Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

49 reviews

rachel101's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Body horror, and Blood

Moderate: Gore, Bullying, Grief, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, and War

Minor: Classism, Grief, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Homophobia, Alcohol, Mental illness, Blood, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Bullying, and Death

basil_touche's review against another edition

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

I can't remember the last time I had to pause during a book in order to comprehend what I had just read. This novel doesn't hide the gruesome aspects of the war, it's shows it all in detail and even I found it difficult to stomach at times. Characters are introduced and dead within a few pages; some you get to know for huge chunks of the book until suddenly there's a part where you see their obituary or their remains. A lot of topics are covered in this (chivalric mindsets of britain to war pre ww1, queer love, colonalisation, duel identities, classim etc) that it feels like it really captures the period.

But this is also a story about love. Gaunt and Ellwood's relationship throughout is touching as you see them pinning for them in their youth, to their optimism for the war being destroyed once they reach the trenches and then how they slowly start to pick up the pieces after. It's interesting to see how each of their traumas display differently, and surprising too.

I listened to the audiobook and Christian Coulson does a wonderful job throughout. He gives each character a distinct voice, along with pretty accurate accents. I think it truly adds something to the book. 

A haunting and beautiful debut for Winn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Grief, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Homophobia, Bullying, Ableism, Alcoholism, Suicide, Alcohol, and Kidnapping

Minor: Classism, Sexism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Rape

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This is one of the most moving love stories I've read in fiction. Winn's descriptions of yearning and forbidden longing are so tender and raw, and the weight of the characters' situations brought me to tears several times.

The passages describing the war are brutal, visceral, and full of horror, as are the psychological torments inflicted on the men by the inhumanity they are forced to endure. 

While the ending of the book is beautiful and hopeful, I really appreciated that the romantic impossibility of Ellwood and Gaunt's reunion didn't offer a panacea for their trauma. Instead, it realistically provided them both with a glimmer of hope that eventually, a normal life could be achieved.

My only (minor) critique of this book is that occasionally the 21st century sensibilities of anti-colonial sentiment felt a little too on the nose coming out of the mouths of British public school boys, but that really is a minor nitpick. 

Despite its heavy themes, this book was readable and engrossing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, War, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Bullying, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Gore

brynpemery's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

5.0

This was beautiful. Can’t believe it’s a debut, but I will be looking forward to what the author does next. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Classism, and Homophobia

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

lindasoderlundd's review

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Bullying, Child death, Suicide, War, Blood, Homophobia, Alcohol, Cursing, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, and Sexual content

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Classism, Colonisation, Miscarriage, and Antisemitism

botanicpanic's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, War, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Antisemitism and Classism

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

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I was trying to decide, while I was reading this book, what makes boarding school stories feel so idyllic. I suppose it is the most wonderful version of life: surrounded by friends, intellectual conversations, secrets, sports, homoerotic tension. It’s not all good of course, but every time Elwood quotes a poem, I long for such an existence. But this isn’t a boarding school book exactly. It’s a war book. And it gets gory; the horrors of war are all too present in this book. But more than that, woven into every word of this book is love. There are different kinds: romantic, platonic, familial, love of life, love of country, love of poetry, but everywhere you look, there is love. And there is something captivating about love that persists against all odds. I think that is why I enjoyed the semi-epistolary nature of this book so much. It shows how these characters attempt to bundle that love up and put it into words as much as they can. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, War, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Ableism, Racism, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Confinement, Homophobia, Bullying, and Sexism

Minor: Suicide, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

skylar_cr_wolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? N/A

5.0

“In this war he’s a god, Ellwood.” He put his face into his hands. “You’ve brought the anger of gods upon us.”

First of all, I need to thank two people kindly for recommending this book to me: Kieran and Harvey. 
Thank you two for being part of this journey and being okay with me sharing my inner thoughts about this novel while I read and cried about it.

And now to the novel:

It is more than I can express. And I mean it. The entire topic of world wars is something which usually keeps me away from reading a novel, however, I am glad that it didn’t scare me away this time. Because while WWI is a major point in this book, it is not the central part. The main focus is on friendships and complicated romance, especially as a queer person in the 1910s to early 1920s. It is about how you change through being tormented by the ongoing war and how it changes also the connections you have to people. It is about the loss of them as well. 
Another point which I liked but also surprised me a bit is the accuracy of languages. At least for the German part I can say that it is incredibly accurate. It was astonishing to see a novel which is mostly written in English to depict a fair share of languages in such an accurate form. As someone who is a bit of a lingual nerd (not as big as I used to) find this extremely marvellous. 

I could say so much more. How much I love Gaunt and Ellwood. How much my heart still aches because of Sandys and how much I enjoyed the friendships between Gideon and Gaunt too. How much I will miss their journey and look forward to read it again at some other time. 
And maybe this time I will be better prepared with enough tissues for farewells.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Animal death, and War

Moderate: Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide, Confinement, and Bullying

zara89's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Blood, Violence, and War

Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, Confinement, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Cursing, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Torture, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Death, Bullying, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization