Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Sedam meseca Malija Almeide by Shehan Karunatilaka

115 reviews

issyd23's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Maali a bad bitch that came from Sri Lanka 3👻

Giving major Cantik itu luka/Beauty is a wound vibes: magical realism at the height of violence of the civil war. 

A must read for anyone wanting to know more about one of the bloodiest civil wars of the 20th century.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Classism

kirstenpod_'s review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident

georgieleighreads's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault

bethsicle's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Murder, War

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Car accident, Outing, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment

emjbarnes's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

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I usually prefer shorter books, and it took me a while to get through this, but it was so worth every page. There isn't a word wasted and the cast of so many characters comes together perfectly at the end. It's a very difficult read but I'd highly recommend it - just read the content warnings first!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation

eli3823's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious sad 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: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Police brutality, Murder

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, Kidnapping

Minor: Death of parent

2treads's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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– And when you jump you know three things, that the brightness of the light will force you to open your eyes wider, that you will choose the same drink and it will take you somewhere new, and that when you get there, you will have forgotten all of the above –

Call it cultural preference, experience, or influence, but I love a ghost/duppy/spirit-led story. A story that is solely told from the perspective of a recently departed soul that now needs to remember how they died, who killed them, and why.

What I loved about Karunatilaka's take are the lingering vulnerabilities that stay with Maali. He has as much control here in the afterlife as he did while alive. He learns that the spiritual world is just as hierarchical and beholden to power and standing much like the human world.

He is honest in his portrayal of the aftermath and lingering scars of ethnic violence. And though he injects a dry humour, the reader is fully immersed in this broken society.

This was a vividly told story of searching, loss, guilt, and acknowledgment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, Murder, War

Minor: Torture, Kidnapping, Grief

rhi_'s review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad 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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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt

Minor: Gore, Sexual content

soots's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional funny informative sad tense medium-paced

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You were never meant to like the protagonist, but that's what is brilliant about this book. From the get go, he starts off dead, and you will follow his journey in the afterlife. You will be disappointed by what he did do alive, and what he couldn't do dead, and how the people in your life define you when you're no longer physically around. Set in 1980s Colombo, the author (while you giving you some brief information about the politics in Sri Lanka) demands you to be in the moment, expecting you to understand or at least just accept certain phrases, the politics, and the lifestyles of people and who they are at the time. It is intense, it is infuriating, but the plot moves beautifully. Not as easy to read, but I'm glad I finished it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War

lisabwright's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious 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

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7 Moons was gruesome. Absolutely gruesome. After the first moon you are deadened to the gore and can get into the book. It’s topic is important - the disappeareds of Sri Lanka and reminds me of Naming The Spirits about the disappeareds of Argentina from the 70s civil war. Woosh! Thought provoking as to questions of luck and fate and how much control or lack of control we have as individuals. At the end, there’s love. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, War