Reviews tagging 'War'

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam

26 reviews

nila's review

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

I wanted to read more from Sri Lankan authors AND read more books outside my comfort zone, so I picked this up knowing it was heavy on the introspection (is that a word?). The 2/3 of this book flew by, and I absolutely loved it. The secondary characters were so great I didn't even think of how it's all in the main character's head. However, in the last third, the main character is by themselves and the pace slowed down too much for me, and I sadly lost interest. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Child death, and War

tiriol's review

dark reflective sad slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Death, Torture, and War

Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

sandyclare's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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

Moderate: Suicide, War, and Torture

cozjetez's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War

thequeenofsheba3's review against another edition

emotional informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and War

Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Self harm

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Murder

probablyalice's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and War

luise96's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Child death

czidya's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

A Passage North is a beautifully written reflection on trauma, grief, memory, and love, set largely within the mind of Krishan, a young professional, as he travels across Sri Lanka to attend a funeral in a remote village.
Arudpragasam's writing is wordy, but never unnecessarily so, such that it allows him to communicate complex, often difficult to express ideas with stunning beauty.
"What for lack of a better word was sometimes called love, he had realized that night, was not so much a relation between to people in and of themselves as a relation between two people and the world they were witness to, a world whose surfaces and exteriors gradually began to dissipate as the two individuals sank deeper and deeper into what was called their love."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Mental illness, War, and Torture

Moderate: Suicide, Gore, Racism, Hate crime, and Drug use

Minor: Self harm, Homophobia, and Alcohol

rosibook's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical trauma, Suicide, War, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness

pran's review against another edition

informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This was a beautifully written, reflective book. It is essentially about the Sri Lankan civil war from the perspective of a young Sri-Lankan Tamil man, Krishan. He meditates on the war through his relationships with the women around him, mostly his grandmother, her carer Rani, and his ex-partner Anjum. There was so much rich, insightful content in this book and I would certainly recommend it to anybody. It is a real piece of art.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War