Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

7 reviews

loquaciousleon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

This is a book that changed my life.

This is a book I was buying for people before I finished.

AND, this book is heavy. (A lot of trigger warnings.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tmidge22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment

jaybonesjackson's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective tense slow-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

The story follows the life of the author, in a novel-biography, after his escape from prison and his life in Bombay. I’m not sure how much is fact vs fiction (I hope quite a lot), because his experiences are so outside the realm of an ordinary person (Indian prison, Bombay mafia, war in Afganistan...).

The story is vast and long, during which Bombay is described so richly you could almost imagine yourself walking on the streets in the shoes of the author. The characters are so clearly developed that the reader follows them on the ups and downs of each of their lives, and shares their dreams, heartache and joy. 

This book is an investment of time, but so worth it. Even after >900 pages, I am sad that it ended and I want to know more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

wifeslife's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism

kayfab's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mallorypen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

2.75

I knew this was going to be a challenge when I started it, but I didn’t anticipate how much of a challenge it would really be. Overall, I think there were some really special moments in this book; however, the stream of conscious storytelling method, the inherent cruelty of the majority of the characters, and the one dimensional portrayal of women made this book a really tough read. 

Not to mention the length.

I like a long book, don’t get me wrong - but the meandering pace of this novel felt like a structural issue and not a storytelling choice. It does read like nonfiction in the sense that it goes from plot point to plot point without what feels like an overarching through line, but overall I felt like so much could have been trimmed to tighten up the story while still getting the philosophical points across.

I was over Karla as a character pretty much from the start. A weird mix between a manic pixie dream girl and a tortured soul, I got the impression that Lin fell in love with the idea of her, rather than who she actually was. There was no trust, no communication, and really nothing but the “put her on a pedestal” behavior that could have been generated from his time in prison and the relationship he had there.

All of the female characters were one dimensional. The male characters were allowed to be flawed and imperfect and ugly and handsome and smart and foolish, but the women all felt like caricatures. Madame Zhou was a villianess; Karla was the sultry femme fatale; Lisa was the virgin prositute; Orla was the flighty ditz; Prabaku’s mother was just a mother.

Other than the people in the slum, I disliked all the main characters. There was a lot of philosophical discussions on how to take evil deeds and make excuses for them, and to see the people enacting those deeds as Robin Hood-esque heroes. So many terrible things were done and explained away by “he was like my father/brother” and none of the kindnesses or wisdom from those characters felt honest or admirable as a result.

I gave the 2.75 stars because there were vignettes that were beautiful and enjoyable to read, and though initially I got flavors of white savior from Lin, I really did think he braces the culture in the end and respected it and its people authentically.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Vomit, Murder, and War

Moderate: Hate crime and War

thespinystacks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

Wow. I’ll be thinking of Lin, Prabaker, Jonny Cigar and more for the rest of my life.

This was a beautiful story of a man that was on the run from his crimes. Usually that wouldn’t excite me or make me want to read a novel - but Lin is a man who seemed to be constantly learning about the world, and his place in the world.

This was a HUGE undertaking. It’s a commitment that at times I didn’t know if I would complete, but I am glad that I did. I was lost for words through much of this book. This review won’t ever do it justice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Blood

Moderate: Murder