Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

69 reviews

mylargirl's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring 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

This might be my favourite book I've ever read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, and Genocide

amandunzel's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Very good, it really immerses you in that time and place. The characters felt effortlessly real and nuanced to me, which is something I'm always impressed by. The book slowly reveals itself and character. I think there's a really good build to it but it did take me a bit to get into it. Be warned it's very dark and macabre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, Violence, Murder, Death, and Body horror

thisisfee's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Gore, Genocide, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Suicide, Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent

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

julesleigh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was a wild bloody violent funny and ridiculous ride. Being set during the Sri Lankan revolution and having it be a revenge plot about what it truly means to be human and to be alive and who we affect is going to be a story that sticks me for a very long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Body horror, Genocide, Blood, Death, War, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Torture, Slavery, Sexual violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Gore, Drug abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Murder, Hate crime, Alcohol, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Drug use, Cursing, Classism, and Animal death

apworden's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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

4.25

I read both the ebook and listened to the audiobook (sometimes at the same time). Absolutely loved this book. It was engaging from the start and balanced really heavy material with subtle dark humor. It was a fascinating look into Sri Lanka in the late ‘80s/early 90’s. I felt like I went on the philosophical journey about the meaning of life right along with Maali. If you like magical realism mixed with historical fiction I recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, War, and Death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Murder, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Car accident, Colonisation, Classism, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Racism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Gore, Grief, Genocide, Excrement, and Drug use

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

elerireads's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

Well I'm reeling a bit from this. Complicated, bizarre and confusing, but utterly brilliant. Such a rich and complex afterlife lore and politics. Deeply flawed but wonderfully loving main character with strong convictions and sense of purpose. Full of bitingly dark humour, raging at the futility of war and ultimately a kind of optimism underneath it all. And of course, the mystery that keeps you hanging right to the very end (at least for me - I didn't work it out!) but you can't get any joy out of its resolution because it's just so bloody depressing and pointless. A real rollercoaster, and I found those last 60 odd pages pretty difficult to get through because it was just so intense.

A few misc. thoughts:
- Apparently this was a rewrite intended to be more accessible to non Sri Lankan readers. I wonder what the original was like because this was still confusing and I had to google lots of things. Might be worth having a pen and paper to write down who all the different groups are. As far as I can tell though, it doesn't much matter if you can't completely keep track because it's not really about their specific causes anyway.
- Interesting how Maali kept referring to DD's environmentalism as naïve when Maali is by far the most naïve character in the book, genuinely believing that his photographs could change the course of the war.
- I got lulled into such a false sense of security over his sexuality. Don't want to spoil it but bloody hell.
- I absolutely would not have picked this book for myself, even though the cover is absolutely gorgeous. Too much (at least superficial) resemblance to The Lovely Bones. So credit to my sister for knowing my taste better than I do and giving this to me for Christmas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Death, Homophobia, Murder, Gore, Violence, War, and Torture

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