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hathsch's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Sexual violence
stecatherine's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-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? Yes
3.5
nemyp's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Racism, Violence, Racial slurs, Deportation, Confinement, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Pedophilia, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Sexism, Trafficking, and Stalking
katzreads's review against another edition
4.0
Quite a silly little book, but every entertaining. Great travel read.
nadia_oliver's review against another edition
2.0
I didn’t know what to expect from this book because I got it from a random antique shop when I was in Athens, I just needed books to read and it was the only place I could find with English ones. I did not end up enjoying this. I finished it in 2 days only because the font was so large and the words so simple. The whole story was filled with ridiculously coincidental things that would never actually happen, as well as cheesy, just bad writing in my opinion. I also do see the casual racist aspect that a lot of people have commented on in their reviews. I don’t recommend this one.
scarletohhara's review against another edition
2.0
Very very bleh book. The author must've been possessed with a strong doing if wanting to imitate the style of writing in The Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden, and has failed. The narrative isn't interesting enough, though the plot had potential.
mikaiten's review against another edition
2.0
This book was a lot of fu to read, and I look forward to telling people to buy it at my bookshop. Every now and then I had a moment of "seriously, how could all this happen to one person?" But then I got sucked back in to the adventure and just enjoyed the ride. My one complaint is the ending, which jumped scenes so abruptly I had to read it twice to make sure I didn't miss a page. Overall, this is the book I hoped The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden would have been. Crazy, engaging, offbeat, and fast-paced.
aniek_e's review against another edition
1.0
Vast allemaal goed en grappig bedoeld, maar ik vond het niets. Stereotyperend, vol met clichés en vooroordelen. Ergerlijk hoe steeds naar personages wordt steeds verwezen met hun afkomst. Wanneer gaat dat allemaal zo ver dat het racistisch genoemd kan worden? Ook de 'humor' is te flauw, met name de grapjes over de uitspraak van namen, kom op zeg ...
balletbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
I borrowed this from the store solely due to the very long title - intriguing.
I'm not quite sure what to think. Part of the book involves the journey of a man who decides to stop being a con-artist and become a good person. Part of it seems to be a meditation on the troubles of illegal immigrants and the reasons why they try so hard to get to a 'good country' (and how that "good country" just sends them away to anywhere so long as they leave their borders. Part of this book does seem as if it means to be funny (the bits with the gypsy taxi driver and his family, the tongue-in-check suggested ways to pronounce Ajatashatru and other Indian names, etc.) but it also felt mean-spirited in its humour in a way; but perhaps he was pointing out the ways that white people complain about having to pronounce brown peoples' names?
The comparison to [b:The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared|15832916|The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared|Jonas Jonasson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413683731s/15832916.jpg|10365993] is apt in the ways that Ajatashatru and Jonasson's main character seem to be acted upon by fate in their travels.
An absurd short novel (read in under two hours), worth a read, I think, if you're looking at literature from outside the US.
I'm not quite sure what to think. Part of the book involves the journey of a man who decides to stop being a con-artist and become a good person. Part of it seems to be a meditation on the troubles of illegal immigrants and the reasons why they try so hard to get to a 'good country' (and how that "good country" just sends them away to anywhere so long as they leave their borders. Part of this book does seem as if it means to be funny (the bits with the gypsy taxi driver and his family, the tongue-in-check suggested ways to pronounce Ajatashatru and other Indian names, etc.) but it also felt mean-spirited in its humour in a way; but perhaps he was pointing out the ways that white people complain about having to pronounce brown peoples' names?
The comparison to [b:The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared|15832916|The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared|Jonas Jonasson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413683731s/15832916.jpg|10365993] is apt in the ways that Ajatashatru and Jonasson's main character seem to be acted upon by fate in their travels.
An absurd short novel (read in under two hours), worth a read, I think, if you're looking at literature from outside the US.