Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

41 reviews

mattiaforc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Violence, Torture, War, Murder, Blood, Death, Police brutality, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Racism

dr_acula's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Racism, Homophobia, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Genocide, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Drug use, and Alcohol

sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective 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

4.25

This was an interesting read. I went into this with very little knowledge of the civil war in Sri Lanka, but came out with a general understanding of the time and what it was like to live within it. This was partially a result of the book, but I was also intrigued enough to engage in my own research, which I think was the best way to read this book and if this doesn't sound like an interesting time to you, then this book may not work as well for you. The second-person prose was an interesting choice that I wasn't sure about at first, but I think it worked for the story, or at least didn't take away from the narrative the author was trying to tell. Magical realism in a book about civil war was a choice I was intrigued but wary about going into this, but the balance between the realistic and unrealistic worked in this context to show Maali's life, his photography and the brutalities of the civil war. Aside from the brutalities of war that the book showed, it was actually quite funny and sarcastic and witty at times, which was a good contrast to some of the intense content covered. There were parts of this novel that were a little repetitive and slow-paced, which is why it wasn't a five star for me, but I enjoyed the reading experience, even if the content and storyline of the book was not necessarily "enjoyable". 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, and War

Moderate: Racial slurs, Murder, Car accident, Drug use, Death of parent, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Torture, Racism, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Sexual content

forestfloor's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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

3.0

"You are thinking of that most impossible of all mythical creatures: the Honest Politician."

I found a lot of this book really compelling: the characters, the descriptions of Sri Lanka, the world building of the afterlife. I didn't know anything about Sri Lanka before and it certainly made Sri Lankan '80s politics intriguing. 

However, I found the prose quite difficult to follow - I didn't really get into it until about half way through. This is probably in part because it's written in second person, which isn't my personal favourite. I think that the concept of being able to go where your name is spoken was really cool but it resulted in a constant jumping between locations and interactions which was also interspersed with past memories and I found it quite disjointed - it didn't make for easy reading.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, War, and Police brutality

Moderate: Infidelity, Racism, and Homophobia

Minor: Death of parent and Suicide

bluedijon's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

Goodness, I loved this book. Maali is such a compelling, complex character, and it was bittersweet joy to follow him through his journey. This book is explicit in its descriptions of the Sri Lankan civil war, and uses the long tradition of magical realism to make sense of the horrors inflicted by people on their neighbors and themselves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Gun violence, War, Blood, Homophobia, Grief, Police brutality, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Classism, Murder, Death, and Genocide

clare072's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Child death, Death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Violence, Classism, Genocide, Car accident, Police brutality, Racism, Suicide, Torture, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Blood, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Colonisation and Animal death

not_dead_yet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

It’s about the inner workings of a genocidal civil war and one man’s single-minded scheme to stop it by exposing the truth.  As a side dish it’s a murder mystery. 

The chaotic structure of the writing draws you in to the chaos of the forces driving the civil war.  The chaos continues after death without missing a beat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, War, Racism, Torture, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Genocide, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

andyourstruly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective

4.75

This was a really good book.

The best way of describing it is that genre of book where someone in the main character's life has just died, leaving behind a tangled web of mystery for the MC to unravel and resolve ... from the dead person's point of view.

The author does an amazing job painting the political landscape of Sri Lankan politics in the 70s-90s in all of its complexity and using it as a vehicle to reveal the story as opposed to allowing it to bog the story down.  The main character is jaded and unlikeable, but the slow reveal throughout the book of what leads him to be like that and the dynamics involved was really impressively handled.  I really loved the ending and the way that the author doesn't pretend to try to fix everything.  

I read this book because a friend of a friend told me that her book club had read it and that everyone but her had said that, while they liked it, they would not recommend it as a book club book, a sentiment that she had disagreed with.  Having now read it, I have to agree with my friend's friend: if these aren't the topics we discuss in a book club, then what are?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Police brutality, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Homophobia, and War

Moderate: Torture, Child death, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Go into this book on your guard, my friend.

cat_22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Violence, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Child death, Body horror, and Homophobia

Minor: Abandonment, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

mrlsdevos's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective sad medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Genocide, Car accident, Child death, Hate crime, Torture, Racism, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, War, Xenophobia, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Classism, Mental illness, Slavery, Animal death, Death of parent, Suicide, Colonisation, Car accident, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury