Reviews by Tag: war

Teen Review
Catch-22

Catch-22

By Joseph Heller
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Akif A.
Feb 13, 2024

Catch-22 is a book that follows a World War II bombardier called Yossarian that wants to leave the army. He isn’t able to because of a catch: the only way to leave the army is to plead insanity but if one is sane enough to plead insanity, they should be sane enough to stay in the army. He is constantly met with these contradictions and catches throughout his time in the army, as he continues to simply want to survive and be done with war.

Staff Review

We Rule the Night

By Claire Eliza Bartlett
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Anne G
May 31, 2023

We Rule the Night caught me completely off guard with its immersive fantasy historical fiction world and narrative of fierce women. People who like the concepts of living aircraft, military, wartime, and magic will enjoy this. There is also the idea of traitors thrown into the mix.

Teen Review
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

All Quiet on the Western Front

By Erich Maria Remarque
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
VP
Jan 3, 2023

We often have heard or seen war through a different lens, and most of us haven’t ever actually
been in one. However, soldiers are the ones who, by default, experience war firsthand. Every war
noted in history is concerned about the outcomes, what major authority figures think, or the
events throughout the war; however, the individuality, emotions, and existence of soldiers
themselves are often looked upon. Ironically, they are the ones who go through the most trauma,

Teen Review
Black Wings Beating by Alex London

Black Wings Beating

By Alex London
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by
Taylor E.
Dec 23, 2021

Black Wings Beating is the first book in Alex London’s young adult fantasy series, Skybound. This novel follows twins Kylee and Brysen as they find themselves in the middle of a war between the sky and the earth. Together, the twins will venture into the treacherous mountains to find the deadly Ghost Eagle that could help their people win the war. I enjoyed the complex relationships that London presented, but I hated how Kylee kept dimming herself to fuel Brysen’s arrogance.

Teen Review
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

The Things They Carried

By Tim O'Brien
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Emily N.
Dec 7, 2021

The story of the men of the Alpha Company during the Vietnam War. During this story, we learn the stories of these men, and their lives before, during, and after the war. It is not told through one specific person, but instead takes turns in telling the stories of each member through their perspectives, or their fellow soldiers’.

Teen Review
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

The Things They Carried

By Tim O'Brien

Rated by
Taylor E.
Oct 21, 2021

The Things They Carried is a work of fiction; however, it was based on actual events from the author, Tim O’Brien’s time in Vietnam. In a collection of short stories about soldiers in the Vietnam War, O’Brien tells a story that reveals Vietnam’s effects. The best thing about this novel is the author’s writing style; he writes like he’s sharing memories. There are time jumps and events that take place out of order to convey this unique type of storytelling.

Teen Review
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game

By Orson Scott Card
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
David M.
Oct 21, 2021

Ender’s Game follows a brilliant 6-year-old kid named Andrew “Ender” Wiggin. Set in the future, humans are fighting a war with an alien race called “buggers”. The humans win the war, but are fearful of another attack, and so they train gifted children in a satellite called the “Battle School” to become future commanders against the buggers. Ender is born as a third child in a world where only two children are allowed due to the giftedness of his siblings, Peter a sociopath and Valentine, a caring sister.

Teen Review
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

The Winner's Curse

By Marie Rutkoski
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Rowan D.
Oct 21, 2021

Kestrel lives in an empire that relishes in violence and war. They enslave others they conquer and show no mercy. Kestrel is the general’s daughter, and as such she is aware of the methods of her empire. As a seventeen-year-old young woman, Kestrel has a decision that could alter the rest of her life: she can join the military or get married. A strong, independent woman, Kestrel battles for another option.

Teen Review
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone

This Is How You Lose the Time War

By Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by
Lisa J.
Oct 19, 2021

Red shouldn’t have picked up the letter. Shouldn’t have betrayed her people. Shouldn’t have replied. But she did, and now nothing will ever be the same again. Red is a time traveler working for the Agency, a technotopia, while Blue is an agent for the Garden, a vast, organic entity rooted in nature. As rivals, they travel through strands of alternate realities and dimensions, influencing them to guide the path of the future in an all-encompassing war. They were made to be enemies — so why does it feel so right when they craft the words that bridge the untraversable gap between them?

Teen Review
Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Dreams of Gods and Monsters

By Laini Taylor
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by
Lisa J.
Sep 6, 2021

How do you repair a world torn apart by the horrors of war? Karou might have an answer to this impossible question. Working as the new resurrectionist, Karou has built a formidable army of chimaera from teeth and souls. But things are far from over — the ruthless emperor of the Seraphim prepares to march on the human world with his soldiers dressed as angels, ready to receive a welcome fit for kings. With no choice left, Karou forms an uneasy alliance with Akiva and his army of renegade Seraphim — one that just might change the course of the war.

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