Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Sedam meseca Malija Almeide by Shehan Karunatilaka

118 reviews

aurora4847's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 68%

---

I'm not in a place in my life to be able to appreciate this book right now. I found myself dreading picking it up and counting down the pages till I finished each moon.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Drug use, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol

Many scenes in active war zones with descriptions of death and violence. Recurring vision of a dead family including dead children and a dead dog. Intense amounts of homophobia.

sangsmiles's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, War

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Car accident

lizzieolsen24's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, War, Pandemic/Epidemic

radoie's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Car accident, Murder, War

magicalsocks's review against another edition

5.0

dark funny tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

(1/14/25)

this is peak novel writing. TO ME!!! had to physically put the book down and stare at the wall when the meaning of "King and Queen" finally clicked. i love writing that throws you in the deep end and tells you to keep up. in my opinion this book deserves every accolade it's received three times over. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Excrement, Kidnapping, Death of parent

medini_l's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail

jayisreading's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

---

I want to preface this review by saying that I wanted to enjoy this novel far more than I actually did; it really came down to it being a me problem and not a problem with Karunatilaka’s storytelling. I think the main issue was that I picked this novel up at the wrong time and couldn’t quite wrap my mind around the uncategorizable (but definitely something deeply philosophical) nature of it, along with the sheer number of moving parts. Even while I was struggling with the text, though, I was able to pick up on the fact that Karunatilaka is quite the storyteller who can spin something incredible based on his country’s tumultuous history, as well as alluding to literary texts in the process to add further depth (e.g., there were definitely some Kafkaesque moments). With regard to his storytelling, something that I quite liked was how the novel was written in second person. It was a really unique approach and I thought it kept the reader on their toes as things unfolded.

I will say that it will be enormously beneficial to enter this novel with some familiarity with Sri Lankan history and politics, because I know a part of the reason I struggled was because I didn’t have that knowledge. That being said, it seems that there were readers who also had no knowledge and still thoroughly enjoyed this novel, so your mileage may vary. While I may have likely picked this novel up at the wrong time and didn’t enjoy it as much, as a result, I absolutely understand how and why Karunatilaka received the Booker Prize— I rarely come across novels like The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida that are this layered and ambitious. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, War

Moderate: Infidelity, Colonisation

Minor: Drug use

drj's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Torture, Violence, War

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic

paddles1704's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

 I listened to the audiobook version of this, read by Shivantha Wijesinha, and although it was read brilliantly and gave an authentic accent to the language, I wish I had read this book on paper. There was quite a lot going on, and I wish I had been able to read over some passages a few times, or go back to check an event that was mentioned later. Set over the course of seven days, it follows the story of Maali as he tries to figure out why he has died, flashing backwards to the events leading up to his death and reflections on his career as a photojournalist. It includes real events from history from a fictional perspective, often including disturbing or heartbreaking vignettes. 

I could easily recommend this to anyone interested in political history, Sri Lanka, magical realism or something unusual and out of the box; however, I wouldn't have classified myself as any of those categories, but I was still gripped from beginning to end. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity

gossamer_lens's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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: Yes

---

This book as a "after death" tale was gripping and very unique. I was hooked from the first chapter and it was amazing how deftly Karunatilaka turned my initial interest in how the main character died into more compelling intrigue as the book continued. I appreciated how much I learned about a culture and history I knew shamefully little about before reading. The discussions around power, lgbtq+ matters, and patriarchy were profound and interesting. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who has the stomach for some mildly graphic descriptions of gore and the effects of war. 

If you enjoyed this book/review, you may be interested in checking out other books I recommend: https://www.gossamerlens.com/post/2024-full-year-reading-wrap 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, War

Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicide, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment