that’s a personal problem. The real problem here? In a time where homosexuality was criminalized, it feels like some serious revisionist history to not have worked the immense threat and unique challenges of that into the storyline.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia

bekacrook's review against another edition

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? No

5.0

Absolutely heart wrenching. I cried. Devastatingly sad, with such a combination of hopefulness and hopelessness. The naivety, the poetry and the horror all combine. There was a sense of emptiness left. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide

megelizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

"Gaunt wished the War had been what Ellwood wanted it to be. He wished they could have ridden across a battlefield on horseback, brandishing a sword alongside their gallant king."

This was SO good. It was a bleak, painful read much of the time, but also filled with so much love and so many beautiful friendships and relationships. It paints a brilliantly vivid picture of life at war and also does such a good job of doing what is often omitted in war-based fiction - exploring the long-lasting mental effects of experiencing war. 

This is a story that's devastating but also just hopeful enough to completely capture your heart. The ending is so clever, bittersweet, and not at all what I was expecting. I just loved this (and both Gaunt and Ellwood <3) so, so much, and I cannot wait to see what else Alice Winn writes in the future.

I think the main reason this wasn't quite a 5* read for me is that I didn't connect with the characters quite as much as I might have done if the cast wasn't so predominantly made up of private-school boys. That's not a criticism of the book as those are simply the experiences it explores, and it does touch on their privileges within the setting of a war frontline - it just meant that, whilst I loved this and loved many of the characters, I wasn't quite as connected as I have been with absolute top-tier books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Racism, and Antisemitism

Minor: Death of parent

sercem_w_ksiazkach's review against another edition

5.0

LOVE LOVE LOVE on page 15 I knew I'd be obsessed with this book and I am.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Violence, and Blood