Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Kidnapping, Car accident, Alcohol
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Murder, War
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation
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.
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
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, War
Moderate: Infidelity, Colonisation
Minor: Drug use
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Violence, Kidnapping
Moderate: Genocide, Death of parent, War
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War
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
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
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
When I first saw that it was written in second person I was worried I wouldn't enjoy it but once you get through the first 50 pages it works as a way to immerse you. Once I reached the ending I fully understood the purpose of the second person pov (both to bring the audience in but also to drive the message of agency and the role of ghosts in), and now I cannot imagine the book working without it. In a book actively exploring the idea of distance/closeness to war the second person pov forces the reader to critically engage with our own position.
For a book set in the context of the deadly Sri Lankan civil war, I found the war violence and sardonic humor to be perfectly complimentary. The straightforward description of the horrors really allowed for the reader to interpret it the way one would an actual photo. In between the horror, the mockery of colonialism-politics-nonsensical violence gives us a respite from everything we see in the page. At times the humor even reminded me of Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett (if their books were set in the most horrific real life context imaginable).
I would say that the balance between the scenes that took place in the afterlife and the civil war were not as seamlessly as I would have liked. The switch from one scene to another had a disruptive effect that at times took me out of the story. The epilogue itself I found it to be both refreshing but also a bit muddled (although not enough to change my enjoyment of the book).
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Indeed a very unique reading experience.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
My biggest problem was the tense. The second person tense was hard to get into, and I kept forgetting it had this tense, so I was confused by the wording every time I picked this book back up after a few days.
Also not sure I got all the intricacies with the different sides and beliefs, as I had almost no knowledge on Sri Lanka before reading this book and had to google something every few pages.
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, Sexual harassment, War