Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Koodinimi Alice by Kate Quinn

12 reviews

msapocalypse's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

3.5

It's a story worth telling, and the Eve chapters were great, but the Charlie chapters really dragged it all down and were often a slog to get through. I think the story could have been told better without most of that. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

fedoratheexplora's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death

saliwali's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

Loved it, but it was too long. Hear me out. 

This book is told from two perspectives in alternating chapter. 
In 1915, we follow Eve, who is trained as a spy and sent to Lille in German occupied France to gather and pass on information to the Alice Network, a network of British and French spies during WWI. 
In 1947 Charlie, a pregnant college student from the US, is searching for her cousin Rose who disappeared in France during WWII. She hires Eve to help with her search, and their stories intertwine more than expected. 

When I say, the book was too long, I mostly mean the first half. Charlie's story, especially compared to Eve's, feels really underdeveloped in the beginning. I like that we get to know the characters slowly and in a natural way during their travels together, and the payoff is really great in the end. But it was still hard to stay invested in Charlie's parts for at least the first 200-300 pages, because nothing actually happens. 

The rest of the book is just fantastic. The character work is amazing, so many strong female characters. I literally felt the tension during all the spy business scenes. Reading the author's note at the end, which explains which characters, events and details were real, made me realize how great their portrayal was in the book as well. Facts and fiction fit perfectly together. 

I liked how all kinds of aspects of women's lives during the wars/post-war are shown, the relationships between the characters, the focus on their mental state. I also think it was great to have a protagonist with a speech disorder who uses this weakness and turns it into a strength. But there are several scenes that were hard to read. Kate Quinn does not shy away from detailed descriptions of gruesome and bloody scenes. So yeah, definitely check out trigger/content warnings.

Lastly, one of the things that is really hard to pull off is a satisfying showdown/ending. And I think it was done masterfully here. A lot of times the showdowns in books are either too abrupt or too slow for me. This one is perfectly timed. I love the setting, the characters involved, the emotions, the dialogues, the action, the execution and resolution. All the little details come together nicely. 
And after the showdown we get an ending that's neither too short, nor too long. I'm really impressed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

mmccombs's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

3.5

Another solid historical fiction! I can’t say this is my favorite of Quinn’s books that I have read, but it still had all of the details and character development that I enjoy. No real thoughts, just a good story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Alcohol

madmantha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

Beginning was a bit slow for me but once it really begins to pick up, it does not stop. 
Both narratives blend together seamlessly in the final arc; everything comes full circle.
One of my favorite epilogues ever written; really pulled on the heart-strings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Stalking, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

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

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

landawn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Abortion, Murder, and Alcohol