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anime917'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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, Child death, Genocide, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicide, and Torture
bluejayreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Blood, Gun violence, Child death, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Grief and Sexual assault
Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Trafficking, Sexual content, and Rape
taleofabibliophile's review against another edition
- 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
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
victoria29's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death, and Death of parent
atalea's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Death, and Confinement
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, and Pedophilia
Minor: Child abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping
afonyamuffin'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
So for those who are not familiar with the book and are still here despite the spoilers, it was written in the 90s, which is going to be important to keep in mind as I progress with the review. It takes place in a future Japan setting where junior high students are forced to fight to the death. Shuya and his class are on their way to a class trip when they are kidnapped and taken to an island to participate in The Program, where the 42 students have to kill each other until there is just one person standing. Reading this even if you haven’t heard about this song I’m sure you recognize the story from The Hunger Games. I think if you liked The Hunger Games you definitely should read this one as Battle Royale is obviously one of the stories that influenced Suzanne Collins. However I do want to leave some trigger warnings, this is a much more gruesome book than THG is. The book’s main characters are Shuya, Noriko and Kawada, but it jumps between the other classmates’ point of view as well.
Trigger warning: mentions of rape, domestic violence, homophobia, suicide, blood, gore, death, guns, mutilation, injuries, etc.
Oh boy, do I have a lot of thoughts! Like I said there were a lot of things that I missed out on at the fresh age of 17 and now I’m sitting here like… Let’s start with the questionable things. One of these things is mentions of rape, especially in the beginning. In other cases it feels like it has a reason to be in the story...
More on the blog: https://berriesandbooksblog.wordpress.com/2021/11/07/battle-royale-by-koushun-takami-enghun-spoilery-review/
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Domestic abuse, and Suicide
itshardizzy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Suicide, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Drug use, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Rape
thegr8estangell's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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