Reviews tagging 'Blood'

American War by Omar El Akkad

8 reviews

blake245's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and War

mbejjani's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

A hard book to read given some really dark passages and the fact that the future described doesn’t seem that far off from potential reality.. But worth it, a powerfully written story that wraps you up in it and makes you wonder who’s “side” you would land on in Sarat’s position. I especially loved the weaving in of “primary sources” with the narrative to relay additional context and history. One of the most fascinating explorations of a future in the climate crisis that I’ve ever read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Blood, War, and Gun violence

hopefulpterodactyl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, War, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Confinement, Alcohol, Genocide, and Forced institutionalization

foxgallagher's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Excrement, Gore, Mental illness, Death of parent, Alcohol, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

keegan53's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

5.0

An amazing book. The world building is fantastic and there is amazing character development. So well crafted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Torture, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, War, and Murder

stephpercival's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While the storytelling starts off with a clear, compelling narrative, ultimately American War felt very disjointed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, Torture, Death, and War

spaghettireads's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.5

The premise is a second American civil war, that started for the most part based on oil. The book follows Sarat through her life during the war, and her role in it.

I read this with a book club, and there was a lot to discuss. It all seems quite plausible that our current world could turn into this one, and in fact many of the dystopian features of this future America are already occurring. Omar El Akkad is a war journalist, and this is evident through the writing. 

I had seen this reviewed as dystopian climate fiction. While it definitely is that, since the war is caused by the decline of oil, and differences in opinion over whether it should be used, I wanted more details about the climate crisis. You see a few details about how the world has changed, but throughout the book climate change seems like something that happened in the past and not something that is still occurring. 

Overall, the book is quite fast paced and engrossing. If the premise interests you, I would definitely suggest picking it up!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Torture, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Mass/school shootings

sophiace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Death, Confinement, and Blood