Reviews tagging 'Death'

Durch das große Feuer by Alice Winn

243 reviews

kriziny's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

bookishnanna's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Classism

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

alissa4real's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Grief

knmo1's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.25

Bal kəsmə səbəblərimdən biri yazıçının biraz abayı zırlatmasıdı. 1914-15-ci ildir e, necə olur ki british imperiya kimi bi yerdə hamısı rahatlıqla geylikdən danışır? O hissələr biraz lüzumsuz gəldi mənə. Enough homophobia yox idi zort. Nəysə başqa bi səbəbdən də bəyənməmişdim yadımdan çıxıb indi, deyəsən hekayənin ordan bura sıçramasını bəyənməmişdim. Sevdiyim tərəfləri amma şey idi, adamı həyəcanda saxlayırdı oxuduqca oxumaq istəyirdin, sonra müharibə hissələri maraqlı idi necə boktan yaşayışları olub görmüş olduq.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Rape

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

allisoncdn's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.75

What an incredible interpretation of the war experience. I absolutely loved the references to Rupert Brooke and Tennyson. The quotes and the historical accuracy made the story incredibly believable, and the atmosphere of public schools is captured really well. 

Gaunt’s presumed death

made me sob half-way through the book, and his relationship with Ellwood feels so real and raw.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and War

Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Alcohol