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ghostlyprince's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Ableism, Rape, Police brutality, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic
juanat77's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
sophiegrubben's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I liked and felt the most for the characters that we spent the most time with: Hazel and James. That is not to say I didn't like Aubrey and Collette (although I liked Aubrey a bit more than Collette) but we simply didn't spend as much time with them or their romance. It felt just placed there at times. Hazel and James's story just seemed more fleshed out, more thought out and more lovely put on the page.
Overall it was a very well written and researched book, but it missed a sprinkle of magic for me, especially in the Aubrey and Collette parts. I wanted more time with them and more care put into their characterisation. But not a bad book at all!
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
mme_carton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Police brutality, and Abandonment
nebraskanwriter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I did love the build up of the two couple’s relationships, how Berry covers what many people went through during the war in these four main characters. However, the ending felt so rushed. We have almost 500 pages of build up to find out what happened to them in like 5 pages at the end of the book, summarized very briefly by the gods.
I loved the journey, the fleshing out of the characters, peeling back the grim layers of war and not shying away from the army’s racism but rather shining a light on it. I loved the history, the feelings of first love and second chances after one had maybe lost their first love. That I loved, it’s just a shame the ending was so rushed kind of helter-skelter like otherwise I probably would have rated it higher.
Berry definitely did her research for this book, I will say that for sure. There is a historical note in the back where she sites many books and a bibliography as well. So that was not a miss, the care in which she took to tell multiple sides of the war (both without and within) must be acknowledged.
But pacing was this book’s downfall, too long and convoluted to get to such a lackluster ending…
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism