Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

14 reviews

gemin1reader's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

5.0

I feel like this book ripped my heart in two. It’s a really unflinching look at the brutalities of war entwined with a love story of two boys. It’s beautifully written and heartbreaking, made me cry and will be living in my head for a long time, I think. Although it’s fiction, it really brings the reality of WW1 to life in a very haunting way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Gun violence, War, Violence, Mental illness, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Classism

Minor: Sexual violence

valkinbabe's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

It's only a 4 star simply because, while I really liked the book, and it's beautifully written, it's not something that will keep me up at night

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Grief, Genocide, and Gore

introverted_reads's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Gun violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

pnwbibliophile's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

In Memoriam follows two eighteen-year-old English schoolboys at the outbreak of World War 1. Henry Gaunt is pushed by the women around him and his family to join the war effort. Half German, he feels obligated to join so that others won’t think his family are German spies. Ellwood, Gaunt’s closest friend, enlists a few months thereafter. Before their enlistment, we get a glimpse at their “before” life. Pampered, sheltered, idyllic—the life of rowdy elite boarding school boys quoting literature and naively romanticizing the war and its heroism. As their boarding school begins to resemble a farm producing young men for war’s slaughter, that idyllic “before” starkly juxtaposes against the harsh realities of the war.

What plays out is an immersive novel with achingly real characters. Gaunt and Ellwood’s friendship was always more to each of them, though they each think it is an unrequited love. With the war stripping them both physically and mentally, they have to confront their feelings as they cling to each other for the little bit of light amidst the brutality of trench warfare. They’re repeatedly separated and the sense of dread at each not knowing if the other was still alive (as well as their other friends) was captured brilliantly. The novel is further layered with the stories of their fellow friends and civilians back home. You get a true sense of the societal and personal effects of the war as if England herself were a third main character.

And yet that description seems idiotically unrepresentative of what this novel is. It is about love, loss, the immorality of war and empire, and the intricacies of masculinity and male bonds both romantic and platonic. But it is the way in which the author adeptly uses the plot, characterization, voice, and artful prose that makes this novel stand out. Alice Winn is a literary genius. She left no crumbs. I sobbed multiple times, the first time just 3 pages in. Never would I have thought that a fictional student newspaper would repeatedly gut me. The realness of the novel is rooted in the author’s research into the time period. With the emotion of a passion piece and execution of timeless classic literature, this was my favorite read thus far in 2024. It’s one of those stories that sticks with you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Gore, Violence, Death, and Gun violence

Minor: Homophobia, Classism, and Xenophobia

snips17's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: War, Gore, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Xenophobia and Sexual content

nadijya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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: Bullying, Alcohol, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Infidelity, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Xenophobia

opossumom's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, War, Death, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Antisemitism and Outing

breanneporter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

5.0

This is stunning. I generally stay away from anything to do with war, and I only picked this up due to a glowing review by a bookseller I trust, not really believing I would be able to finish it, but boy did it hook me and engage me and devastate me and teach me until the very end… I’m so so glad I gave it a shot. In Memoriam follows two high school best friends, Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood, attending a wealthy public school in England when WW1 breaks out in 1914. Both boys are  secretly in love with the other, but believe it’s unrequited. They each end up at the front of the war and confront the horrifying realities of trench warfare, losing friends and parts of themselves along the way. 

This novel is not for the faint of heart: it is heart wrenching and painful and describes in visceral detail the terrible gore and tragedy of war, as well as the  long term effects, both physical and mental, on those who manage to survive. I listened on audio, which was excellent, but at times very difficult to picture. 

As many other reviewers note, however, there is levity and humor and romance interspersed in the horror. There are triumphs, big and small, and there are beautiful depictions of acceptance and found family. One of my favorite parts of the novel was

the friendship between Gaunt, Pritchett and Devi, the latter two of which demonstrate unflinching devotion and acceptance of Gaunt, despite how criminalized and stigmatized homosexuality was at the time.

Throughout the novel I kept googling WWI history based on Winn’s writing, and I feel like I re-learned so much from this novel that I’d long forgotten, and I’m so grateful for that. I would highly recommend to all historical fiction and LGBTQ fiction fans (even if you’re war-wary like me)!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Grief, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

julievancan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was entirely gripped by this devastating story. As other reviews note, the descriptions of trench warfare are viscerally violent and relentless bleak, but Winn brings humanity and intimacy to the love story, which is the beating, bleeding heart of this beautiful novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

laurennicole98's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Alcoholism, Suicide, Homophobia, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Xenophobia