Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

14 reviews

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

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

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Death of parent and Cancer

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cancer and Mental illness

Minor: Alcohol, Excrement, and Racial slurs

_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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

geraldinerowe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I doubt there are many of us these days who are under any illusion as to the nature of fighting in the trenches in the First World War, but being taken along on the journey of a group of young men, barely out of school, watching the damage done to them not just physically, but also emotionally, is devastating. The fact that this story is told from the viewpoint of a German soldier is irrelevant. It is simply the facts of trench warfare. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Violence, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cancer, Animal death, and Excrement

joshreeves's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Blood, Murder, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, and Mental illness

milliewhattt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and War