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kt_schutte's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
Graphic: War, Blood, Gun violence, Violence, Body horror, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcoholism
cthornhill's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Audiobook review
I found this book to be beautifully written, horrifyingly realistic, intensely painful, stupefying in the scope of suffering it conveys and at times a little weird. I liked the first section of the affair but found I couldn’t really get into the characters. In the second and most important section in the trenches my heart bled for Stephen and his companions, I found them “going over the top” intensely powerful and I don’t think you can come out of reading it without pacifist thoughts about the futility of war. Images from that section will stay with me for a long time. The third section in the seventies I found compelling but it missed the mark for me. Why Elizabeth go to all that trouble to get the notebooks decoded for us to skip over them in a paragraph or so? <\spoiler>. I just didn’t connect with the women in the book. They felt thinly drawn, stereotypical and illogical. And please can we ban men from writing childbirth scenes? <\spoiler>. Even some of the minor characters in the trenches felt much more real to me than the lead women. Finally, I found the ending disappointing but the final sentence very beautiful.
For a horrifying beautiful and realistic portrayal of the war I would recommend this completely. For a love story I would give it a miss.
I found this book to be beautifully written, horrifyingly realistic, intensely painful, stupefying in the scope of suffering it conveys and at times a little weird. I liked the first section of the affair but found I couldn’t really get into the characters. In the second and most important section in the trenches my heart bled for Stephen and his companions, I found them “going over the top” intensely powerful and I don’t think you can come out of reading it without pacifist thoughts about the futility of war. Images from that section will stay with me for a long time. The third section in the seventies I found compelling but it missed the mark for me.
For a horrifying beautiful and realistic portrayal of the war I would recommend this completely. For a love story I would give it a miss.
Graphic: War, Gore, and Death
sabrielsbell's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The beginning of this book really threw me for a loop. It was straight up romance and I actually went back to the Goodreads synopsis to make sure I was reading the right book. Part 2 starts the war portion of this book which is the focus throughout the rest of the story and is so incredibly well done. I couldn't believe how in-depth and strong the descriptions of life during war were. I could have done without the granddaughter's point of view and the ending seemed superfluous but the middle section make this book more than worth a read.
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
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