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mermellie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Fatphobia
ollie_again's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I liked parts of this book, but overall it was a little bit disappointing. I thought I'll have more issues with the contents of this book: the violence and even the sexist notions throughout but all of that I could easily overlook. My first main issue is with Shuya. Following a character that is supposed to be "noble" but comes off as a person with no sense of self-preservation is pretty frustrating. Shuya is pretty much piggybacking another character the whole time because without them, he would already be dead multiple times. I was not rooting for him at all and as we get to meet more and more characters and closely see their strategies and motivations, Shuya comes off easily as the most bland and boring character, which might work for a self-insert hero fantasy but not for a compelling and full-fledged character.
My second issue was the constant conversations about who has a crush on whom. I'm not a teenager for quite some time, but I don't think that teenagers are in need of romance drama 24/7 while they are in life-death situations. At least not every single one of them. And how those feelings are discussed is a completely different issue. Just get on with it and get dying. This book would be so much better (and shorter) if the author cut out all the romance crap. The friendship would serve just the same purpose while not feeling cheap, especially because that one characters has/had feelings for their classmate is always revealed in such a rushed way (mostly seconds before death of one or both of the two), it's usually one-sided and it's just about "oh this person is feeling like shit about this person dying because crush, I guess". Characters (and especially girls) freezing and reminiscing about the guys they had a crush on in the most inconvenient times happened one too many times for me to care. The relationship based on friendship worked much better and made more sense, but they were few and far between compared to the crushes.
I could do without the mentions of prostitution of 15y, sexual traumas of way too many girls, but that was something I kind of expected from this book. A lot of things were there just for a shock value and while it might mask as a character's history as to why they are fucked up, it didn't really land.
Might be a controversial take but I would prefer ifthe book truly ended after Kawada 'shoots' Shuya and Noriko, that part shocked me and I was rooting for it to be the plot twist, but oh well, some semi-happy ending needed to be there I guess.
My second issue was the constant conversations about who has a crush on whom. I'm not a teenager for quite some time, but I don't think that teenagers are in need of romance drama 24/7 while they are in life-death situations. At least not every single one of them. And how those feelings are discussed is a completely different issue. Just get on with it and get dying. This book would be so much better (and shorter) if the author cut out all the romance crap. The friendship would serve just the same purpose while not feeling cheap, especially because that one characters has/had feelings for their classmate is always revealed in such a rushed way (mostly seconds before death of one or both of the two), it's usually one-sided and it's just about "oh this person is feeling like shit about this person dying because crush, I guess". Characters (and especially girls) freezing and reminiscing about the guys they had a crush on in the most inconvenient times happened one too many times for me to care. The relationship based on friendship worked much better and made more sense, but they were few and far between compared to the crushes.
I could do without the mentions of prostitution of 15y, sexual traumas of way too many girls, but that was something I kind of expected from this book. A lot of things were there just for a shock value and while it might mask as a character's history as to why they are fucked up, it didn't really land.
Might be a controversial take but I would prefer if
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gun violence, and Gore
Moderate: Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicide
Minor: Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Vomit
duyanh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, War, Vomit, Gun violence, Grief, Kidnapping, Blood, Child death, Police brutality, Gore, Murder, and Misogyny
thedinosaurkid's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was pretty good.
Obviously (or maybe not) I went into this comparing it to Hunger Games. It faired pretty well. If anything I probably liked it more. If you're looking for a book like Hunger Games but with more murder (first off get therapy), this is a good pick. It has the potential to be a 4-5 star read.
However, that is not what I'm giving it.
Despite the good characters, twists, and overall plot, this book was very obviously written in the 1990's (specifically 1999). There is major misogynistic language throughout the book. Nothing outright,in fact there is a character who is shown to have horribly sexist thoughts, like "women are property" type stuff. The author makes it clear that this is a horrible person. but there is a lot of stuff like "oh I can never beat this boy because I'm a girl and girls are weak". It's not as overt as that but it conveys a similar message.
Another reason for the rating is because of a specific chapter that follows a gay character and how homophobic it feels. The gay character is described as following a character who is particularly brutal and looks like might win. The gay character is then described as having "stalker behavior" and being super feminine. The author mentions that he has the audacity to care about his looks during this murder game. He has a mirror that he holds to make sure he looks good. Generally, the way this character is portrayed is very homophobic and uses lots of homophobic stereotypes.
The plot is good, don't get me wrong, but its hard to ignore the misogynistic tones throughout the book. The ending was enjoyable and my attention was kept during the whole book but reading about "weak girls" really brought me out of the experience.
Obviously (or maybe not) I went into this comparing it to Hunger Games. It faired pretty well. If anything I probably liked it more. If you're looking for a book like Hunger Games but with more murder (first off get therapy), this is a good pick. It has the potential to be a 4-5 star read.
However, that is not what I'm giving it.
Despite the good characters, twists, and overall plot, this book was very obviously written in the 1990's (specifically 1999). There is major misogynistic language throughout the book. Nothing outright,
Another reason for the rating is because of a specific chapter that follows a gay character and how homophobic it feels.
The plot is good, don't get me wrong, but its hard to ignore the misogynistic tones throughout the book. The ending was enjoyable and my attention was kept during the whole book but reading about "weak girls" really brought me out of the experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Child death, Blood, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Torture, Stalking, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
BATTLE ROYALE is the story of forty-two kids pitted against each other in a fight to the death as part of an authoritarian program to see what they do to each other. It's ostensibly data for data's sake, cruelty justified by requiring numbers to crunch.
I generally have a lot of trouble with character names, but by the midpoint I was able to recognize the most important ones. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I'll discussing my favorite characters based on general descriptions rather than names. There's "murder boy", which I know ought to be a meaningless moniker in this setting, but he's the one who is described as not having emotions, and decides to partake in the violence based on what might as well be a coin flip in his mind. I have some concerns with this as a portrayal of neurodivergence and/or mental illness, I lump those together when discussing this character because part of the problem is that aside from discussing him as an emotionless and then murderous person there isn't much to go off of. He's clever and methodical, with a savvy about the game which is mostly implied by the way other characters can tell he's succeeded in an encounter with someone who is now dead. My favorite character is guy with a best friend (whom he's not dating). I also like the main trio of characters, the narrative tends to flip between one of the guys in that trio and then moves to one of the other characters before coming back to him.
The web of relationships between forty-two teenagers on the government-run murder island is complicated, and tends to revolve around who likes whom, who the bullies are, which one of them has the bulletproof vest, or who is seeking catharsis in unleashing a hail of bullets. The misunderstandings, violence, assumptions, and last-ditch attempts to communicate a crush before impending the end of their lives are woven together expertly in a way that feels plausible given the setup. The fact that most of these kids have know each other for years in various classes before this means that every kill has personal context, no matter how much they might wish it didn't.
The worldbuilding is communicated in a mix of government propaganda, brief explanations of the current political situation and historical context, and off-hand things the characters say. There's a moment when one of the people running the scenario comments on how he's having his third kid to do his part to offset the declining birthrate. It's a small moment that tells so much about the setting. This one comment speaks to the insidiousness of the government's propaganda, the net effect of randomly killing off a set number of kids every year, and the gap between what the government may have wanted and the actual effect on the population. There are a lot of little moments like this, but that one has stuck with me. It tells so much about the mindset of this person helping hold up a horrific system, and it does so quickly, which is important since this is one of just a couple of times where an adult's perspective is shown.
A theme which the basic premise of the novel didn't prepare me for is the toxic combination of misogyny and the threat of rape as a weapon. I think it's handled very deftly, with a surprising amount of nuance. This throughline begins with an early reference to someone being raped at the government's order as part the program. I appreciate the way the novel as a whole engages with the horrors of sexual violence, and how it (in at least one case) can warp a person if they are unable to get help to deal with it. There are no scenes of rape in the book itself, but the fact that it's a tool of violence which is available to the teens on the island shows up several times.
The cadence of the plot provided periods of rest and some really touching scenes amidst the violence. These opportunities to learn more about the characters in turn made the death scenes more tense and emotionally resonant. Sometimes a character's perspective was shown for the first time right as they were about to die, and some characters appeared several times before someone took them out. I appreciated this mix because it kept up the pacing as a thriller and enhanced the dystopian themes all at once. I highly recommend this, and I'm very glad I read it.
A quick note since BATTLE ROYALE was written before THE HUNGER GAMES, but some comparison is warranted: there are a few tropes in common between the books, however the central dynamic in Battle Royale is that of a group of people who have known each for a long time before they are forced to kill each other. That difference alone means that these books feel and play out very differently. It also matters that the only audience in Battle Royale are administrators who have trackers but no cameras. It's not voyeuristic, they're not performing for a crowd, and they know everyone they kill. It's a commentary on authoritarianism instead of a critique of entertainment culture.
I generally have a lot of trouble with character names, but by the midpoint I was able to recognize the most important ones. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I'll discussing my favorite characters based on general descriptions rather than names. There's "murder boy", which I know ought to be a meaningless moniker in this setting, but he's the one who is described as not having emotions, and decides to partake in the violence based on what might as well be a coin flip in his mind. I have some concerns with this as a portrayal of neurodivergence and/or mental illness, I lump those together when discussing this character because part of the problem is that aside from discussing him as an emotionless and then murderous person there isn't much to go off of. He's clever and methodical, with a savvy about the game which is mostly implied by the way other characters can tell he's succeeded in an encounter with someone who is now dead. My favorite character is guy with a best friend (whom he's not dating). I also like the main trio of characters, the narrative tends to flip between one of the guys in that trio and then moves to one of the other characters before coming back to him.
The web of relationships between forty-two teenagers on the government-run murder island is complicated, and tends to revolve around who likes whom, who the bullies are, which one of them has the bulletproof vest, or who is seeking catharsis in unleashing a hail of bullets. The misunderstandings, violence, assumptions, and last-ditch attempts to communicate a crush before impending the end of their lives are woven together expertly in a way that feels plausible given the setup. The fact that most of these kids have know each other for years in various classes before this means that every kill has personal context, no matter how much they might wish it didn't.
The worldbuilding is communicated in a mix of government propaganda, brief explanations of the current political situation and historical context, and off-hand things the characters say. There's a moment when one of the people running the scenario comments on how he's having his third kid to do his part to offset the declining birthrate. It's a small moment that tells so much about the setting. This one comment speaks to the insidiousness of the government's propaganda, the net effect of randomly killing off a set number of kids every year, and the gap between what the government may have wanted and the actual effect on the population. There are a lot of little moments like this, but that one has stuck with me. It tells so much about the mindset of this person helping hold up a horrific system, and it does so quickly, which is important since this is one of just a couple of times where an adult's perspective is shown.
A theme which the basic premise of the novel didn't prepare me for is the toxic combination of misogyny and the threat of rape as a weapon. I think it's handled very deftly, with a surprising amount of nuance. This throughline begins with an early reference to someone being raped at the government's order as part the program. I appreciate the way the novel as a whole engages with the horrors of sexual violence, and how it (in at least one case) can warp a person if they are unable to get help to deal with it. There are no scenes of rape in the book itself, but the fact that it's a tool of violence which is available to the teens on the island shows up several times.
The cadence of the plot provided periods of rest and some really touching scenes amidst the violence. These opportunities to learn more about the characters in turn made the death scenes more tense and emotionally resonant. Sometimes a character's perspective was shown for the first time right as they were about to die, and some characters appeared several times before someone took them out. I appreciated this mix because it kept up the pacing as a thriller and enhanced the dystopian themes all at once. I highly recommend this, and I'm very glad I read it.
A quick note since BATTLE ROYALE was written before THE HUNGER GAMES, but some comparison is warranted: there are a few tropes in common between the books, however the central dynamic in Battle Royale is that of a group of people who have known each for a long time before they are forced to kill each other. That difference alone means that these books feel and play out very differently. It also matters that the only audience in Battle Royale are administrators who have trackers but no cameras. It's not voyeuristic, they're not performing for a crowd, and they know everyone they kill. It's a commentary on authoritarianism instead of a critique of entertainment culture.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Ableism, Mental illness, Sexism, Misogyny, Drug use, and Confinement
Minor: Homophobia, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship
taleofabibliophile's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Cursing, Murder, Child death, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexism, Misogyny, Car accident, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Vomit, and Grief
Minor: Medical content and Homophobia
thegr8estangell's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I'm glad this author wrote only one book. I really liked the premise of this book. I think they were way more brutal in this book than in the Hunger Games (a series with a similar plot). I liked the way that some of the deaths were from the 1st person POV of the person being killed and other deaths were from different POVs. I wished we got more POV time with Kiriyama.
The pacing of this book was all over the place. Sometimes it was fast and tense, other times it was slow and arduous. There were so many flashbacks to stupid elementary school grudges and stuff like that. It got old pretty quick. I skimmed alot of those since they had little to nothing to do with the actual plot of the story.
What really bothered me about this story was the sexism and causal homophobia. Do I expect anything different from a middle-aged Japanese man in the 90s? No. Does that mean I have to look over that to enjoy this book? Not really no. I can still criticize it and still think the book is okay. Noriko was about as useless as Sakura during the Zabuza arc in Naruto. She was written as a damsel in distress and that was all she played the entire time. Just a helpless little school girl who just wanted to survive and was content with letting her big strong men of Kawada and Shuya protect her. Shuya was this weird, white knight character that felt like every girl had a crush on. He was so popular but didn't know it. That was really annoying. He was always this, ethical person during the whole thing. He never had to make a bad or hard choice about killing someone. There was no morally grey with him like there was with Kawada. He was in this situation where he had to kill people but he never had to make that tough decision without weighing the consequences. Kawada was a cool character. I liked him. He was the only rational one in the whole book. I know it's because this was round 2 for him, but still. Good character.
The BIGGEST plot hole was the GOD-TIER status of that stupid bullet proof vest. After one bullet, those things are done. They don't last 14 other bullets to the chest, a shot gun blast, and 300+ rounds of an UZI. They don't. That's not how they are made. That was plot device that got tired real quick.
Overall, I think the violence and stakes were done well. But the actual plot needed some work. Would I read this again? No. Would I recommend this book to someone? Maybe, depends on the person.
The pacing of this book was all over the place. Sometimes it was fast and tense, other times it was slow and arduous. There were so many flashbacks to stupid elementary school grudges and stuff like that. It got old pretty quick. I skimmed alot of those since they had little to nothing to do with the actual plot of the story.
What really bothered me about this story was the sexism and causal homophobia. Do I expect anything different from a middle-aged Japanese man in the 90s? No. Does that mean I have to look over that to enjoy this book? Not really no. I can still criticize it and still think the book is okay. Noriko was about as useless as Sakura during the Zabuza arc in Naruto. She was written as a damsel in distress and that was all she played the entire time. Just a helpless little school girl who just wanted to survive and was content with letting her big strong men of Kawada and Shuya protect her. Shuya was this weird, white knight character that felt like every girl had a crush on. He was so popular but didn't know it. That was really annoying. He was always this, ethical person during the whole thing. He never had to make a bad or hard choice about killing someone. There was no morally grey with him like there was with Kawada. He was in this situation where he had to kill people but he never had to make that tough decision without weighing the consequences. Kawada was a cool character. I liked him. He was the only rational one in the whole book. I know it's because this was round 2 for him, but still. Good character.
The BIGGEST plot hole was the GOD-TIER status of that stupid bullet proof vest. After one bullet, those things are done. They don't last 14 other bullets to the chest, a shot gun blast, and 300+ rounds of an UZI. They don't. That's not how they are made. That was plot device that got tired real quick.
Overall, I think the violence and stakes were done well. But the actual plot needed some work. Would I read this again? No. Would I recommend this book to someone? Maybe, depends on the person.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Mass/school shootings, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
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