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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
No
Amazing book. A very hard to book to read due to the range of emotions you feel whilst reading. Sadness happiness shame disgust anger anxiety fear. Just to name a few.
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
"The stories we tell, are the temples we build, they must not be erased"
This story is our collective shame - I did not know about the history and erasure of Tamil people within Sri Lanka and the way in which they continue to be othered. The themes within this book are shocking but relevant to modern Australia and the rest of the world.
This story is our collective shame - I did not know about the history and erasure of Tamil people within Sri Lanka and the way in which they continue to be othered. The themes within this book are shocking but relevant to modern Australia and the rest of the world.
emotional
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is a story about Sri Lankan diaspsora in western Sydney. It turns (about halfway through) into a story about racist moral panics in contemporary Australia, and shows the link between "casual" racism and explicit racist violence. It's difficult to rate this novel. I found the writing style difficult to read as the flow wasn't there. I can't put my finger on why though. I think the first half had a nice balance of past and present context and character development. The second half devolved a little into trying to cover a huge topic at the expense of developing the characters and their relationships. It's not to say there was no longer development, but I lost interest or care for most of the characters except Maya, Zakhir and Ruben by the end of the novel, because only those three stories were developed until the end. I liked how these characters were shown throughout their own and broader historical context and tied to their present actions.
I felt the story could have lost some characters or events to focus more deeply on a few key issues/relationships. By the end, there was too much going on with not enough development.
Im not sure I'd read it again or recommend it. Nonetheless a very important story to tell.
I felt the story could have lost some characters or events to focus more deeply on a few key issues/relationships. By the end, there was too much going on with not enough development.
Im not sure I'd read it again or recommend it. Nonetheless a very important story to tell.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, War
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual violence
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I actually liked the writing style at first, but a lot of the plot points seemed far fetched but not in an absurdist or satirical way, and a lot of the characters were very one dimensional or not very believable, and the plot had a few holes.