Reviews tagging 'Gore'

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

63 reviews

oliviagouck's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, Gun violence, and War

Moderate: Homophobia

zoemaleah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Violence, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, War, Body horror, Grief, Homophobia, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

beanie_bob's review against another edition

emotional funny informative sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I don’t want to make this the only value of the novel, but if you like Song of Achilles you must read this. War, loss of youth, love, beautiful writing - it’s all here.

I’m completely stunned by the fact that this is a debut novel. It’s so good. (To be fair, Alice Winn apparently wrote three unpublished novels before this, so we see that practice really does make perfect). I wish I had a physical copy to annotate. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Alice Winn.

I really love the the first third of this novel (even the first half). So much is brewing in this stage - we meet many of the main players, we witness and toil over unrequited love, we go to war, we experience tension and terror, and begin to accumulate death.

I love yearning. I love two people who believe they can’t be together, or that the other is uninterested, or who regret not being brave enough to say something, or who regret saying something and losing everything. Now do all of that under the pressure of a world war. Awful. Exquisite.

The last third of third works a little less for me, but I never lost my desire to follow the story to the end. 

Gaunt: Thoroughly my type. Tall, broad, wide, quiet, serious but completely smitten on the inside. War changes everyone and by the end he’s no longer a closed fist. 

Ellwood: His soul is eviscerated at some point. If Gaunt becomes who he’s meant to be (a leader, a kind man, an open man) Ellwood becomes what he never should have been, and then claws his way back from that. 

They’re just boys. They’ll be in their 40s when WW2 starts. War is hell.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, and War

Moderate: Antisemitism, Violence, and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide

sylexlibris's review

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

pierrereads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, War, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual violence

Minor: Sexual content

elysianpoems's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Murder, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia, Bullying, and Mental illness

Minor: Antisemitism and Classism

ofherpoems's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, and Grief

Moderate: Antisemitism, Mental illness, Homophobia, Suicide, and Bullying

katiesbeengone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Murder, War, Violence, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Genocide, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Alcohol, and Classism

kristynpittman's review

adventurous emotional informative tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

In Memoriam by Alice Winn is absolutely required reading. Our story begins in 1914. The war is in its infancy and our main characters, Gaunt & Ellwood, are among their friends at Preshute boarding school enjoying the last days of boyhood. One by one as they enter the theatre of war their childhood ideals and easy smiles are striped away. Every bullet, every fallen soldier, is another spec of humanity lost to the trenches. 
Against the backdrop of chaos and despair Gaunt and Ellwood are able to have moments of happiness, poetry, and devotion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Gore, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Grief, and War

elouisewills's review

challenging 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

Beautiful book. It feels terribly sad, but in a dulled way that seems to reflect how the characters must be feeling: life is much worse than it once was but I am too tired and ruined to care enough about anything or about how sad I am.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Medical trauma, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Suicide, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Antisemitism, and Bullying