Reviews with content warning for Death - In Memoriam

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Reviews tagging 'Death'

mel_e_reads's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Tugs on your heartstrings and hits all the right notes. I rarely, if ever, read books about actual wars. I am so glad I picked this book up, because I couldn’t put it down. A great read, I’ll come back to this one day. It will stick with me for a long, long time.

Maud’s work on legalizing homosexuality was NOT on my radar but wow, almost had me crying in the airport.

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jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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jmutschler88's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

Quite an immersive book. I couldn't put it down, and found myself attached to the characters and the plot. I'm a huge fan of war-time historical fiction as it is, so this book was right up my alley.

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lucyellis's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.5

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tea_and_reading's review

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dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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dakotahreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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zephyxs's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

„Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.“

I have not read a book more perfectly cruel describing the joys and hopes of war right before ending it all in a silent yet painful way.

I have to be honest, I went into this book briefly knowing, this will be about two school boys (when i picked it up i actually didn’t even knew that it was two boys) who happened to live in the heights of the first world war and decided to fight at the front for their country. That it was so much more than that- well i soon came to realize that!

It starts off perfectly sweet, with making you familiar with the funny-centered, hope-induced characters that can’t wait to finally be able to fight for their country.

That it starts off in said schoolboy setting is actually something, that not only surprised me but I was actually very fond of. You get to know the characters, let them grow onto you, find out who they love, what jokes they make.

Only to experience this personality change even more, the moment they start fighting.

I haven’t read many books set in war, but something i always enjoyed was realistic portrayal. Letting the characters actually change under those cruel realities and traumatizing experiences. How they grew dull and emotionless, instead of angry and loud. Letting them loose their joy. Making them cope with dark jokes and leading them down a mental spiral induced by their own humanly fears, the horrors they have to see and the dead comrades they have to leave behind. Exactly this is, what - in my opinion - this book did. It made them change. It changed you while you read it.

The poem I wrote at the top is a poem frequently mentioned throughout the book. And dare I say it is used in a particular smart way, making its first appearance already before the protagonists enlist. It sets the mood for a hopeful, pride filled almost naive point of view, just to be honest, realistic and relatable for them at the end. I also very enjoyed the little newspaper entries. It pulls you more into the story. I happened to catch myself several times, the moment a newspaper appeared, to be searching it for familiar names, as if I was in that situation, searching for the names of my friends and relatives.

But my heart not only dropped the moment i read those names. The plottwists that were built into the story actually had me gasping and looking shocked at the book. Obviously, as someone that is not very good in detecting plottwists, if they aren’t the most obvious plotlines, i am rather privileged here and some of you may already have had suspicions, but I myself had none. So the emotions were even stronger.

Lastly, I want to end this review with a scene in the book, that followed me days after I read it and still makes my skin crawl. I will put it into spoilers, but it isn’t a plot spoiler. If you want to read it, you could, it’ll simply show you what I meant with the portrayal of the horror war put soldiers in.

A rotting hand had popped out of the trench wall that morning, and Ellwood watched as a private stopped and shook it. „Good afternoon,“ said the man in an exaggerated posh accent. He didn’t seem to know anyone was watching him. „Very fine weather we’ve been having.“

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bethanwx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I couldn't put this down. An epic, emotional, tender story of Gaunt and Ellwood, two men coming face to face with gory WWI. Their lives are shattered but they begin to be sewn up again, both anchored by their feelings for the other. Their love story is beautifully delicate, passionate and all-consuming.

Winn carefully crafts how people attempt to mentally protect themselves in war and the futility of war on common people. In the stories of these soldiers, many no more than teenagers, we also see that the priveleges of money, class and connections play am important role in survival.

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