Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

57 reviews

faduma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Ableism, Body horror, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Blood, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Xenophobia, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Medical trauma

qqjj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Gore, Grief, Outing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Suicide, Body horror, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, War, and Vomit

unfiltered_fiction's review

challenging dark slow-paced

• 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? Yes

3.75

I can definitely see why this book has been recognised for its literary quality - I've rarely read a novel that has so many lines and paragraphs that have such a poetic profundity. I also think that this story will also teach most readers without deep knowledge of modern Sri Lankan history a phenomenal amount, just as it did for me. My rating has to be limited by a lack of genuine connection with the characters and frustration with the disjointed structure even within short sequences. I think these things are probably intentional, as they are consistent throughout the book, and I'm sure that there will be plenty of readers who can appreciate this approach. It just wasn't something I could get on board with. I also struggled with the fact that this is a story which centres the pain and beauty of human existence, and is excellent at capturing both, yet the inter-character relationships felt lacking in range; they were all very dependent on tension, and there was a lack of softness to throw those sharp edges into relief.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Torture, Suicide, Alcohol, and Confinement

hedsek's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Conceptually I really like this, but the writing style did not work well for me. I only really felt invested during the last quarter of the book, the rest of the time I sort of didn't care. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Death, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Alcohol, Colonisation, Drug use, Mass/school shootings, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content

katiewhocanread's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Animal death and Child death

nialiversuch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Murder, Drug use, Classism, Cursing, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Torture, Police brutality, Sexism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and War

Minor: Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

rachelshayna's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious 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

3.75

I was fully enraptured and it tied up itself really gracefully. Totally recommend 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, and Death

None of the above disclaimers are done without intentionality. They just are part of this story.

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

As someone who knows nothing about the history and war in Sri Lanka I was a little lost for the first 100 pages but after a quick google and getting further into the book, it did start to pick up and the pieces came together. 

I can understand why this won a Booker Prize and I can agree with that but overall wasn’t my favourite book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Colonisation, Confinement, Drug use, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, and Grief

abbie_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

I found last year’s Booker prizewinner in a charity shop for 50p and I can conclude that that was 50p well spent. One of the more challenging books I’ve read in a while, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida feels like a lengthier book than it is. That sounds like criticism but I don’t mean it that way - this book is expansive, the scope of it spilling over its 384 pages.

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Even though I’ve read a couple of books which focus on the Sri Lankan civil war, I still felt a bit adrift initially. Karunatilaka throws you right in the midst of the ferocious violence and bloody politics which reigned in Sri Lanka for over 25 years. At the start of the book, we know that Maali Almeida is dead, but we don’t know how or why or who killed him. He’s in the afterlife, surrounded by Helpers who tell him he has seven nights to carry out his unfinished business - namely, lead his boyfriend and best friend to a box of photos that would have been more than enough to get Maali murdered.

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There’s just so much going on in this book. We get real world politics and injustices (1990s Sri Lanka was not a good time to be a gay man), but we also have the dramas of the afterlife playing out in tandem. Terrifying demons made up of souls stacked on souls, blind men whispering words of the dead to the living, gangs of ghosts urgently seeking vengeance on those who wronged them on earth. It’s all a bit mind-boggling but if you can stick with it (it took me a good 120 pages lol) then I do think the pay off is worth it. 

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Bearing witness is the most important theme here - Maali’s final quest is to expose the brutality and carnage of the civil war, with photos he’s spent years taking and then trying to forget through booze, gambling and men. The horrors of the war are spared no detail here, and that combined with the frequent moments of dark humour make for some serious literary whiplash. Glad I persevered through the slow beginning!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Torture, War, Blood, Addiction, Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Homophobia

girlfriday4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Murder, Suicide, War, and Violence