trolberger_helper 's review for:

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

4.0

dark funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I've heard a lot of great things about this book and I'm delighted that it lived up to the hype! I didn't expect the sci-fi elements but I ended up really loving it, and I think the time travel and alien stuff were a great vehicle to discuss the sort of dissociation Billy was experiencing and pose a lot of great philosophical questions. Probably might reread it once or twice through my life, especially if I experience a bad loss and need some comfort, as the discussion of death and time were oddly soothing. That being said, I'm taking off a full star cause of the weird portrayal of women that I didn't rock with at all, especially the fatphobia towards Valencia. It's an old book written by a man, so there's bound to be some bullshit. "So it goes," as they say 😭

There's a lot to say about the book, but I'll just leave with the quote that I loved most, that left me sobbing, and that will likely stay with me forever, right from chapter one:

[...] there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, War

Moderate: Fatphobia