Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

106 reviews

excritos's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ajourneythroughpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

I love this book! So good. Read it about 4 times now and it was still just as good as I remembered. Not rated 5 stars because of some sexism and homophobia. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Suicide, and Torture

rightwhrleftme's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

loucadoslivros's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

woshuaa's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

baby_caramelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Rape

diane_matcha's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

rooibosproletariat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Violence

Minor: Homophobia

suprconman99's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Part pulpy, action-packed thrill ride,  part critical satire of totalitarian systems and the moronic, self-sabotaging ways in which they operate, and part parody of angsty teen melodrama — all shot through with gruesome violence and the horror of children being forced to kill each other. Basically a more effective Hunger Games, before the latter was a thing.

Some things, such as the generally misogynist and homophobic attitudes of even the “good” characters, have not aged particularly well. Whether these were intentional commentary on conservative Japanese culture or an attempt to realistically inhabit the mind of a teenage Japanese boy in the mid-to-late ‘90s, or a reflection of the author’s own unexamined biases, I don’t know. I doubt it’s the latter, though, as the author seems like a self-aware, reflective, and thoughtful enough fellow in the afterword of the ‘09 translation I read. Also, I just generally try to be charitable and extend the benefit of the doubt where possible. The characterization is also pretty shallow for the most part, although to be fair we’re dealing with a roster of like 40 characters.

All in all, this book mostly lived up to the hype by the end (aided in part by virtue of its stronger-than-expected closing chapters, beginning with the final chase/fight sequence on the island). I’d recommend to anyone looking for some thrilling genre fiction. It’s a big ol’ tome but the pacing will have the pages flying by once the action gets going.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Homophobia and Misogyny

parchmentdreams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail