Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Sedam meseca Malija Almeide by Shehan Karunatilaka

204 reviews

kermities's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Bar the repetitions in descriptions and the slower moving parts I have to the middle, this book was great.
The history brought me closer to my roots, the spirituality thought me more about my culture , the characters made me reflect on the complexities of being kind in a pathologically flawed and unjust world and the ending was the cherry on the cake that left me moved and hopeful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Colonisation

This book is centered and about death and war. War is horrible so of course there are descriptions of it.

cat_22's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Racism, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief

Minor: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation

charlottelilac's review against another edition

3.0

reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Car accident, Murder, Colonisation, War

mrlsdevos's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Mental illness, Slavery, Suicide, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Classism

dearelyu39's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective 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: Complicated

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Even though this book is so dark and violent, it also has very funny and absurd wisdom to it and it is raw and honest and imperfect in all ways possible. I loved how the book started and ended, even though there were so many characters and spirits and mythology that I had zero understanding of beforehand, it was still so beautifully written and with a level of compassion that was so inspiring and understandable. I love this book, this book was like 100 years of solitude if instead of incest it was more about whispering ghosts and corrupt angels. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War

Minor: Ableism

alisonvh's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The more I think about this book, the higher my rating. It’s so good and thought provoking and well written. I’ll probably need to come back to it for a reread sometime because I’m sure there’s a lot that I missed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War

leensbeans's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Suicide, Torture

Minor: Animal death, Child death

mcwattsup's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This just wasn’t for me but I’m glad I tried it out anyway! It was definitely unlike anything I’ve read.

I listened to the audiobook, which is expertly narrated, but quickly discovered that this is a dense book. I probably should have physically read it so that I could give 100% of my attention to it instead of doing other things while I listened. So as a consequence, certain plot points and characters glossed over my head and I wasn’t following the story well at some moments. 

Additionally I wasn’t a fan of the writing style. It was kind of  aggressive and constantly described people’s body parts in ways that weren’t relevant to story or character building. The word “fondle” is used a lot! And idk it just started getting on my nerves. So again, this one just wasn’t for me but I can see where others would like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Murder, War

jenbosen's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark hopeful

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For such a gruesome book, it was remarkably beautiful and hopeful. It is disorienting at first. Stick with it, though, because the farther you get, the more captivating it becomes. (I want to learn more about Sri Lankan history now too.) Definitely not for everyone, but if you like weird existential books, this is a top notch weird existential book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail

psdarlin's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional informative mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Genocide, Homophobia, Sexual content, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, War