rating: 5/5
first five star read of the year and it was a heavy one. i remember the acute feeling of dread that had fallen upon me in history class at elmhurst when we had been learning about WW1, how men were so eager to go to war because they didn't know the realities and horrors of it. this story captures that feeling so well. i don't think i've ever something so bleak. most of the books i've read in my life have consisted of contemporary and genre fiction: this was something else. people and friends falling to terrible deaths left and right, the war just stretching on with no end in sight, and in the middle of it all: henry and sidney. i genuinely thought henry was gone for good the moment he'd been shot in the chest. and the way it had happened too—"ernst?"—was heartbreaking. i was especially upset about sandys' death, but i suppose it was a small mercy because he got to join his lover in the abyss. i just wish he'd been able to read henry's letter about how much his friendship meant to him. i was by no means expecting a happy ending to this story, but was pleasantly surprised that both henry and sidney made it to the end and got their happily ever after in brazil, with their relationship and sidney's psyche slowly recovering from the effects of the war. though, i was yet again saddened by the last In Memorian of the book announcing roseveare's death, nary a day before the war came to it's complete end. i liked him, and was once again reminded of the sheer unfairness of war. i was also taken by gideon devi and archie pritchard, both of whom survived thankfully (at least, i think archie did, assuming he returned unscathed from the front line). i loved the way they'd so wholeheartedly accepted henry's sexuality and made him feel okay for it—that was a wonderful scene. cyril too for the matter. if it weren't for him, henry and sidney would be stuck in homophobic europe instead of living in sunny and free rio de janeiro. this definitely counts as one of my all-time favourites now, and no, it isn't lost on me that i now have FOUR five-star favourites which feature main characters named henry, all of whom i adore very much. it was definitely worth it staying up til 5am finishing this.
