Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Im Westen nichts Neues by Erich Maria Remarque

17 reviews

gubler2003's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Easily in my top 5 favorite books of all time. Wilfred Owen meets literature. Descriptive, beautiful and deeply heartwrenching at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

patriciapueyolopez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

iswearimliterate's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

Really, there’s nothing I can say that hasn’t been said. It’s modern and sharp as it always has been, it sets out to do what it wants to do perfectly. It’s also depressing as hell, but that’s exactly what it should be. Free from catharsis in the way most war movies are, All Quiet feels to me more true to life than any of them—the only joy in war is in all the things that aren’t war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury

heuteschongekurtet's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Cursing, Eating disorder, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual content

piaa157's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and War

skiaakari's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer and Death of parent

saraaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

One of the best pieces of war literature I've ever read. Deeply moving, reflective, leaves you with a strong sense of injustice – as any good war novel should.
I feel like the author went for an explicitly didascalic approach, unambiguously denouncing the horrors of the war through the first person account of the young protagonist's personal experiences and reflections.
The strong accent on the loss of youthful dreams and teenage convictions makes it, in a way, a hybrid between a war novel and a bildungsroman.
The style was poetic at times, especially when reporting the protagonist's considerations, then moving to a kind of matter-of-factly journalistic style when describing the soldiers' routine and daily sufferings.
Last but not least, it's the first – and so far the only – war novel I read that managed to give a realistic account of a teenage boy's perspective on women and sexual attraction without falling into misogyny.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer and Mental illness

Minor: Racial slurs, Excrement, and Alcohol

_marco_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Words cannot describe the utter anguish one feels after having read this book. I can attempt to explain it away, but there is no way I can possibly do it justice. 

All Quiet on the Western Front is A very difficult read, in the sense of its content, however I do believe that it is a necessary one. Set in the Eastern Front of WWI, the story follows a group of young German soldiers as they experience the man-made horrors of war. Themes of loss, fear, courage, humanity, and love are explored in extreme depth and detail. After finishing, amidst tears I was left with complete despair and a renewed reverence for human life and all that makes it sacred. This read will definitely stay with me long after I’ve placed the book back on the shelf. 

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Content Warnings

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

diddlydoo333's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

This book expresses a human aspect to war; giving faces, names, occupations, and families to the young German soldiers of WWI. Their deaths are all impactful, none more than Kat, but the need to keep fighting both the war itself and the internal struggles Paul feels brush the trauma of those deaths out of view without trivializing it. The switch at the end from a first person, personalized account, to a third person omniscient narrator finishes that action by showing the outcome of all of those traumas washing over him like a wave as the rumors of the wars near end reach him. This novel begs the questions of what happens when war is over, when all you've known in your adult life is war; what happens when everyone you hold dear, who knows you as you are and not how you were is gone; and what does it mean to feel alive? War is not something that can value life of any sort, in any way, and this book captures that essence of loss perfectly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail