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seventhcr0w's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Stalking
wispy_reviews's review
- 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
4.25
Battle Royale is the next step after Lord of the Flies; after you examine the cruelty of humans in a vacuum, you must examine our cruelty in the systems we’ve created ourselves. It’s so incredibly difficult to fix a broken system when people insist on participating in it, and “play the game.”
It was difficult to keep up with so many names, but that can be attributed to me being a westerner not accustomed to Japanese names. Even so the author did a great job with context clues, so even if you didn’t remember a character immediately he helps you with what they did previously.
What really blew me away was how effortlessly the narrative voice changed; we got a perfect psychological imprint of each character as they became the focus.
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Sexual harassment
kmolson29's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
cmorehouse's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
an_everyday_penguin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder
rosieryel's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, and Murder
perthalus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
I’ve seen the film adapt more than once before, and reading the original book provided so many pieces of context and extra character bits that made reading it entirely worth it. Koushun Takami absolutely nails the action. Even knowing what happens doesn’t remove from the intensity and suspense provided by each encounter, and god, what a premise.
I especially love Kazuo Kiriyama’s gang, though I wish Kazuo himself got a little more background towards the end, but that may just be my bias talking. And I also love Shogo Kawada because… I don’t know, I just love him, okay? 🫶🏻 Now that I think about it, there isn’t a character I don’t really like, maybe besides Shinji, though even he has his moments. But Mitsuko, Kazuo, Shogo, Shuya, Hiroki, Chigusa, and Noriko are all characters I absolutely love.
I will say that the action can ride the edge between believable and ridiculous, especially when characters do somersaults mid-fight. And on top of that, Shinji’s computer jargon and his exposition on pre-established information made his chapters a little repetitive, but other than that I can’t pick out any glaring problems with the book or it’s story.
Overall, it’s a book that is still incredibly entertaining, shocking, and politically powerful as it was when it was first released, and it only made my appreciation grow for the story and the film adaptation.
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, Trafficking, and Classism
gine's review against another edition
5.0
I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you like gore and Hunger Games you’d probably enjoy this book. It’s a dark and fast paced book even with 620 something pages. We follow Shuya and his classmates of Shiroiwa Junior High School, ninth grade class B. On their way to a school trip, that turns out to be something else. Where they are left on an island to battle out and fight to survive. Definitely not a book for someone squeamish, as there is a lot of graphic death and lots of gore. But as a avid gore fan and thriller fan I highly recommend this book.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, and Murder
katndrsn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Classism
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Suicide
alen97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder