Review by mmwiseheart - In Memoriam

mmwiseheart 's review for:

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

3.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I read this book for book group and was forwarded that it was a bit graphic with the description of war. Even with that warning, I still wasn’t fully prepared for it. I wanted to finish it for book group so I stuck with it, it it was really difficult for me. I also wasn’t really rooting for the main characters, so there wasn’t anything for me to look forward to exactly. I did start to root for Gaunt’s sister, Maud, as she pursued a job and academia. I also rooted for Hayes and hoped he’d get the promotion he wanted.

The book is split into three parts and the first part was slow-paced, which probably didn’t help me very much. Once I got to the second part, the pacing picked up and I was able to read faster. This is probably a very good book for people who like military history. That has never been a subject that I enjoyed. Even though I didn’t particularly enjoy reading it, I did learn some things and it did give me some food for thought. I often struggle to express my thoughts and feelings. Ellwood uses poetry to express his. I take notes as I read and one of the quotes I wrote down is “You are the poetry.”

Content Warnings