Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

50 reviews

imlfox's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Homophobia, Police brutality, Death, Genocide, Grief, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Infidelity, Torture, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, and Violence

discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Listen, this was a very well-written, imaginative book, and the depictions of the horrors enacted during the Sri Lankan civil war were truly gruesome. It just wasn’t for me. 

When I read the synopsis, the supernatural element excited me, but I didn’t take into account that this story is primarily a political thriller first, ghost story second. I would absolutely recommend it to someone who’s into that sort of thing, I am just not that person. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Torture, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Violence, Suicide, Gore, War, and Police brutality

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Genocide, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Car accident

rhi_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Suicide, Police brutality, Violence, Death, Homophobia, and Torture

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Physical abuse, Hate crime, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content and Gore

herasrevenge88's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Addiction, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Suicide, Violence, War, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

potterpav's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

this book was a weird one for me . the first part felt like dragging my feet through a river (going against the tide i suppose) but then it picked up abt 45% in . the plot was good although i felt it a bit rushed at times , esp toward the end , although i understood the book couldn’t go on forever . i also don’t rlly understand why he was so insistent on the negatives coming out when nothing even happened when it did .. maybe i just missed something though . overall it was a fun read but not one i’ll come back to in my daydreams i don’t think . after putting in the CWs it looks absolutely crazy but i guess it is lmao

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, War, Body horror, Gore, Child death, Death, Genocide, and Grief

Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Police brutality

Minor: Rape, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

Set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan Civil War, this is a surrealist and metaphysical take on a murder mystery in which a ghost must find his killers, protect his friends and boyfriend, and decide whether or not to move on or seek revenge. This book was a wild ride and I largely enjoyed it.

Witty prose. Fun characters. A vibrant world. Karunatilaka also did a great job at bringing us into the backdrop of the war without ever getting us bogged down in it. Sometimes I struggled with the sheer amount of characters (some with multiple nicknames) and also the way the narrative seamlessly moved between the metaphysical plane, the real world, and also flashback. Oftentimes I would find myself needing to go back over pages to resituate myself in the narrative. But overall, it was a good read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Homophobia, Torture, War, Blood, Classism, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, and Violence

knhall14's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Grief, War, Torture, Kidnapping, Suicide, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident and Child death

Minor: Drug use and Cancer

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

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

4.0

‘They say that laughter is music but that is just one of the thousand untruths we suckle ourselves with. Some laughs are peakened, some are hideous, some can curdle blood.’

‘We must all find pointless causes to live for, or why bother with breath.’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Police brutality, War, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Infidelity, Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt

bmkodak's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

The seven moons of Malinda Almeida is a very complex narrative, whose central character is a photojournalist. The setting of this book is quit complicated, it is set in Sri Lanka a country ravished by war. The author does a good job of providing the necessary information for the better understanding of the reader. However if you want to get more out of this book I advise a previous study of the political situation in Sri Lanka.
Malinda, despite being a flawed character, has a very interesting development in his journey roaming the « in between».
Personally I was most interested in the journalism aspect of the book. With that said I think the after life adds a completly different twist to the narrative and doesn't take away from other aspects of the story.
Very enjoyable reading and very informative about Sri Lanka.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, Sexual content, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, War, and Hate crime

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Torture

Minor: Colonisation and Infidelity

annreadsabook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, War, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, and Child death