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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
Why did I give it another chance? I still feel the same way! I should’ve left it on the DNF shelf…
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
I struggled with the first two thirds of this book, which felt like a protracted setting up of the world, characters, and backstory. I found the text impenetrable, the pace frenetic, and the storyline uneven. The second-person perspective placed me at a distance from the text, and this was made doubly alienating by what an unpleasant character the protagonist is. This perspective also made it harder for me to engage with the unfamiliar concepts and language used in the book, as I felt like my brain was already exhausted from filtering the meaning through a perspective filter.
This changed when I got to the final third of the book. I'm not sure if it just took me that long to get into the rhythm of it, or if the pacing and action substantially changed, but all of the elements came together for me and propelled me towards the conclusion. Was the last third of the book satisfying enough to make up for how much I struggled with the beginning? On balance? Just.
Other themes/aspects that came up for me when I read it:
- ethics of conflict photojournalism
- war and power
- mortality/the afterlife
- homophobia (both homosexuality and homophobia are portrayed pretty negatively in the book and the author also appears to be straight. For me this makes it a homophobic commentary on homophobia?)
- female characters (they are... Not well written)
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
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.
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
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
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism