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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
bellsdixon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
mel_e_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
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? It's complicated
4.75
Tugs on your heartstrings and hits all the right notes. I rarely, if ever, read books about actual wars. I am so glad I picked this book up, because I couldn’t put it down. A great read, I’ll come back to this one day. It will stick with me for a long, long time.
Maud’s work on legalizing homosexuality was NOT on my radar but wow, almost had me crying in the airport.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, and War
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
zephyxs's review against another edition
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? No
5.0
„Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.“
I have not read a book more perfectly cruel describing the joys and hopes of war right before ending it all in a silent yet painful way.
I have to be honest, I went into this book briefly knowing, this will be about two school boys (when i picked it up i actually didn’t even knew that it was two boys) who happened to live in the heights of the first world war and decided to fight at the front for their country. That it was so much more than that- well i soon came to realize that!
It starts off perfectly sweet, with making you familiar with the funny-centered, hope-induced characters that can’t wait to finally be able to fight for their country.
That it starts off in said schoolboy setting is actually something, that not only surprised me but I was actually very fond of. You get to know the characters, let them grow onto you, find out who they love, what jokes they make.
Only to experience this personality change even more, the moment they start fighting.
I haven’t read many books set in war, but something i always enjoyed was realistic portrayal. Letting the characters actually change under those cruel realities and traumatizing experiences. How they grew dull and emotionless, instead of angry and loud. Letting them loose their joy. Making them cope with dark jokes and leading them down a mental spiral induced by their own humanly fears, the horrors they have to see and the dead comrades they have to leave behind. Exactly this is, what - in my opinion - this book did. It made them change. It changed you while you read it.
The poem I wrote at the top is a poem frequently mentioned throughout the book. And dare I say it is used in a particular smart way, making its first appearance already before the protagonists enlist. It sets the mood for a hopeful, pride filled almost naive point of view, just to be honest, realistic and relatable for them at the end. I also very enjoyed the little newspaper entries. It pulls you more into the story. I happened to catch myself several times, the moment a newspaper appeared, to be searching it for familiar names, as if I was in that situation, searching for the names of my friends and relatives.
But my heart not only dropped the moment i read those names. The plottwists that were built into the story actually had me gasping and looking shocked at the book. Obviously, as someone that is not very good in detecting plottwists, if they aren’t the most obvious plotlines, i am rather privileged here and some of you may already have had suspicions, but I myself had none. So the emotions were even stronger.
Lastly, I want to end this review with a scene in the book, that followed me days after I read it and still makes my skin crawl. I will put it into spoilers, but it isn’t a plot spoiler. If you want to read it, you could, it’ll simply show you what I meant with the portrayal of the horror war put soldiers in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
annabella's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Read this book fast not because it was incredible but the writing is easy to flick through. I thought I’d be more emotional at it but no tears were shed! It definitely shows the horrors of the war in both a physical and mental trauma sense, and I thought it sadness about how it permanently changed Ellwood‘s sense of loving Gaunt. When Gaunt apparently died and Ellwood was moping I thought it was a bit slow and didn’t know how else it could progress. The book feels not so much a love story but an account of how messed up the war efforts were and showing the intimate human relationships amongst a horrific situation. But from booktok etc it feels more advertised as a tragic mlm novel so that’s what I expected more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and War
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.
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
gemloukay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
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? No
5.0
When World War 1 breaks out, poetic Ellwood and classicist Gaunt, along with all their public school friends, enlist despite being underage. Gaunt is a little older and enlists early due to family pressure. Ellwood can’t stand to hear the letters from Gaunt sounding more and more resigned to death and enlists too. What follows is far more harrowing than either of them anticipated.
But their secret love for one another blossoms in the trenches and we’re left wondering whether they’ll survive to discover it for themselves. And if they do, what will happen since homosexuality was still illegal in England at that time?
It’s a stunning debut that made me root for both of the main characters alongside their ever dwindling group of friends. It’s horrifying to hear about life in the trenches and the major battles of the Great War but I realised in reading it that I don’t know much about it despite having family members that died in Gallipoli and the Somme. The numbers of dead is just staggering to think about.
Such a good book, and although it’s never going to be a cheery topic, it leaves you wanting them to survive and be able to celebrate their love for each other after the war has ended.
But their secret love for one another blossoms in the trenches and we’re left wondering whether they’ll survive to discover it for themselves. And if they do, what will happen since homosexuality was still illegal in England at that time?
It’s a stunning debut that made me root for both of the main characters alongside their ever dwindling group of friends. It’s horrifying to hear about life in the trenches and the major battles of the Great War but I realised in reading it that I don’t know much about it despite having family members that died in Gallipoli and the Somme. The numbers of dead is just staggering to think about.
Such a good book, and although it’s never going to be a cheery topic, it leaves you wanting them to survive and be able to celebrate their love for each other after the war has ended.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, and War
Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail