Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

26 reviews

peonydancer's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

As someone with a Sri Lankan Tamil background, I had mixed feelings about the book. Whilst I loved the inside jokes that anyone from there would tots get about the culture, history, society, etc, Maali himself was a pain in the ass lol. Plus, the book didn't really show the war for what it was and how it started; it started with ultimately, the Anti-Tamil Porgroms enacted by the Sinhalese government and carried by its citizens; the mass murder and displacement of Tamil civilians. Still, I enjoyed the scathing commentary - a very unique book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Body horror, Classism, Genocide, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Racism, Infidelity, Animal death, Blood, Racial slurs, Mass/school shootings, Death, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, and Homophobia

audacitea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Torture

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Blood, Child death, Infidelity, and Suicide

Minor: Kidnapping

roseblossom999's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Cursing, Colonisation, Mental illness, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Blood, Sexual content, Murder, Rape, War, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Self harm, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Homophobia, Gun violence, Body horror, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Car accident

rieviolet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

I ended up liking this book much more than my initial expectations. 
I quite enjoyed the writing style and the elements of magical realism. The narrative was challenging and even brutal at times, but very much captivating.

I have to admit that I generally struggle with unlikeable characters (especially if they are the main characters) but this is a rare case in which I actually appreciated all of these flawed and at times even unpleasant people, they felt very real and well-rounded in their portrayal.

I also liked that the story is deeply grounded in Sri Lankan history but the narration is not weighed down with long-winded explanatory paragraphs (which I really do not like in fiction as they stand out too much and interrupt the narrative flow), the reader has to pick up pieces of historical information as the narration progresses and/or do further reasearch by themself.

I also want to mention that the final revelation of Maali's fate left me completely stunned, I was speechless, floored, I still cannot believe it, it was truly a plot twist that I did not see coming and it landed like a punch to the stomach. 

Some episodes/sections left me a bit perplexed 

like a section discussing penises, okay I guess?!

or didn't impress me as much as the rest of the story, therefore the 4.5 rating. It is still a book well worthy of your time and that offers a lot to chew on.

Because, on reflection, once you have seen your own face and recognized the color of your eyes, tasted the air and smelled the soil, drunk from the purest fountains and the dirtiest wells, that is the kindest thing you can say abut life. It's not nothing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, War, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Hate crime, Death, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Police brutality, and Suicide

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Classism, Child death, Infidelity, Blood, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Confinement, Colonisation, Drug use, Alcohol, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Excrement, Abandonment, Abortion, Outing, Fatphobia, Slavery, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Rape, Car accident, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, and Cancer

zed_dog's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

“You wake up the with answer to the question everyone asks. The answer is: yes. And the answer is: just like here, but worse. That’s all the insight you’ll ever get, so you might as well go back to sleep.”

I was gone on this book from that first paragraph. I loved the irreverent literary voice, the second-person narration, and the way the story encompasses both an incredible scope and an exquisitely detailed setting and cast of characters. The details are by turns hilarious and truly horrific, and I have to add a major caveat to my recommendation: there are lots and lots of gruesome images in this book, (it follows a dead photojournalist in a war zone; he bears witness to terrible things, so we do too), and for some readers the disturbing will outweigh the wonderful. But I loved this book. The magical realism and sense of humor made the heavy subject matter bearable, and the acceleration toward the end literally raised my heart rate. The denouement dragged a bit, but I was reluctant to be parted from the characters so I wasn’t mad about it. Also, the narrator of the audiobook is fabulous—I will definitely be looking out for more from him, and from the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicide attempt, Torture, Car accident, Violence, Death, Homophobia, and Sexual harassment

miles's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, War, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual harassment

lizzie0601's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-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

3.75

• Clever premise & interesting ideas about non-meaning of life 
• Meditation on impact of civil war & whether it is better to seek justice or attempt to forget & move on 
• Slow-paced and quite abstract so not easy to read - also felt there was a high  entry level of knowledge about the Sri Lankan civil war 
• Unlikeable narrator made it difficult to sympathise at first but over time became invested in him as a complicated, morally grey character 
•  Skilled book technically e.g. use of second person very intentional 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Torture and Homophobia

Minor: Grief, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Car accident, Colonisation, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, and Drug use

mayaism_01's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.5

This was a very mixed reading experience for me, everything regarding the conflict happening in Sri Lanka at the time this book is set is incredibly interesting, and the writing style was vibrant, lush with details, with lots of poetic musing on life and death. Though I think the writing style and crammed plot made the overall pacing of the novel very slow. The story would flip-flop from interesting dialogues and history to plot points and characters (like Sena) that are connected to the overarching story but don’t provide enough substance to be actually interesting or engaging. I can’t stand slow pacing so that really cut my enjoyment of this book in half but overall the story, characters, and reflections within this novel are definitely worth the read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Torture, Suicide, and Drug abuse

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

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