Reviews tagging 'Classism'

In memoriam by Alice Winn

68 reviews

ambersoda's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

redheadorganist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content and Suicide

sofii_825's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, and War

Moderate: Misogyny, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content and Suicide

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

dakotahreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Medical content

bethanwx's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I couldn't put this down. An epic, emotional, tender story of Gaunt and Ellwood, two men coming face to face with gory WWI. Their lives are shattered but they begin to be sewn up again, both anchored by their feelings for the other. Their love story is beautifully delicate, passionate and all-consuming.

Winn carefully crafts how people attempt to mentally protect themselves in war and the futility of war on common people. In the stories of these soldiers, many no more than teenagers, we also see that the priveleges of money, class and connections play am important role in survival.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Colonisation, and Classism

anj's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Confinement and Death of parent

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

När första världskriget bryter ut är många av pojkarna på internatskolan Preshute College ivriga att få ta värvning. Inte Henry Gaunt, som är emot kriget. Men när hans tyska mor ber honom göra det för att skydda familjen från spionmisstankar så anser han sig inte ha mycket till val. Nu slipper han åtminstone kämpa mot sina förbjudna känslor för sin bäste vän, Sidney Ellwood. Men det dröjer inte länge innan hans skolkamrater följer efter honom till skyttegravarna - även Ellwood. 

Den här debutromanen hamnar definitivt på min lista över årets bästa böcker! Jag har läst många böcker om andra världskriget, som då oftast handlat om koncentrationslägren, men få böcker om första världskriget. Här tas vi med ned i skyttegravarna och får veta exakt hur eländigt och skrämmande det var. Den romantiska bilden många unga män hade om att ta värvning förändrades väldigt snabbt när de väl var på plats. Det är fullt begripligt att de som var med vid fronten förändrades som människor, konstigt vore det annars. Det är många gånger hjärtskärande läsning, men här finns också en hel del hopp. Kamratskapen bland soldaterna får stor betydelse och skildras på ett briljant sätt av Winn. 

Det finns likheter med "Den hemliga historien" och "Döda poeters sällskap" och gillar man stämningen i de böckerna så är jag rätt säker på att man kommer att tycka om "In memoriam". Trots det till synes tunga ämnet så är boken lättläst och faktiskt svår att lägga ifrån sig. Texten "lättas upp" av dikter (Ellwood är poet), brev och tidningsurklipp med listor på döda och sårade. Relationen mellan Gaunt och Ellwood är fascinerande att följa, särskilt som homosexualitet var olagligt på den tiden. Ändå var det inte ovanligt att pojkar "fördrev tiden" med varandra och det var på något vis acceptabelt. Så länge man inte blev påkommen...

Det är oftast svårare att sätta ord på varför man älskar en bok, för hur man än försöker så hittar man sällan rätt resonemang. När jag läser igenom det jag skrivit så vet jag inte om jag kommer att övertyga någon om att det här är en bok som inte får missas. Jag får helt enkelt hoppas att många ändå väljer att plocka upp den!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content and Suicide

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cwg's review against another edition

Brilliant book which really made me feel…everything, I guess. 

WW1-era Britain, private school facing mid-war. Bunch of British school boys sign up and go through hell.

Pleasant prose. Loved reading it. Rendition of war was poignant, not so much focus on the technicalities but the experiences themselves.

Result is that I appreciated the rendered characters. How they quickly come in and out of the narrative can be overwhelming at times, (hard to keep up with names) but it’s fitting in the nature of a war-era narrative. I think it was done well, overall. Even the ones who only get a bit of spotlight I could feel for. There’s a lot of mini-narratives you get to witness from beginning to end, each tale providing another perspective to the war. I felt a great sense of authenticity from it all.

And of course the main characters were great. I wasn’t quite sold on them at first, but quickly turned around as the novel went on. While I felt they didn't feel like real people, they, themselves, felt real---how they moved in this story's changing world reflecting something so...human. 

I ended up feeling a lot for these characters. They were wonderful. 

I may come back to this novel someday. It was lovely.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Classism