latisha's review against another edition

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5.0


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abicaro17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Ok this was better than I thought it would be. I read this after I heard about the movie and I don't regret it. Paul is a younger German soldier on the front lines of WW1 who struggles to understand the horrors of war and the trenches. The story is centered around Paul and his 7 classmates. This book, while very serious and somber, reads like a diary. Everything feels past tense but also like it happened a few hours ago not a few years ago. There's almost no dialogue and huge chunks of exposition or philosophical thoughts. This combined with the long chapters made it a difficult read. It's very slow and there isn't a ton of action. It's definitely geared towards history nerds and as someone who likes history but prefers english this was a hard read. 

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heuteschongekurtet's review against another edition

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challenging tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0


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xlaraxk's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense 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? No

3.0


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diddlydoo333's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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muffinmanreal's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

I love this book more than myself. I literally can no longer write because I know I’ll never write something like this.

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namizaela's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

"A little soldier and a clear voice, and if anyone were to caress him he would hardly understand, this soldier with the big boots and the shut heart, who marches because he is wearing big boots, and has forgotten all else but marching."

The thing that stuck out to me about this book was how gory it is, and how matter-of-fact it is about its goriness. Retrospectively I should have expected this since it's a book about WW1, but I don't think I've ever read a book about war that seems so truthful. I've never been a soldier, but from what I know about wars, the actual violence of them can't be glossed over. This book made me feel empathy, hope, and finally sadness--but mostly horror. It's a great book that does exactly what it sets out to do, but personally I wasn't prepared for the graphic descriptions of violence and death. 

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