Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

17 reviews

lady_bountiful's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Rape

Minor: Kidnapping, Suicide, Vomit, Death of parent, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

mysteryspouse's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Rape, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Death, Physical abuse, Child death, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Pedophilia

excritos's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

0.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Suicide, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Bullying, Body horror, Sexism, Rape, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Death

parchmentdreams's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Suicide, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Violence, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts

perthalus's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

Brutal, intelligent, and politically biting, Battle Royale absolutely flies by with its fleeting snapshots of different lives and deaths. It connects you to characters you may only stick with for a few pages, yet it all feels relevant to the themes, story-world, and overall narrative.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Death, Gore, Violence, Suicide, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Bullying, Cursing, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

Minor: Suicide, Trafficking, Classism, and Homophobia

jacob_dion's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Violence, Bullying, and Suicide

Moderate: Death of parent and Rape

fe_aye's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

Wow, this book is a lot of things. It doesn’t feel right to call a story about pointless child murder amazing, but this is certainly an interesting read. Not knowing who you can trust, who will die and who will survive. Some things about this story are a bit off, but overall it’s a book with an interesting commentary on society, and trusting each other, along with the fragility of life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Cursing, Gun violence, Rape, Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Sexism, Confinement, Rape, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

samdej's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Fantastic. I read the last 200 pages all in one sitting, I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend, especially if you’re a fan of the movie. There are a few key differences, but there are so many amazing scenes that the movie can only make a passing glance at for time. There is also a greater political context surrounding the main events that the first movie completely leaves out. 40+ characters sounds like a lot at first, but separating the book into short vignettes is a great way to show the reader what is happening in other parts of the island to the other characters while still keeping the main narrative going. Everything comes back. I have no idea how Takami Koushun could have possibly kept it all straight while writing but I applaud him for it. Very long but very worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Child death, Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual violence

Minor: Death of parent

All of the characters are around 15-16 (they are in 9th grade). In the sections about each of the girl bullies, because of their activities with the yakuza there are mentions of sexual assault and forced prostitution. Mitsuko in particular, who is a major antagonist, is a victim of child sexual abuse and has been involved with many adult men. This is mentioned throughout her chapters and discussed heavily toward the end of the book when she dies. There is also a chapter where one of the boys attempts to hold a girl hostage and rape her. She crushes his penis.

duyanh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, War, Vomit, Gun violence, Grief, Kidnapping, Blood, Child death, Police brutality, Gore, Murder, and Misogyny

anime917's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Child death, Genocide, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicide, and Torture