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johnreadsthings's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
THIS IS INCREDIBLE AHHHHH
It lost me in the middle a bit, but that introduction and conclusion were so brilliantly constructed. The menace was so palpable. And the characters, alive!
During the middle part, Takami introduced most of the students, something that could be daunting to write and not rewarding in the end. It did get a bit repetitive and predictable every time a new student was presented because you'd know that they'd be dead by the end of the chapter. But I'd have to commend Takami because each student had their own lives and personalities, and were not treated as merely numbers and side characters that would forward the story to its eventual and inevitable end or serve as a respite from the leads. In fact, some of the kids really left a mark. My personal favorites among them were Takako Chigusa and Sho Tsukioka.
I wasn't feeling Shuya and Noriko as the main leads right at the beginning and I only somewhat tolerated them coming at the ending, but I did grow to like them! I'd still like read more about Shinji Mimura and Hiroki Sugimura whose arcs were brilliantly written. But I guess it's safe to say that Takami's best constructed character here was Shogo Kawada. I'm not going to spoil anything by talking about Shogo, so let's leave it at that.
The game itself was relentlessly violent and gore. The author didn't shy away from giving the whole picture, along with its dirty, disgusting bits. And his political critique was equally scathing and explicit. He didn't sanitize and bow down to anything. And this made the novel much more revolting, effective, and memorable.
That ending came like Shogo's rushing truck across the island. It was the cherry on top of this really, really good book.
At first I thought that Koushun Takami's Battle Royale simply had the advantage of being one of the first of its kind (it's not lost in me that this is called a somewhat of a retelling of Golding's The Lord of the Flies), but it's more than that: this was also an intelligent, well-constructed, and amazing piece of work.
It lost me in the middle a bit, but that introduction and conclusion were so brilliantly constructed. The menace was so palpable. And the characters, alive!
During the middle part, Takami introduced most of the students, something that could be daunting to write and not rewarding in the end. It did get a bit repetitive and predictable every time a new student was presented because you'd know that they'd be dead by the end of the chapter. But I'd have to commend Takami because each student had their own lives and personalities, and were not treated as merely numbers and side characters that would forward the story to its eventual and inevitable end or serve as a respite from the leads. In fact, some of the kids really left a mark. My personal favorites among them were Takako Chigusa and Sho Tsukioka.
I wasn't feeling Shuya and Noriko as the main leads right at the beginning and I only somewhat tolerated them coming at the ending, but I did grow to like them! I'd still like read more about Shinji Mimura and Hiroki Sugimura whose arcs were brilliantly written. But I guess it's safe to say that Takami's best constructed character here was Shogo Kawada. I'm not going to spoil anything by talking about Shogo, so let's leave it at that.
The game itself was relentlessly violent and gore. The author didn't shy away from giving the whole picture, along with its dirty, disgusting bits. And his political critique was equally scathing and explicit. He didn't sanitize and bow down to anything. And this made the novel much more revolting, effective, and memorable.
That ending came like Shogo's rushing truck across the island. It was the cherry on top of this really, really good book.
At first I thought that Koushun Takami's Battle Royale simply had the advantage of being one of the first of its kind (it's not lost in me that this is called a somewhat of a retelling of Golding's The Lord of the Flies), but it's more than that: this was also an intelligent, well-constructed, and amazing piece of work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
itshardizzy's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It was so fast paced. The author didn't held back on the killings and I'm lowkey thankful for that because the whole story IS about teenagers killing each other. There was some characters that i felt a bit more connected with but them they were killed :(((. There is multiple POVs but the one more constant is Shuya, who i found just annoying and really naive. the most in-depth characters was Shogo, Shining and Mitsuko in my personal opinion. They all have the most interesting stories specially Mitsuko. Mitsuko is made to be a bad girl but when we take a look at what she had been through is impossible to not feel sorry for her. I believe the author deeply criticized Japanese persons that go after minor girls or that sexualize minor girls. Shinji was actually the one that everyone thought was going to win and he really could have won if it weren't for his deeply dependence for his uncle. He really lived at his uncle shadow and I believe that is why he didn't succeed . The author did a really good job at critizing governments that send their youth to war in his version of Japan, the youths don't need to go to war BUT in return one school and one specific class will be chosen (at random) to be a part of a experiment that will help the government to understand how people react to certain events and weapons, which is basically a war itself but a minor one. . I really had my hopes up about the ending but unfortunately it wasn't what i wanted. Still I liked the book and the criticism that the author pointed out in a very interesting way. Definitely worth to read again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Suicide, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Drug use, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Rape
cheybrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing and Medical trauma
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Vomit
nandakandabooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Blood, Murder, Gore, Violence, Gun violence, Death, Child death, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Vomit
tieflingkisser's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia and Rape
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