Reviews with content warning for Car accident - Sedam meseca Malija Almeide

Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Sedam meseca Malija Almeide by Shehan Karunatilaka

75 reviews

mediaevalmuse's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

I learned of this book while watching a "best books of 2024" YouTube video, and the premise was appealing. I love a bit of supernatural fiction, and I don't think I've read anything with Sri Lankan characters and folklore before. Upon reading, I can definitely see why this book was on that "best reads" list. It's funny, it's heart-wrenching, it's weird... basically everything I enjoy in my literary fiction.

WRITING: Karunatilaka's prose is interesting in that it creates very vivid pictures of the afterlife (called the "in between") while also feeling kind of hazy by using second person. Normally, second person is a huge turn off for me, but I think it did interesting things here. Still, I think second person did make it harder to connect with characters, but that might just be my personal bias.

I really enjoyed the mix of humor, horror, and magic throughout the book, and how easily Karunatilaka moves between them and juxtaposes them. There are parts of the narration that feel heavy and bleak, but then it will be met with humor or something absurd. Some of this reinforces the theme in this book that some lives are insignificant or meaningless - almost nihilistic. But some of it is also full of meaning in itself, causing the reader to look at things a new way.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows Maali Almeida, a photographer who is killed during the Sri Lankan Civil War in 1989. Upon "awakening" in the waiting room of the afterlife, Maali finds that he has no idea who killed him and that he has only 7 moons (nights) before he loses his chance to pass on. Maali has taken some photographs that could anger a lot of people, so the list of suspects is long. Meanwhile, his photos have put his still-living best friend and his lover in the line of danger.

The description of this book makes the plot out to be a thriller or mystery, and while there is a mystery element, the focus is less on who-dun-it and more on reflecting on war and bloodshed. Maali has seen a lot of horrifying things and there are a lot of players in the ongoing conflict, and a huge part of this book is devoted to thinking through allegiances, power, justice, revenge, and so on.

Because I know very little about the history of the Sri Lankan Civil War, I found it difficult to keep track of all the players and motivations. But to be clear: that's my own failure, and I don't think it would be fair for Karunatilaka to hold my hand and explain everything to me. I think this book will feel more weighty once I am more familiar with the history, and I am grateful that I have the opportunity to read outside my comfort zone and be motivated to learn new things.

CHARACTERS: Maali, our protagonist, is interesting but also a little hard to get to know due to the second person narration. That may be my own bias talking, so take that with a grain of salt. Still, I liked following a character who was doing something arguably noble and important yet also was kind of spiraling in his personal life. I loved Maali's relationships with Jaki and DD, and how he constantly reflected on both his love for them and how he failed them. It made me think of Maali less as this brave journalistic and more of a person who struggles to maintain relationships during a time of chaos.

Jaki, Maali's roommate and best friend, is admirable in that she does everything she can to learn what happened to Maali. I loved her bravery and how she seemed to be the person who was most invested in finding the truth. I was rooting for her the whole time.

DD, Maali's lover, was sympathetic in that he wanted to make his own life and struggled to openly accept his queerness. I liked that he had a connection to politics and that put some pressure on Maali's activities, and I enjoyed the parts where he and Jaki teamed up to get answers
.

There are a lot of other characters in this book - too many to name. But broadly, I do think all were as simple or complex as they needed to be. Personally, I think I wanted a little more depth from the supernatural characters, but I also could have been missing something that's obvious to people who know about the folklore.

TL;DR: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a stunning portrait of the Sri Lankan Civil War and three people at the heart of it. My criticisms are mostly to do with my own preferences and lack of familiarity with history, but those aside, this is a very moving, very bleak, and yet very funny book that tackles horror and humor with skill.

Content Warnings

tooticki7's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Content Warnings

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

hue's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Incredible!

Content Warnings

paperquilt's review against another edition

5.0

dark reflective 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

Content Warnings

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

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

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

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

jacky_reads_books's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark 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

I loved the premise of this book and the general story line. It was a bit slow at times, but it picked up again in the last 150 or so pages.

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.

Content Warnings

More...