Reviews tagging 'War'

American War by Omar El Akkad

36 reviews

verysarahbennett's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Bennett Family Book club read. :) I've been really putting off writing this review because there's so much to this book and I know I'm not going to catch everything that's worth saying about this book, but I'm going to give it a go.

This book was tough but SO thought-provoking. It's wild that it came out in 2017, before the pandemic, when biological warfare/pandemics are such an interesting part of this story. It was extremely scary in the sense that the book is very believable and possible as a somewhat near future. It's a really powerful dystopian message that touches on global warming and climate change, pandemics, division in the country, war. The way the world has transformed in such a little amount of time from the current day and the way everyone is still just finding a way to live and make do is heartbreaking and universal. A really strong statement about America and its relationship with the world and with itself.

Sarat was a very fascinating main character to follow. It definitely was interesting to see how she thinks and functions, but I still feel like I couldn't completely grasp everything about her as much as I wanted to. I still don't understand her motivations or how she specifically got moved so far in one extremist direction.

It was a really great book club book--love it or hate it (or not even finish it), there's SO much to discuss; you probably wouldn't even need to have prepared questions in advance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

underwaterlauren's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

this was just so wholly unpleasant to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Xenophobia and Vomit

mauricekofi's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Biphobia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Addiction and Religious bigotry

nobiting33's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Confinement, Rape, and Death of parent

athnyx230's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Death, Murder, and War

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Death of parent

clareash's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Torture

blake245's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mbejjani's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

A hard book to read given some really dark passages and the fact that the future described doesn’t seem that far off from potential reality.. But worth it, a powerfully written story that wraps you up in it and makes you wonder who’s “side” you would land on in Sarat’s position. I especially loved the weaving in of “primary sources” with the narrative to relay additional context and history. One of the most fascinating explorations of a future in the climate crisis that I’ve ever read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Torture, Blood, and War

frogggirl2's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

5.0

What a stunning, impactful, important, well-characterized book!   There are a lot of complex things discussed here with a lot of depth and grace.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and War

ellacramer's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

1.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic