Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

18 reviews

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

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

georgieleighreads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Colonisation, Blood, War, Physical abuse, Genocide, Child death, Car accident, Torture, Suicide, Police brutality, Gore, Death, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexual assault

abvi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Xenophobia, Torture, Suicide attempt, War, Death, Violence, Police brutality, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content

emjbarnes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I usually prefer shorter books, and it took me a while to get through this, but it was so worth every page. There isn't a word wasted and the cast of so many characters comes together perfectly at the end. It's a very difficult read but I'd highly recommend it - just read the content warnings first!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Death, Police brutality, Racism, Murder, Infidelity, Gun violence, Child death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Suicide, Torture, and War

Moderate: Car accident, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

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

eilatan6991's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, War, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Car accident, Confinement, Sexual assault, Child death, Torture, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

emmalouisereads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

3.75

The plot of this story is really interesting, both in terms of the surreal aspect of the afterlife and the setting of a civil war in Sri Lanka.

The entire book is written in the second person, which is quite cool but does make things a bit harder to follow. Also, civil wars are generally quite confusing even for the people in them, and this, coupled with the interwoven dreamlike afterlife, just made this a bit of a challenging read for me.

I loved how Maali spoke about Jaki, his best friend, and my favourite parts of the book were getting to know Maali, DD and Jaki.

Edit - I’ve just read Human Acts by Han Kang, and I’ll be shocked if the author hasn’t taken inspiration from that book. So if you like Human Acts (the second person + speaking from the perspective of the dead writing style), you might like this too

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, War, Body horror, Death, Homophobia, Gore, and Suicide

Minor: Pedophilia, Child death, and Sexual assault