A review by riverofhorton
Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This was my first complete read through of this book, having DNFed a couple of times previously for reasons unrelated to the book itself. I'm very glad I managed to finish it, though. I think the furthest I had got previously was around 3/4s of the way through. I had no idea just how much detail there could be in the 25% at the end of a book. This book covers the time period from 1910 to 1967, with a significant portion being 1939-1945, both in London and various parts of Germany, which does mean there are a lot of incredibly visceral descriptions of bombs falling and the clean up operations in the immediate aftermath. I don't personally have the knowledge to be able to rate the historical accuracy, but I did find this gave me an even deeper appreciation for those clean up crews, firemen, ambulance crews, etc. than I already had, as well as the civilian costs in Germany. I do wonder if the descriptions were perhaps toned down slightly, despite how brutal they still are. This was incredibly thought provoking overall, with a little fantasy aspect that allowed for a much more wide ranging exploration of this time period than would be possible without that fantasy aspect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic