Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

In memoriam by Alice Winn

3 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

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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

paulawind's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

To be perfectly honest, I expected more of a

kill your gays type of a situation

, especially considering time period,

but I’m so happy I was wrong! The more I think about it, it was the happiest ending that would be realistic in this situation.

We’ll always have Brazil, fuck the Old World. 
This book was harrowing. I thought I was ready for the horrors of war after reading All Quiet on the Western Front, but this book only awoke my memories. Why do leaders decide to go to war when it is universally acknowledged that it is only bringing pain and suffering? And we do it all over again, for millennia. Maybe the Greeks got it more, when the war was more about man vs man rather than automated machines against civilians. 
Coming to characters, side from them dropping like flies every other chapter, I think the author made us care about every (or almost every) death. The character development for both MCs was absolutely breaking my heart but

I’m so glad they found each other back in the end and are learning to love each other again

An almost complete emotional flip Gaunt and Ellwood did throughout the book hit me like a whiplash, but it was done in a way that it made sense. After all

Gaunt’s prisoners of war camp chapters were the most peaceful and cheerful of the entire book, whereas Elwood was facing bloodbath every day, seeing an orchestrated massacre on a daily basis

One of my favourite moments is when Elwood is screaming poetry at Gaunt, very blatantly professing his love in all meaning but the straightforward one, and Gaunt is so deep in denial that even thought he loved him desperately too, he can’t believe it’s really happening. Those characters in a nutshell. At least for the first part of the book. Later it would be Gaunt being gentle and endlessly patient with Elwood when he struggles to say anything at all and bursting in anger, fighting his ptsd. Gosh, I love those boys so much. Going to pretend that the book ended with “And they lived happily ever after”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

simixfe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.25

Well, let's just say I expected or at least hoped for a bit more.
I loved the beginning, liked the middle and hated the end.
I mean I should have anticipated that it would not end with

Henry and Sidney moving into the british countryside, going on long walks, reciting poetry and growing old together.
Still, I at least hoped for a conversation about their true feelings. I wanted Gaunt to let his guard down and tell Ellwood that he is scared that Ellwood will grow bored of him eventually and I wanted Elly to be finally able to voice his feelings in his own words and not the words of other poets. In my Imagination, Gaunt would have stopped calling Ellwood Ellwood and finally would have used his christian name and then they would have grown old together (happily). Sadly, none of that happend, except that Gaunt called Ellwood Sidney, bjt only after Ellwood basically pressured him.
It really was not a bad book by any means. I just went into it with the wrong expectations. 
To end this on a more positive note: Even though it was all quite sad, there were parts where i laughed out loud. Some scenes were absolutely hilarious and Devi was the sweetest soul. And the book had great writing and beautiful  quotes. The quote that touched me most was: "You'll write more poems. They are not lost. You are the poetry."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail