claireowens's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mamalemma's review against another edition
4.0
Everyone Brave is Forgiven takes us deep into the The Blitzkrieg of London in WWII and the privations on the island of Malta, and the world Cleave has drawn is utterly submersive. The story centers on three main characters, and the roles they play during the war. In reviews, the story is about a love triangle, but that plot really only serves to give the story a beginning and ending. It's really about so much more -- survival, racism, classism, and how who we are and what we do matters in ways that we don't even realize. It's about the choices we make, and how it shapes and defines us. The depth of character is really lovely, and the settings feel palpable. A highly recommended read.
agirlsnightbookbash's review against another edition
2.0
Unpopular opinion. I'm sorry. I was very excited about this one. So much so I chose it for my monthly book club. That being said it was disappointing. Part 1 was straight boring. I love historical fiction. It's definitely a favorite genre of mine. I went in expecting a love triangle set along to the war (what the excerpt told me so not an unfair assumption) that is not what I got. I won't go into the minutiae of why I didn't love it because I'm not in the mood to do spoilers. I will say it felt slow and disjointed. I only finished it because it was my botm. I would have shelved it otherwise. I hope you all like it better than my friends and I did.
nlfrey's review against another edition
3.0
The audiobook of this is a whopping 12 hours long. I listened to it at nearly double speed, and I'm glad I did. If I had invested the full 12 hours I think I would have been really annoyed by the ending.
This actually wasn't that bad of a book. It was well written with interesting characters and storylines.
But parts left a lot to be desired. Namely, the whole "love triangle." I guess I'm just not much of a "love at first sight" type person, so I found it hard to believe that one afternoon together could make people fall that deeply in love with each other.
Also, the ending wasn't nearly as solid as I wanted it to be. While it didn't exactly leave me hanging, it also didn't fully satisfy. And when I've invested my time and emotions into a book, I want a strong, satisfying ending, doggone it!
Like I said, definitely not a bad read, but at the same time still wouldn't be my top recommendation for a WWII story.
This actually wasn't that bad of a book. It was well written with interesting characters and storylines.
But parts left a lot to be desired. Namely, the whole "love triangle." I guess I'm just not much of a "love at first sight" type person, so I found it hard to believe that one afternoon together could make people fall that deeply in love with each other.
Also, the ending wasn't nearly as solid as I wanted it to be. While it didn't exactly leave me hanging, it also didn't fully satisfy. And when I've invested my time and emotions into a book, I want a strong, satisfying ending, doggone it!
Like I said, definitely not a bad read, but at the same time still wouldn't be my top recommendation for a WWII story.
carstensena's review against another edition
4.0
Sometimes I wonder--why read yet another book set in WWII London? But then Chris Cleave writes one and I have to at least give it a try.
And then he sucks you in with his vivid writing and the complete unpredictability of life in wartime and you cannot concentrate on any other book until you find out just what happens to his characters. I see certain moments in this book so vividly...and while the theme of forgiveness is strong, he doesn't hit you over the head with it.
I'm not sure I can put this all the way up there with Life after Life and All the Light We Cannot See, but it's very close.
I will add that although the protagonists are young, I don't see a great deal of teen appeal here. This one lives firmly in the adult camp, in my opinion.
And then he sucks you in with his vivid writing and the complete unpredictability of life in wartime and you cannot concentrate on any other book until you find out just what happens to his characters. I see certain moments in this book so vividly...and while the theme of forgiveness is strong, he doesn't hit you over the head with it.
I'm not sure I can put this all the way up there with Life after Life and All the Light We Cannot See, but it's very close.
I will add that although the protagonists are young, I don't see a great deal of teen appeal here. This one lives firmly in the adult camp, in my opinion.
ame_why's review against another edition
2.0
This book was alright but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. I was initially interested in it because the description states that it was inspired by the real life love letters of the author's grandparents during WWII. However, there wasn't much of a love story involved in this book. The main characters barely interacted with one another and there were only a few mediocre letters exchanged between them. Aside from that, the story itself was mildly interesting but there were a lot of run-on sentences that made it a little hard for me to focus while reading. There was also quite a bit of the characters using phrases such as, "one does not...", "one simply must...", "one can imagine...", etc... which made it a little tiring. I can't say I was all that pleased with the ending either.
eeamiller's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.25
mjsteimle's review against another edition
5.0
This will definitely be one of the best books I read this year. You know how everyone was over the moon about All The Light We Cannot See? For some reason I didn't drink the kool-aid on that book, but I feel about this book the way people seem to feel about that one.
The writing is both snappy and poigant; I flagged a couple dozen passages. There are probably flaws to the story and the characters, but this book just spoke to me so powerfully at the emotional place I'm in right now that all I can do is rave about it.
I want to read all the books, so sometimes I have to force myself to re-read - even books I love - but this is one that, as soon as I finished, I wanted to flip right back to page one and start again.
12/13/2016 I'm not a big re-reader and it's even more rare for me to read a book twice in the same year, but I loved this book so much the first time that I just had to go back and re-read it. I heard that it was great on audio, so I listened the second time around. Honestly, I was a little scared that I wouldn't love the book quite as much the second time around, but that worry turned out to be completely unnecessary. The dialogue is so, so good and is made even better in the audio format. The characters are all flawed but somehow I keep rooting for Alistair and especially Mary (I'm still undecided as to how I feel about Hilda). I'm left pondering on the title and last few pages of the book. Who is the bravest? Who is in the most need of forgiveness? Still a strong 5-star book for me.
1/8/2019 I love this book so much; it's one of my very favorites. Although I know what will happen the brilliant dialogue makes it feel fresh every time. Some people say this book is gritty, but I just love the raw emotion.
3/18/2023 It's funny (and lovely) how you can read a book several times and still get something new each time. On this third reading I feel like I gained a deeper insight into both Mary and Alistair's characters - their strengths and their faults. I also thought a lot about the treatment of race in this book. Is Cleave justified in using the n-word because it's accurate to the period? Is Mary too much of a white savior? I'm still not clear on how authors are supposed to write characters of a race, ethnicity, or religion they don't belong too. It seems like there are so many ways to get it wrong. This would be a great book club discussion.
The writing is both snappy and poigant; I flagged a couple dozen passages. There are probably flaws to the story and the characters, but this book just spoke to me so powerfully at the emotional place I'm in right now that all I can do is rave about it.
I want to read all the books, so sometimes I have to force myself to re-read - even books I love - but this is one that, as soon as I finished, I wanted to flip right back to page one and start again.
12/13/2016 I'm not a big re-reader and it's even more rare for me to read a book twice in the same year, but I loved this book so much the first time that I just had to go back and re-read it. I heard that it was great on audio, so I listened the second time around. Honestly, I was a little scared that I wouldn't love the book quite as much the second time around, but that worry turned out to be completely unnecessary. The dialogue is so, so good and is made even better in the audio format. The characters are all flawed but somehow I keep rooting for Alistair and especially Mary (I'm still undecided as to how I feel about Hilda). I'm left pondering on the title and last few pages of the book. Who is the bravest? Who is in the most need of forgiveness? Still a strong 5-star book for me.
1/8/2019 I love this book so much; it's one of my very favorites. Although I know what will happen the brilliant dialogue makes it feel fresh every time. Some people say this book is gritty, but I just love the raw emotion.
3/18/2023 It's funny (and lovely) how you can read a book several times and still get something new each time. On this third reading I feel like I gained a deeper insight into both Mary and Alistair's characters - their strengths and their faults. I also thought a lot about the treatment of race in this book. Is Cleave justified in using the n-word because it's accurate to the period? Is Mary too much of a white savior? I'm still not clear on how authors are supposed to write characters of a race, ethnicity, or religion they don't belong too. It seems like there are so many ways to get it wrong. This would be a great book club discussion.
annambrunner's review against another edition
4.0
This book was beautifully written. Chris Cleave is a great author and the way he writes death is different from the way I've read it in any other book- it is often times abrupt and has more of an impact on the reader. Although slow at first, stick with it to watch the characters progress throughout the war. Wish it had a better ending, though.