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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
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:
Yes
dark
funny
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:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
fast-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:
Yes
"We must all find pointless causes to live for, or why bother with breath?"
Shehan Karunatilaka's novel opens on your first day (aka your first moon) as a dead man. Your name is Maali Almeida, and you self-describe as a photographer, gambler, queer, and slut. You have no idea why you are dead and how it happened. And you only have seven moons to understand why you're stuck in purgatory and figure out your unfinished business - and possibly, your killers' identity - if you want to enter the Light.
Told in the second person and set in an afterlife that looks like a low-functioning minister's office, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a Cubist portrait of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
The author's storytelling combines the violence of a corrupt country with a magical afterlife. I found it mesmerizing how he manages to describe the ordinary nature of human evilness. The book is both harsh, funny, and sweet at times. It comes in pieces of Maali's memories, sewed in the actions he takes during his seven moons to put his life's jigsaw puzzle together.
To be honest, this is an incredible piece of fiction. I won't say that it was always an easy read. I felt like the first 100 pages flew and then I was stuck for a while. In its second half, the book speeds up, straight to a satisfying ending.
On a final note, the opening is one of the best of the last decades. The Booker Prize was truly deserved.
Shehan Karunatilaka's novel opens on your first day (aka your first moon) as a dead man. Your name is Maali Almeida, and you self-describe as a photographer, gambler, queer, and slut. You have no idea why you are dead and how it happened. And you only have seven moons to understand why you're stuck in purgatory and figure out your unfinished business - and possibly, your killers' identity - if you want to enter the Light.
Told in the second person and set in an afterlife that looks like a low-functioning minister's office, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a Cubist portrait of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
The author's storytelling combines the violence of a corrupt country with a magical afterlife. I found it mesmerizing how he manages to describe the ordinary nature of human evilness. The book is both harsh, funny, and sweet at times. It comes in pieces of Maali's memories, sewed in the actions he takes during his seven moons to put his life's jigsaw puzzle together.
To be honest, this is an incredible piece of fiction. I won't say that it was always an easy read. I felt like the first 100 pages flew and then I was stuck for a while. In its second half, the book speeds up, straight to a satisfying ending.
On a final note, the opening is one of the best of the last decades. The Booker Prize was truly deserved.
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
holy shit! as close to a perfect book as it gets! so exciting and fascinating and had me intrigued the whole time
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thought I wouldn't like the book but then I got into it but fell out of it in the end. It is repetitive and I got lost in the ins and outs of the plot.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the last 100 pages were tedious - i had higher expectations of this book
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
WOW this book was so good, that it made me reevaluate what I consider a 5 star read!!!!! Genuinely fantastic!
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes