Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

10 reviews

emileemaree's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Abortion, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Excrement, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

emka12's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I know I'm enjoying a book when I'm thinking about it outside of my reading time. It was worth staying up until 1:30 to finish.
Eve's side of the story is definitely more interesting, but I found Charlie's POV helped balance the tension a bit. It's also nice to see Eve from a 3rd person perspective. What a beautifully written story, and what a great tribute to our actual war heroines and heroes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, and Blood

Minor: Excrement

shaylac's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I was surprised by how much I liked this book even from changing from Charlie's and Eve's perspectives. The book takes on an adventure through England and France and teleports you back into time during WWI and after WWII With Charlie being somewhat naive view on life, she ends up growing more mature and independent and with Eve being a stubborn drunk who trying to resolve her demons from the past. It is a story that will excite you but also make you think about what is wrong and right.

TLDR: Go on an epic adventure through England and France with a motley crew from the perspective of Charlie and Eve. Teleporting you back to WWI and present day (1947) you'll be eagerly turning each page to see what happens next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Excrement, and Grief

Minor: Abortion

emmehooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad fast-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

4.5

I was not expecting to so throughly enjoy this book! Badass women spies, badass women defying social convention. The dual timelines wove together beautifully, there was just enough truth in the fiction to keep me interested, and I appreciated that most of the characters were “fallen” people by society’s standards. Absolutely would read another book by Kate Quinn or on this subject.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Torture, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and War

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Sexual content, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

sabrina_d_arcy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Excrement, and Grief

maddiet425's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Blood, Excrement, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

karolinaz's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Vomit, and Classism

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

emakay's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infertility and Excrement

chalkletters's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

In the four years since I last read The Alice Network, I’d managed to forget almost everything. I remembered Eve spying in German-occupied Lille, but I’d completely wiped Charlie, her quest to find her cousin and her romance with Finn from my memory. That’s not a reflection of their relative merits, because both the 1915 and 1947 plots have incredibly compelling moments. It might simply be that the title reminds me of the WWI timeline, making it easier to call to mind.

It’s surprising that I’d forgotten Charlie, as she definitely undergoes the most positive character development over the course of The Alice Network, and that’s usually something I enjoy! Her evolution from obedient daughter to defiant bookkeeper certainly feels earned, though I did notice a bit more telling than showing at times, particularly towards the end. 

Kate Quinn handles the plot excellently: there are moments of creeping horror, triumph and shock, and she does an excellent job of balancing the two timelines, keeping both interesting and engaging to the last. The ending is lovely, wrapping everything up and giving a sense of hope for the characters we’ve invested so much time in. Kate Quinn’s prose is consistently effective, with some really lovely moments, especially describing the flower fields in Grasse.

I don’t know if The Alice Network is something I’ll want to revisit again, but I’d definitely read more by Kate Quinn.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury