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woshuaa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape
diane_matcha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Sexual assault, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Child abuse
parchmentdreams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Suicide, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Violence, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts
seventhcr0w's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Torture, Gun violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual content, Stalking, Homophobia, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Body shaming
wispy_reviews's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Battle Royale is the next step after Lord of the Flies; after you examine the cruelty of humans in a vacuum, you must examine our cruelty in the systems we’ve created ourselves. It’s so incredibly difficult to fix a broken system when people insist on participating in it, and “play the game.”
It was difficult to keep up with so many names, but that can be attributed to me being a westerner not accustomed to Japanese names. Even so the author did a great job with context clues, so even if you didn’t remember a character immediately he helps you with what they did previously.
What really blew me away was how effortlessly the narrative voice changed; we got a perfect psychological imprint of each character as they became the focus.
Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Blood, Sexual harassment, Murder, Child death, Pedophilia, Violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Gun violence, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Rape
kmolson29's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
perthalus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I’ve seen the film adapt more than once before, and reading the original book provided so many pieces of context and extra character bits that made reading it entirely worth it. Koushun Takami absolutely nails the action. Even knowing what happens doesn’t remove from the intensity and suspense provided by each encounter, and god, what a premise.
I especially love Kazuo Kiriyama’s gang, though I wish Kazuo himself got a little more background towards the end, but that may just be my bias talking. And I also love Shogo Kawada because… I don’t know, I just love him, okay? 🫶🏻 Now that I think about it, there isn’t a character I don’t really like, maybe besides Shinji, though even he has his moments. But Mitsuko, Kazuo, Shogo, Shuya, Hiroki, Chigusa, and Noriko are all characters I absolutely love.
I will say that the action can ride the edge between believable and ridiculous, especially when characters do somersaults mid-fight. And on top of that, Shinji’s computer jargon and his exposition on pre-established information made his chapters a little repetitive, but other than that I can’t pick out any glaring problems with the book or it’s story.
Overall, it’s a book that is still incredibly entertaining, shocking, and politically powerful as it was when it was first released, and it only made my appreciation grow for the story and the film adaptation.
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Death, Gore, Violence, Suicide, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Bullying, Cursing, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
Minor: Suicide, Trafficking, Classism, and Homophobia
gine's review against another edition
5.0
I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you like gore and Hunger Games you’d probably enjoy this book. It’s a dark and fast paced book even with 620 something pages. We follow Shuya and his classmates of Shiroiwa Junior High School, ninth grade class B. On their way to a school trip, that turns out to be something else. Where they are left on an island to battle out and fight to survive. Definitely not a book for someone squeamish, as there is a lot of graphic death and lots of gore. But as a avid gore fan and thriller fan I highly recommend this book.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Gun violence
katndrsn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence
Minor: Suicide
sobbinghoursopen's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying